Yes, you’ve heard this prediction before. And you’re right, podcasting is not new; it’s been around for well over a decade. But, in 2016, with a slew of political podcasts because of the presidential election, news organizations realized the potential for podcasting as a primary news source. They realized there’s an appetite for audio news on-demand that caters to a younger audience (think 35 and under).
For years, newsy podcasting has mostly been limited to (1) news organizations that are native to audio — think NPR and WNYC; and (2) news organizations that jumped into the market early — think Slate.
In 2017, we’ll see more traditional news organizations, like The New York Times, invest in audio because they see a growth market — a potential to reach thousands of eager young ears. Will legacy media organizations be able to use podcasts to drive younger news consumers back to their work on the radio, online, or in print? We don’t know yet — that will be their challenge.
Nonetheless, I predict we’ll see more news-oriented podcasts from traditional outlets, regardless of their fluency with audio. In other words, the sense of a gold rush that’s permeated the podcasting market since Serial will only swell larger, with startup shows, professional media organizations, and one-hit wonders all flooding iTunes and other podcast platforms. In the long run, many will die; the true barometer of success will likely be the quality of the product. And, in my mind, this is twofold: (1) quality audio production that’s easy and comfortable to listen to, and (2) charismatic hosts with dynamic personalities and diverse perspectives.
Podcasting is sometimes dismissed as nothing more than radio in your ears, on your own schedule, but I beg to differ. It’s far more intimate than traditional radio. And news organizations that realize the power of this intimacy will likely have an advantage in the long run.
I was part of the NPR Politics podcast team this past year; through an ensemble cast, we brought listeners weekly campaign news with a sense of our real personalities. And as a result, listeners were loyal. They felt like we were their friends. And they regularly gave us feedback, far more than we ever receive on traditional radio.
In a crowded marketplace, maybe that’s what young people want — reliable news with a trustworthy perspective. They’re not looking for omniscient objectivity, but trusted, truthful perspectives.
Asma Khalid is a reporter for NPR.
Cindy Royal Preparing the digital educator-scholar hybrid
Lam Thuy Vo The primary source in the age of mechanical multiplication
Jon Slade Trusted news, at a premium
Jonathan Hunt Measurement companies get with the times
Elizabeth Jensen Trust depends on the details
Gabriel Snyder The aberration of 20th-century journalism
Bill Adair The year of the fact-checking bot
Emily Goligoski Incorporating audience feedback at scale
S.P. Sullivan Baking transparency into our routines
Nicholas Quah Podcasting’s coming class war
Reyhan Harmanci Bear witness — but then what?
Amy O'Leary Not just covering communities, reaching them
Amie Ferris-Rotman Вслед за Россией
Helen Havlak Chasing mobile search results
Alberto Cairo Communicating uncertainty to our readers
Sarah Wolozin Virtual reality on the open web
Moreno Cruz Osório The year of transparency in Brazilian journalism
Dan Gillmor Fix the demand side of news too
Anita Zielina The sales funnel reaches (and changes) the newsroom
Ernst-Jan Pfauth Earn trust by working for (and with) readers
M. Scott Havens Quality advertising to pair with quality content
Margarita Noriega From pinning tweets to tweeting pins
Liz McMillen The year of deep insights
Andrea Silenzi Podcasts dive into breaking news analysis
Andrew Ramsammy Rise of the rebel journalist
Melody Kramer Radically rethinking design
Juliette De Maeyer and Dominique Trudel A rebirth of populist journalism
David Weigel A test for online speech
Samantha Barry Messaging apps go mainstream
Mathew Ingram The Faustian Facebook dance continues
Almar Latour Thanks, #fakenews
Megan H. Chan Cultural reporting goes mainstream
Renée Kaplan Pure reach has reached its limit
Carrie Brown We won’t do enough
Eric Nuzum Podcasting stratifies into hard layers
Jeremy Barr A terrible year for Tiers B through D
Rachel Sklar Women are going to get loud
Ståle Grut The battle for high-quality VR
Vivian Schiller Tested like never before
Robert Hernandez History will exclude you, again
Erin Pettigrew A year of reflection in tech
Emi Kolawole From empathy to community
Laura Walker Authentic voices, not fake news
Dan Colarusso Let’s make live video we can love
Ariane Bernard Better data about your users
Steve Henn The next revolution is voice
Jim Friedlich A banner year for venture philanthropy
Tracie Powell Building reader relationships
Maria Bustillos “It’s true — I saw it on Facebook”
Matt Karolian AI improves publishing
Dannagal G. Young The return of the gatekeepers
Francesco Marconi The year of augmented writing
Katie Zhu The year of minority media
Alice Antheaume A new test for French media
Annemarie Dooling UGC as a path out of the bubble
AX Mina 2017 is for the attention innovators
Andy Rossback The year of the user
Ryan McCarthy Platforms grow up or grow more toxic
Michael Kuntz Trust is the new click
Sue Schardt Objectivity, fairness, balance, and love
Errin Haines Chaos or community?
