The Mediascape of the Future: Why Podcasts are so Powerful

By Ryan Wagner, October 21st, 2019

In the piece Power to the podcast, author Mark Frary discusses how important podcasts can be in providing “knowledge and information into the world’s most highly censored areas” (2017). This made me reflect back to our trip to the Newseum and the exhibit on the Freedom of Press of the world.  This made me remember that in today’s world, there are places where information is not free. Where all the information people receive on the internet is watered down and filtered, as well as their personal devices monitored for sensitive information their government may not want them to know. Essentially living in an informational prison.

Podcasts are a new, interesting and easy way to provide information but often times podcasts are seen more for entertainment purposes like the Joe Rogan Experience and not for educational purposes. With their increasing popularity in today’s society due to how easily accessible they are on mobile devices, podcasts have the potential to be the next large media platform (2018).

Radio is often seen as a competitor to podcasts and an easier alternative than putting together a podcast because radio is purely audio, its much simpler. In recent years, radio across America has seen a drop in both college and small independent radio stations leading to “fewer stations whose airwaves matter” (2017). When information is isolated and not coming from a diverse landscape of sources the likelihood for bias in the material is high.

They may be the next new trend but with careful attention to detail, podcasts can also greatly impact the lives of those not fortunate enough to have freedom of information. The reason that podcasts are so much more favorable to radio in this case is because of how “easily controlled”” radio can be, especially in restrictive countries (2017). In countries without a free press and media, radio is not an option for the travel of sensitive information. Unlike radio, a podcasts can be taken off the grid and provided to people deprived of unfiltered information.

In Frary’s piece, in both Vietnam and Zimbabwe, the strategies are laid out for how some people approach spreading information they know is censored in their countries. One strategy that reigned supreme in both places was keeping the information stored in places it could not be tracked, like on a USB drive (2017). The second strategy is simply not notifying the government they are conducting this spread of information (2017). These ideas are obviously important for keeping secrecy, but they also highlight how dangerous a task this transfer of information can be. But when information is important, it must be done regardless of the difficulties that may come with spreading it.

Podcasts provide people in countries deprived of information a safer way of attaining all the information they have had withheld from them, in a way that is both innovative, creative and easy to understand. The content they provide has the potential to both inspire and inform people on a truly global scale.

Work Cited

–  Agrawal, AJ. 2018, April 27^th, “Why Podcasting Is the Next Marketing Frontier.” Entrepreneur. Online Access: https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/312537

– Frary, M. 2017. Power to the podcast. Index on Censorship. 46.03: 24-27

– Lozano, K. 2017, February 8^th , “Does College Radio Even Matter Anymore?” Pitchfork. Online Access: https://pitchfork.com/features/article/10018-does-college-radio-even-matter-anymore/