Podcastology

Digital storytelling with a human heart.

Ethical Podcasting

Technology makes it easy for anyone to create a podcast. This accessibility is both a strength and a challenge. Academic researchers, independent scholars, and marginalized voices use podcasts to participate in public discourse. Technical how-to information is easily found online, but podcasters wishing to practice their craft in an ethical and responsible way are often left to handle complex situations on their own.

Ethical podcasting certification helps creators navigate the rapidly evolving digital media landscape. Displaying this certification also helps listeners identify trustworthy podcasts amidst increasing mis- and disinformation.

This is a voluntary certification to identify podcasts that follow ethical best practices. The certification framework consists of three components:

  1. Best practices for ethical podcasting, developed collaboratively with a diverse working group of podcast creators, listeners, and academic experts;
  2. Educational materials for podcast creators and listeners to explore the nuances of ethical podcasting practice and the impact of emergent technology, such as artificial intelligence; and
  3. A digital badge to identify podcasts using the best practice guidelines.

Get involved!

The working group, launching fall 2025, will bring together independent podcasters, podcast industry professionals, listeners, and academic experts to discuss the intricacies of ethics in podcasting and to develop best practice guidelines. Join the conversation now.

About Alison

Photo of Alison Innes

Alison Innes is a researcher, podcast producer, and storyteller who believes that our best conversations help us better understand each other—and ourselves. She is passionate about the power of podcasts to create space for authentic, ethical, and vulnerable storytelling that connects people, ideas, and communities.

As a PhD student in Brock University’s Interdisciplinary Humanities program, Alison researches how podcasts foster trust, create connection, and help people make sense of ideas together. She is especially interested in how podcasting can build relationships, share stories, democratize knowledge, and invite more people into conversations that matter.

Whether she’s researching, producing, or holding space for conversations, Alison is guided by a simple belief: that when we share knowledge with curiosity, generosity, and care, we create opportunities to better understand each other.

Podcasting and researching from the traditional territory of the Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabe peoples in modern-day Canada.  Photo credit Kaitlyn Daw.

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