By Kate Cortes

A class discussion the class earlier this semester, had to do with fake news in the media. Since the 2016 presidential elections, the term fake news has become quite the popular word. With social media being everywhere one turns, it is difficult not to run into some sort of fake piece. Sometimes it is easy to tell and other times have gotten harder to spot. It is important to understand what to watch out for when looking at a piece of information that could have a few lies in it.

However, being accurate also matters as a writer for the media. Everyone is looking towards the media to tell them what is going on in the world and a lot of them count on the fact that the writer is correct in what they are saying. The writer’s credibility is at stake when they release information about a certain subject. Something that is tiny, but major as well could be grammar in one’s piece. During our class discussion, a point was made that no one is going to want to read or get information off a piece that has careless spelling errors. That could signify that the writer does not take the subject seriously and their accuracy could be being dealt the same way. One would not want to seem incompetent for careless mistakes.

The point is to build a sense of trust with the reader and maintain it. This can tie into my chosen topic of my blogs, which is podcasting. There are podcasts that are solely about current events and news. They cannot be the ones spreading misinformation by talking about something that is fake because they have listeners that will rely on them to speak of the truth. Accuracy is one of the key points to being a media writer, without it, the whole piece falls apart.

By Kate Cortes

If someone were to make a general search of podcasts, they would get every kind of result possible. Since the growth of popularity in podcasting, so much of it is related to an infinite amount of topics, ranging from some like kittens to others like space travel, including other well-known creators. With that, many people have been influenced to create their own or try to be a part of them.

Among the many creators out there, I reached out to Diego Barron, a friend of mine, is a part of a podcast created by him and his five other friends who reside in Cicero, Illinois. Their channel is called Chunklight Media and it was formed in February of 2020. I asked him what the reason was behind making this decision and he had said they had no real intention on making a podcast. He made a point in saying it was something as long as they all were in it together, they were going to strive to create something together. “…I guess it came from all the things I wanted to talk but never really having time to make fully edited video about them…”, he said.

The most crucial part of creating a podcast could be the very beginning. When asked about the steps he took throughout the process Diego said, “One, location. Two, sound equipment. Three, style. Four, a platform.”

He goes on to talk about making a typical episode. It consists of having to agree on a topic, preparing news, getting a guest speaker, and making sure equipment is up and running. He enjoys making these episodes, regardless of how many views it gets, because he gets to input his type of humor and conversations like comic books, films, and current events.

I asked him what advice he has to those wanting to also create a podcast, he said, “The best thing I could tell you is to try something different. A different format, untouched topics, unique style and aesthetic…don’t be boring and bland because people will click away.”

In an era where everything can be reached with a tap of a button, so many more opportunities open up for those wanting to get creative. It is all possible.

Research Post By Kate Cortes

“The Appeal of Podcasts Shows No Signs of Slowing“

By Jonathan Berr

Podcasts were not always a prevalent among many topics or conversations. Recently, there has been a popularity surge for podcasts. It has become so widespread that well-known names and celebrities have their own podcasts with a significant amount of listeners. A Forbes article, “The Appeal of Podcasts Shows No Signs of Slowing”, Jonathan Berr, talks about how large the industry of Podcasts has boomed and at a quick rate. It first looks into what contributed to the success of the business, pointing towards the COVID-19 pandemic. Lockdowns were set in place and with people not being able to go out, they sought out to podcasts to pass the time. Since then, the rate of listeners has steadily increased, to which the author mentions Edison Research concluding ages 12 and up making up for about 28% of weekly podcast listeners.

An interesting find is the rise of diversity within podcasting now. Not only is something that happened to come out of podcasting, but it is also something that helps out minority communities have an input in a popular industry. The author mentioned a 44% increase of Latino listeners over the year of 2020, which is major jump considering that the main group of listeners were mostly white. It is not a surprise either that Spotify is the main vessel of getting any kind of podcast out there. The variety of topics are overwhelming.

With more people checking out podcasts, new software has been developed. The article talks about one software specifically, Acast has created a Brand Suitability Tool. This tool basically helps filter out podcasts that contain negative or detrimental content that could, “hurt reputations”.

There is also the effect podcasts have had in the advertising industry. The article mentions how the advertising revenue hit $1 Billion in 2021 and is expected to double in 2022, hitting $2 Billion. In so many ways, podcasting has created another avenue of opportunities people can take.