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Personal narrative journalism and podcasting

Article  in  The Radio Journal International Studies in Broadcast and Audio Media · April 2016
DOI: 10.1386/rjao.14.1.23_1

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Personal narrative journalism and podcasting
Lindgren, M. 2016 In: The Radio Journal: international studies in broadcast and audio
media. 14, 1, p. 23-41 19 p.

Post-print version (for definition of “post-print” see:

http://www.intellectbooks.co.uk/journals/page/index,name=openaccessoption/)

Personal narrative journalism and podcasting

Associate professor Mia Lindgren, Monash University, Australia

Introduction

In 2013 Rosalind Coward mapped the rise of what she calls confessional and
personal journalism, describing it as a new cultural form and ‘perhaps the
biggest growth area of journalism’ (12). Her analysis outlined the steady growth
of personalised and intimate journalism, from the New Journalism of the 1960s
and ‘70s, through the tabloidisation of the 1980s, to today’s media fascination
with real life experiences and the focus on the constitution of identity and the
‘self’:

This preoccupation with the self is not just with our own selves. We also
want to witness others finding out who they are, what they are made of, and
if they can change. (Coward, 2013: 88)

Nowhere is this trend more obvious than in recent podcast developments, where
US podcasts lead the way with personal and subjective approaches to
storytelling. Personal stories and personal podcasts were heavily represented in
the Slate’s top 25 ranking of best podcast episodes of all time (Haglund and
Onion, 2014). These personal stories deal with topics that might appear trivial
and domestic, emphasizing ‘the inner emotional life, the opposite of subjects
considered proper journalism’ (Coward 2013: 8).

Radio and podcast storytelling is perfectly placed to explore lived, personal
experiences. Unlike stories produced for screens where emotions are acted out
in visual form, audio stories (readily available on smartphones) explore our lives
through sounds and spoken words, intimately whispered into our ears. The
personalized listening space created by headphones further accommodates the
bond created between voices in the story and the listener.

Richard Berry (2006) argues that podcasting content can still be understood as
‘radio-like’ (155). Radio’s capacity to privilege the unique and emotional

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qualities of the human voice sharing personal experiences is driving personal
storytelling. The rapid growth of this storytelling style is escalated by the recent
experimentation in form and genre afforded by podcasting, liberated from
broadcast conventions and schedules. Its many millions of downloads around
the world are evidence of the popularity of the innovation.

This article investigates the rise of personal narratives in the context of
podcasting. It argues that the movement towards personal narratives is
intrinsically linked to the intimate nature of the audio medium. I will build on
Coward’s (2013) research, which focuses exclusively on print journalism, by
extending it to audio forms. Coward reflects on her own column for The Guardian
newspaper where she wrote about caring for her elderly mother. The rise of
personal and subjective journalism is illustrated in two ways: firstly by
journalists, like Coward herself, participating in the story and sharing their own
experiences; and secondly, by journalists taking a narrative approach to the
development of their journalism, emphasizing the personal experiences of
subjects of the story. This is an area that has so far received limited critical
attention.

This article focuses first on the emerging genre of personal radio journalism in
podcasting. Following this I will discuss definitions of audio storytelling in
journalistic contexts. This is relevant, as producers connected with National
Public Radio (NPR) in the US have driven the initial phase of the podcast
revolution. Many of these producers describe and understand their work as
journalistic, utilising the freedom of podcasting to experiment with journalistic
forms of expression – for example, Alex Blumberg’s (‘Ep. 70 Alex Blumberg –
Startup, More Art Than Science,’ 2014) podcast network which is branded as
‘narrative journalism and storytelling’. Finally, I will examine three examples of
personal audio storytelling: the popular US podcasts Invisibilia; Planet Money,
and The Mystery Show, mapping how these three podcasts take a personalised
narrative approach to building program content and audiences.

Emerging podcast genres

Scholarly research on podcasting is still developing, as illustrated by a
symposium in the Journal of Radio and Audio Media, published in 2015. Although
the history of podcasting has been well covered by scholars like Richard Berry
(2006, 2015) Andrew Bottomley (2015), Virginia Madsen (2009) and Enrico
Menduni (2007), much of the discourse has been found in trade magazines and
on blogs. Tiziano Bonini (2015) argues that rather than understanding
podcasting as a liberating technology, it should be understood as a digital mass
medium. He contends that podcasting should not be seen as an alternative to

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radio broadcasting but as a ‘renewed form of it’ (23), following new business
models and changing markets. Some practices of production and podcasts
developments are clearly influenced by radio conventions, as illustrated in this
article. Others leapfrog into new format and styles. Richard Berry (2006)
acknowledges that we still refer to radio to understand podcasts; however, he
also calls for the need for new perspectives to understand this form. Kris
Markman’s (2012) study of independent podcast producers shows that ‘to do
radio’ (555) was the most frequent reasons for producing their podcast.

