Podcast journalism is a recent phenomenon. Most, if not all, of the journalists doing podcasts today would have received no formal training in it. As one of the hosts of InFocus, The Hindu’s flagship podcast series on current affairs, I’ve had people frequently ask me how I go about doing things. When I try to explain, often the first thing I hear is, ‘Oh, so you basically do audio interviews.’ Well, not exactly.
There are different kinds of podcasts, and the interview-based podcast is one of them. It is true that the InFocus podcast is essentially an interview — with a subject expert. It is also true it is done exclusively in audio format — there is no video element and the transcript does not get published in print or online. But journalistically speaking, the podcast ‘interview’ is quite different from the traditional ‘media’ interview as we know and practise it.
First, the two have different objectives. The purpose of the media interview is to generate compelling copy — and perhaps a sensational headline — for the publication. The podcast is under no such compulsion. The objective of InFocus is to explain or explore a complicated or interesting news development.