Tanya Cordrey The resurgence of reach
Liz Danzico The triumph of the small
Dhiya Kuriakose The year of digital detoxing
Valérie Bélair-Gagnon Truthiness in private spaces
Sara M. Watson There is no neutral interface
Corey Ford The year of the rebelpreneur
Carla Zanoni Prioritizing emotional health
Javaun Moradi What can we own?
Mary Walter-Brown Getting comfortable asking for money
Alexis Lloyd Public trust for private realities
Ashley C. Woods Local journalism will fight a new fight
Rachel Schallom Stop flying over the flyover states
Doris Truong Connecting with diverse perspectives
Scott Dodd Nonprofits team up for impact
Cory Haik Navigating power in Trump’s America
Claire Wardle Verification takes center stage
Michael Oreskes Reversing the erosion of democracy
Juan Luis Sánchez Your predictions are our present
Tressie McMillan Cottom A path through the media’s coming legitimacy crisis
Swati Sharma Failing diversity is failing journalism
Peter Sterne A dangerous anti-press mix
Mandy Velez The audience is the source and the story
Millie Tran International expansion without colonial overtones
Nushin Rashidian A rise in high-price, high-value subscriptions
Keren Goldshlager Defining a focus, and then saying no
Andrew Losowsky Building our own communities
Mary Meehan Feeling blue in a red state
Olivia Ma The year collaboration beats competition
Adam Thomas The coming collaboration across Europe
Christopher Meighan Unlocking a deeper mobile experience
Guy Raz Inspiration and hope will matter more than ever
Rasmus Kleis Nielsen News after advertising may look like news before advertising
Tim Griggs The year we stop taking sides
David Skok What lies beyond paywalls
Geetika Rudra Journalism is community
Jonathan Stray A boom in responsible conservative media
Joanne Lipman The year of the drone, really
Kawandeep Virdee Moving deeper than the machine of clicks
David Chavern Fake news gets solved
Aja Bogdanoff Comments start pulling their weight
Sarah Marshall Focusing on the why of the click
Zizi Papacharissi Distracted journalism looks in the mirror
P. Kim Bui The year journalism teaches again
Caitlin Thompson High touch, high value
Kathleen Kingsbury Print as a premium offering
Hillary Frey Forests need to burn to regrow
Mario García Virtual reality on mobile leaps forward
Priya Ganapati Mobile websites are ready for reinvention
Taylor Lorenz “Selfie journalism” becomes a thing
Bill Keller A healthy skepticism about data
Nathalie Malinarich Making it easy
Richard Tofel The country doesn’t trust us — but they do believe us
Burt Herman Local news gets interesting
Rubina Madan Fillion Snapchat grows up
Julia Beizer Building a coherent core identity
Ray Soto VR moves from experiments to immersion
Molly de Aguiar Philanthropists galvanize around news
Lee Glendinning A call for great editing
Amy Webb Journalism as a service
Ole Reißmann Un-faking the news
Erin Millar The bottom falls out of Canadian media
Sydette Harry Facing journalism’s history
Mira Lowe News literacy, bias, and “Hamilton”
Umbreen Bhatti A sense of journalists’ humanity
Ken Schwencke Disaggregation and collection
Andrew Haeg The year of listening
Tim Herrera The safe space of service journalism
Libby Bawcombe Kids board the podcast train
Sam Ford The year we talk about our awful metrics
Matt Waite The people running the media are the problem
Mike Ragsdale A smarter information diet