Radio Journal:International Studies in Broadcast & Audio Media - Radio and Sound in the Platform Age: Special Issue from ECREA 2023, Oct 2024

The digital ecosystem has promoted on-demand audio listening as a complimentary and even alternative to traditional radio. Some 51 per cent of Spanish internet users listen to podcasts on a regular basis, and podcast consumption in Spain is the highest in Europe. Narrative non-fiction podcasts are giving impetus to topics and issues which may be absent from traditional radio, limited by production schedules and the constraints of the antenna. Audio documentaries combine information, fiction and context through narrative and audio elements that are unusual in conventional audio journalism. This article describes the expressive nature of narrative podcasts in dealing with issues of public interest, identifying their differential features through a content analysis of sixteen podcasts released in Spain in 2021 and 2022. This study identifies the descriptive and narrative features of the stories, the approach, structure, use of music, sound effects and silences. The results reveal a strong emphasis on elaborate sound design, a credible enunciative voice, a journalistic perspective and the use of testimonies, sound effects and textures often hybridized with fiction.

The aim of this systematic literature review (SLR) is to understand what research has been conducted on the use of binaural sound (i.e. a type of 3D sound) in audio and radio journalism in the last decade (January 2013 to December 2023). For this purpose, the PRISMA method was used and data were collected from WoS and Scopus. A corpus of six journal articles was obtained and the results demonstrate a need for greater literacy among journalists about binaural technology and its uses. In the cases in which it is applied, the most common editorial sections are those on society, culture, education and travel/tourism and the goal is to put the listener in the centre of the story and make them more immersed in the narrative. However, this SLR also shows that there is little research in this field and it is essential to create a specific grammar when binaural sound is applied to radio and audio journalism.

This article borrows the ‘circuit of culture’ concept to investigate podcasting in Brazil, one of the most dynamic audio markets in the world. Focusing on production sphere, semi-structured interviews were conducted with managers of independent podcasts producers – Rádio Novelo and Central 3 – and Brazilian major broadcasting network, Sistema Globo de Rádio, with a portfolio of around one hundred and eighty podcasts. Data gathered indicate we are entering a new platformization era, which can be described by growing consolidation and sustainability issues, both to independent companies and legacy media.

The exponential growth of podcast consumption and production in Spain poses a challenge for public broadcasters, who must fulfil their duty of public service without losing their competitive position against major tech conglomerates in the global audio market. This research aims to detect and analyse the innovation strategies and projects implemented by public radio stations across Spain in order to define future audio trends. The results show that stations employ five formulas to reach young audiences: identification of the audience with journalists and interviews with personalities of the same generation; address topics that concern young people; emphasis on cultural topics and live music; local issues with a sense of proximity and a priority focus on the distribution of dynamic and visual content through social media.

This article proposes a hauntology of the podcast. Using radio and podcast studies, it looks to understand the technological potential of podcasting in a future where the metaverse, virtual reality (VR) and artificial intelligence (AI) may become common in its creative and listening practices. Eventually, it proposes a type of place-based intimacy which such a future may include for audiences and podcast creators.

This article reflects on the use of a mixed qualitative and quantitative methodology, based on ethnography, to carry out the thematic and narrative approach to creating a documentary podcast series about rural women in Andalusia. It shows the ethnographic method applied to a case study, demonstrating its usefulness in the creation of a sound documentary. The methodology includes participant observation in focus groups and a semantic analysis (latent Dirichlet allocation [LDA] model) of transcripts from sixteen interviews with the women who are the protagonists of the documentary. The conclusions generated by the analysis indicate the concepts, values and sentiments of rural Andalusian women together with the concern for various issues of the rural world and rural life. The analysis has served to prioritize the themes, tone and values of the documentary project and has helped to create the different episodes of the documentary podcast related to the prominent themes and sentiments. An experimental technique is applied, and the results could be used in the future as a support tool for creators and researchers in the sound and anthropological fields.

Review of: Bootlegging the Airwaves: Alternatives Histories of Radio and Television Distribution, Eleanor Patterson (2024)

Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 192 pp.,

ISBN 978-0-25208-769-1, p/bk, $28.00