A Boxing Lesson for Public Media Podcasting

Unaffiliated podcasts can teach us something about the craft

Wrapping my hands, a great boxing coach once told me that it wasn’t my size, but how big I fought that mattered the most.

It was a valuable tip I carried forward into many a contest. Even when I gave 10, 20, even 30 pounds in weight, wanting it more was the great equalizer. While it wasn’t hard to be pitted against someone who towered over my slight 5-foot-7-inch frame, desire was on my side.

Passion, we all find, means something special. It has broad application. Furthermore, seeing others tap into it makes us better.

Last year, I tackled public media’s podcast problem. Some were put off by the criticism. It’s not that there isn’t lots of appreciation for the NPR sound, and all of public media podcasting for that matter. Lovers and fans of public media want it to thrive, and to do so means growing in these times.

Independent podcasters are media’s nimble and hungry pugilists. Nourished by a culture of podcasting that precedes public media’s interest, such podcasting has been informed by many wildly different elements for years, though such is changing. I sought to get insights on where the culture is today.

Talking with Elsie Escobar is a startling experience. She talks fast, lives in podcasting, and is as ground-zero as you can get, because her job is teaching the new medium, specifically showing women how to podcast. She got acquainted with podcasting in 2006. Escobar explains that, while some new podcasters are familiar with public media, most assume they can’t do those things and get really inventive as a result.

“There’s a disconnect, because indie producers don’t have experience writing, gathering tape, the skills public radio people apply in their jobs,” Escobar explains. “It’s almost like seeing this amazing movie and then going home and making your first iPhone video. We are capable of doing it all, but the community has yet to understand it can.”

For better and worse for public media, outlets like Creative Live are leveling the field fast. And, as confidence grows, so do the questions before public media and its podcasting aspirations. Escobar remarks it may be thus important for public media to look beyond its big names and even current staff to find talent.

Public media still has many advantages in the podcasting field. It is also a thrilling time to see how public media makers can go much farther. Some of the more active interrogations include:

Is it possible for a comfortable public media to mine a sound that is based largely and historically on a necessity-is-the-mother-of-invention ethos? Although the indie podcaster can learn a lot from the public media maker, thinking more like an indie podcaster can yield creativity we may have yet to explore. Public media makers have jobs doing this stuff and have infrastructure. Independent podcasters often do their projects on their own and are forced to be especially imaginative. This historical divergence between the podcaster and the broadcaster delivers more than a different sound, but an overall aesthetic, and maybe it is one public media can take cues from, particularly as it seeks out new, diverse audiences.

How the audience evolves leaves many open questions. 99 Percent Invisible took off in part because it gave the longstanding podcast audience something far different than it is used to hearing. As public media enters the space, with its aforementioned infrastructure, podcasting’s future audience is already shifting from one of years past, which gravitated to more do-it-yourself programs. It remains to be seen whether that marginalizes the old guard or creates a backlash and the audience introduced to podcasts by public media turns instead to the scrappier indies. Consistent engagement with the audience is imperative.

Are we focused too much on numbers and not enough on impact? Podcasts with large followings get the attention, but public media has an open field as far as making a splash on niche audiences. I too can name a dozen smaller public media podcasts that reach underrepresented audiences, but we can surely spread the public media brand by doing more. More importantly, public media would do well to examine some of indie podcasting’s niche success stories, such as in the business/entrepreneur or gaming genres, to pick up new ideas.

Public media makers need to capture a particular drive for engaging listeners not traditionally associated with public radio. Public media professionals are taught that being curious is one of the most important qualities you need to have. And I find it so wonderful that there is a fresh and challenging conversation about diversity in public media, particularly who leads, who speaks and who the audience may be. I’m a big believer that podcasting conveys the spark to have a conversation with a community. Such fire, even vulnerability, matters.

Public radio has the stars, but as Ira Glass remarked at South by Southwest this year, podcasting has the audience. Public media has incredibly talented people. We pressure ourselves to ask the right questions, get the right sound, and strike the right emphasis. Learning from others’ lessons can absolutely help us do things in a richer way.