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.
Second, unlike the traditional interview, the podcast is a collaboration between interviewer and interviewee. I did hundreds of interviews before I did a single podcast. In all of them, I just had to show up and start shooting questions while a dictaphone recorded the answers. I did not have to do anything other than try and ensure that my questions were answered – without evasiveness or prevarication. It was a slightly adversarial relationship though one always tried to keep things cordial. But a podcast interview is a partnership between the journalist (host), and in the case of InFocus, the expert (guest). We share the common objective of decoding a complex subject, which brings us to the third difference: I tell the guest in advance about my line of questioning so she can prepare. I would never do this in a traditional interview.
Fourth, in a podcast, the journalist is also a moderator. Among other things, it is my job to quickly create a relaxed environment so that the guest (who may have never done a podcast before) is at ease, introduce the topic, steer the conversation smoothly from sub-theme to sub-theme with appropriate transitions, and tie it all together nicely at the end with an ‘outro’. In a media interview, when you have asked your last question, you don’t summarise — you switch off the dictaphone and take your leave.
Explainer podcasts such as InFocus also differ from media interviews with regard to the magnitude of research involved. Most often, a journalist typically interviews people from his beat or in connection with his beat. So, there is already familiarity with the interviewee and/or the subject of the questions. If research is needed, it is specific to the news context (say, an election) or the person (if it’s for a profile). But in a podcast series where each episode is on a completely different topic, the interview calls for three different levels of research: one, to familiarise yourself with the subject along with the latest developments so as to come up with engaging questions; two, search for the most appropriate (and available) expert; and three, to familiarise yourself with the guest’s work and special interests.
Finally, podcast interviews have a whole new tech dimension to them — using the right microphone, mixing separate audio tracks, etc. — that is missing from the traditional interview. Overall, though the podcast is more demanding, it is also in some ways less stressful and uniquely rewarding insofar as it’s a collaborative exercise that orchestrates a convivial, intimate space between three curious minds — the host, the guest and the listener.
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