Project PhDcast

I was excited to read this week’s Pod The North newsletter and learn about the upcoming Echo Podcast Summit in Halifax, NS, in June. It was one of those “my research is relevant!” moments. Podcast industry folks want to talk about ethics? I am so here for it!

I follow a number of podcasting industry newsletters to keep abreast of the conversations happening in the podcast space. These types of newsletters feature the usual fare including the latest updates from platform and software companies and upcoming industry conferences. They also include on a semi-regular basis the panicked posts about the looming death of podcasting, audio being overtaken by video, and what even is a podcast anymore anyway?

So seeing ethics front and centre in the Canadian-focussed Pod The North was super exciting and refreshing. I think Kattie Laur (Pod The North) and Rhys Waters (Echo Podcast Summit, Podstarter) do a good job of highlighting some of the same issues I’m often bringing up in my own research:

• Listeners and podcasters can form strong parasocial relationships, which can be used for good and bad.
• Trust scan be squandered or misplaced.
• Stories are powerful ways to open new perspectives and ways of thinking.
• The line between journalist and personal story or opinion is blurred.

Podcasting’s great strength is its accessibility and the opportunity for marginalized voices to be heard (algorithms and tech access permitting). But that is also its greatest weakness, as anyone can create and publish anything with little thought or care for their responsibilities to listeners. As podcasters, if we allow the field to be filled with disinformation, misinformation, and AI slop, then we risk damaging the trust listeners have in podcasts generally.

Rhys mentions the idea of giving independent podcasters the opportunity “to do training in fact checking…journalistic skills, to get certifications that would unlock funding opportunities or promotional opportunities.” This could be a really good step, although there still needs to be more awareness about ethics and mis/disinformation among both podcast creators and consumers. This, of course, connects to the larger conversation of digital media literacy and how to help educate consumers. (See for example, the 2019 return of the house hippo.)

I have been wrestling with the question of how to get podcasters to care about this. After all, there are some big name podcasts by people who seemingly don’t care about ethics and mis/disinformation. If they can be successful without ethics, why should I consider ethics in my own podcasting? On a personal level I see podcasting as having power and thus there is responsibility in having a platform, no matter how small. I also think about podcasts as relationships, which has led me to consider how the ethics of care shows up in podcasting. Indigenous ways of thinking offer a lot to this conversation. As a new-ish medium, podcasting has a really neat opportunity to bring in decolonized practices and ways of thinking from the start.

There is certainly a level of responsibility for indie and small-scale podcasters to consider, but the conversation needs to go beyond that as well. My ongoing research into the Toronto Police Service’s use of podcasting examines how a publicly funded agency taps into the power of parasocial relationships to influence public conversations about law enforcement and punishment in our current society. Podcasting companies (and those who employ them) should be considering their social responsibilities.

Ethics, like decolonization, isn’t work for somebody else to do and report back. Rather, it is work that each and every individual needs to undertake for themselves. Increasing awareness of ethical issues in podcasting, offering incentives for ethical practices, and having nuanced discussions about the consequences of unethical practices will help position podcasting as a respectful place for informed discussion of public issues.

I hope that Echo Podcast Summit will record and release their sessions as podcast episodes. And I hope this conversation becomes a recurring event (it is described as “inaugural” in Pod The North, so here’s hoping!). These are such important conversations to be having and they need to extend to both indie and industry podcast creators, whatever their roles.

For interested podcasters, Echo Podcast Summit is a free, one-day event in Halifax, Nova Scotia on Friday, June 20. The theme is trust, ethics, influence, and responsibility.

Kattie Laur of Pod The North has organized a number of social events for Canadian podcasters, including the upcoming free picnic (bring your own sandwich!) on Sunday, June 22 in Hamilton, Ontario.