Bite Size Comms

The media landscape has significantly transformed in recent years, with digital audio and podcasts emerging as powerful disruptors of traditional journalism. This shift represents both challenges and opportunities for PR and communications professionals who must navigate the changing currents of news consumption.

Strong public and commercial broadcasters and a competitive and outspoken national press characterise the UK media. Although many media outlets embrace the potential that digital audio and short video bring, they are still primarily traditional, with written articles or broadcasts as the mainstay, albeit nowadays often online rather than printed on paper or shown on live TV. With the proliferation of many online sources offering ‘news’, the adverse attitude to news outlets from social media companies like Meta (and now the US government openly calling traditional news outlets ‘fake news’), a loss of trust (in the UK, only 36% trust news) and rising costs in producing news materials, traditional media is struggling to gain the same reach it had ten years ago. According to the Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2024, TV as a news source in the UK fell from 80% to 50%, Newspapers fell from 60% to 14%, yet social media rose from 20% to 37%.

Against this backdrop of traditional media decline, podcasts have experienced remarkable growth. According to Edison Research, 69% of the UK’s 18-plus population has listened to a podcast at some point, with 42% tuning in monthly and 30% weekly. Weekly podcast listeners demonstrate high engagement levels, averaging 5 hours and 27 minutes of listening each week.

Lewis Goodall, co-presenter of The News Agents podcast, describes podcasts as “the future of news” and a likely avenue for news organisations to pursue younger audiences. The medium’s success lies partly in its ability to fill “content ‘dead time’” – moments when audiences wouldn’t traditionally consume other media. Going for a run, walking the dog or commuting to work!

Journalists are objective in their reporting and mostly take a neutral stance on stories, often trying to include different points of view and perspectives. What sets podcasts apart is their capacity for intimate, emotional storytelling. As Goodall explains, podcasts allow for reporting investigations with greater “richness” in a way that “no other media” could manage. The direct-to-ear format creates a personal connection that traditional journalism often struggles to achieve. Digital audio allows a more personal form of storytelling – often authentic, intimate and emotional, all characteristics that appeal to younger audiences.

George the Poet’s award-winning podcast – Have You Heard George’s Podcast – exemplifies this approach. It delivers “a fresh take on inner-city life through a mix of storytelling, music and fiction”. His episode “A Grenfell Story” powerfully tackles issues in inner-city London, bringing humanity to the tragedy by reminding listeners that the victims “were real people, not just numbers”. I’m an avid listener of George’s podcast.

Podcasts excel at exploring complex social issues with nuance and depth. The “Being the Story” podcast series features “thought-provoking talks given by individuals who’ve faced life-changing experiences and who are using their experiences to come up with solutions to create social change”. This platform amplifies voices that might otherwise go unheard in mainstream media.

Similarly, The News Agents has demonstrated the investigative potential of the medium. Goodall cited a recent story the podcast reported with activists Hope Not Hate revealing that Telegraph bidder Paul Marshall had regularly “liked” far-right content on Twitter/X. This investigative episode became “one of our biggest shows of the year”.

For PR practitioners, this shift toward digital audio presents significant opportunities. Here are some ideas:

• Don’t just send pitches and press releases to traditional news media contacts. Also, include relevant podcast hosts.
• Develop relationships with podcasters relevant to your sector.
• For communicators working for charities, non-governmental organisations, and public sector organisations, podcasts lend themselves to deeper storytelling and exploration of a topic. That might include people’s lived experience.
• Prepare your leader to be interviewed on a relevant podcast. I’m sure the best media trainers are branching out to podcast discussion training as well as offering traditional training before an interview by a journalist.
• Start your own podcast. A few of my PR apprentices have started to produce internal digital audio or external podcasts.

Digital audio formats disrupt traditional journalism, representing a fundamental shift in how audiences consume information. By embracing podcasts’ intimate storytelling potential and understanding their growing influence, PR and communications professionals can help their organisations or clients navigate this new media landscape effectively, reaching audiences who have increasingly turned away from traditional news sources. I do not miss an opportunity. My podcast is ‘An Englishman in Latvia’. Give it a listen!

[Image of microphone by wuz on Unsplash]