Project PhDcast

I’ll be presenting my research-in-progress on police podcasting at the upcoming International Virtual Grad Symposium: Emerging Research in Podcast Studies on Sept. 23-24, 2023. Follow the link for more information about the symposium and how to attend.

A podcasting project by the Toronto Police Services (TPS) hit the headlines in February 2023 when the CBC revealed the TPS were paying $337,000 for a sole-source contract to produce the audio and video podcast “24 Shades of Blue.” While reporting at the time focused on the financial nature of the TPS contract with Obie & Ax Inc., the story raises larger issues for consideration about the use of podcasts by government agencies to influence public conversation. Documents obtained through FOIA reveal that the police service chose to use the third-party contractor to avoid appearance of so-called “copaganda.”  The TPS’ attempt to influence public conversation with pro-police information while obfuscating their editorial influence requires closer scrutiny.

Citizens should expect ethical, professional, and transparent communication from their government agencies. Using the ethical guidelines for social media established by Bowen (2013; Bowen and Stacks 2014), I assess the ethical aspects of TPS’s “24 Shades of Blue” and compare it to other police and government agency podcasts.  Drawing on definitions of “professionalism” in business communication and public relations, I posit a working definition of a professional podcast and use this to assess government podcasts. Finally, I consider how podcasting may be used in a transparent manner to build trust and negotiate power imbalances between government agencies and their citizens (D’Ignazio and Klein 2023; Kahn 2017).

Works Cited

Bowen, Shannon. 2013. “Using classic social media cases to distill ethical guidelines” Journal of Mass Media Ethics.

Bowen, Shannon A. and Don W. Stacks. 2014. “Understanding the Ethical and Research Implications of Social Media,” Ethical Practice of Social Media in Public Relations. Routledge. 217-234.

D’Ignazio, Catherine, and Lauren F. Klein. 2023. Data Feminism. MIT Press. Ebook. https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262547185/data-feminism/

Kahn, Gohar F. 2017. Social Media for Government.