Several studies explore podcast genres or particular shows (see Diffrient, 2010;
Swanson, 2010). In her chapter on podcasting for the inaugural international
MOOC (massive open online course) about Transnational Radio, Nele Heise
(2015) suggests that certain podcast formats can be understood as new
emerging ‘personal media genres’. She uses Lüders’ et al. (2010) work, which
argues that emerging genres can be ‘both medium and outcome of textual
practices’ (Lüders et al. 2010: 947).

Genres can be understood as an overarching category of textual practice
(Fairclough, 1992) where ‘textual practice’ refers to both ‘production and
reception of texts’ (949). Another way to understand genre is as mediating
between media and its use, where for example a novel is located between a book
and the author/reader (Lüders et al., 2010). The authors argue that the concept
of genre is useful as a more holistic analysis and understanding of expression, by
which

identifying changes in a parliamentary debate and sms-based interaction
amongst friends contributes substantially to the understanding of where the
parliament and friendship are heading as everyday communication forms
(Lüders et al., 2010: 950)

Genres are based on interaction between conventions, in this case the approach
podcast producers take to develop specific audio content and its production
values, and expectations, i.e. what the listeners anticipate hearing. Conventions
are built over time, where texts refer to each other by ‘their similarity in form
and style, making the genre distinguishable and recognizable, in spite of
variations’ (Lüders et al., 2010: 953).

As this article will show, US podcast development is heavily influenced by the US
program This American Life (TAL) and its presenter Ira Glass. There will be
frequent references to the narrative approach taken by the producers of TAL and
more recently, Serial, developing the kinds of genre conventions mentioned
above. Similarly, audience expectations can be illustrated by podcast audiences
downloading podcasts and financially supporting crowdsourcing to fund

3
storytelling platforms, such as Radiotopia’s ‘curated network of extra-ordinary,
story-driven shows’ (Radiotopia, n.d.).

This early on in podcast development, it is useful in a critical analysis to continue
to reference radio formats and ‘radiogenic’ (Berry, 2006) aspects of audio
production, especially with a focus on intimacy and presentation. For the
purpose of this article the terms audio and radio will be used interchangeably to
illustrate the trend towards personal narratives in podcasting. It allows the
analysis to build and extend on genres such as ‘narrative radio journalism’, a
term used by NPR producers to describe a production style and approach
utilised in shows produced for podcasts as well as radio broadcasts. This is
relevant as US podcast producers refer to the influence of Ira Glass and his radio
show, which was on air for 10 years before the advent of podcasting.

Intimate and personal audio stories

Rosalind Coward (2013) locates the emergence of personal and subjective
journalism in the 1960s New Journalism. Truman Capote, Hunter S Thompson
and Norman Mailer are some of the trailblazers of this trend, placing the
journalist at the centre of the account. Coward underlines the need for critical
analysis of this steadily growing interest in the self and subjectivity within
journalism. Walt Harrington (1997) wrote a passionate justification for the
relevance of what he called ‘intimate journalism’. He argued that journalists
should embrace reporting stories of everyday life and people’s subjective
experience of living. As people try to make sense of their lives, these stories open
up ‘windows on our universal human struggle’ (Harrington, 1997: xiv).

It can be argued that the successful US podcast producers, with their focus on
personal narratives, are creating content that exploits the potential of the
medium. Jonah Weiner (2014) highlights that podcasts are built on oral
traditions and are therefore obviously driven by voice; ‘recognizing this, we talk
about the form’s special sense of intimacy and even its erotics’. He suggests that
many podcasts are listened to in transit and are therefore akin to books found at
airports and train stations:

[P]odcasts present a way to re-enter, and move through, the natural world
without logging off. In an antidotal, and almost paradoxical way, podcasts
are the internet freed from pixels (Weiner, 2014)

The focus on intimate and confessional stories maps directly onto the perception
of radio as the most intimate of mediums (Crisell, 1994). Siobhan McHugh
(2014) describes radio as a most powerful medium ‘whose non-intrusiveness,
affective resonance and enveloping nature make it particularly suited to

4
capturing intimate personal narratives’ (154). It is a medium where the human
voice, as radio producer Jay Allison puts it, 'can sneak in, bypass the brain, and
touch the heart' (2010: 184). In her UK-based ethnographic study of the
relationship between listeners and radio, Jo Tacchi (2002) found that radio is
often thought of as a friend and as ‘company’.

Andrew Crisell calls radio a ‘blind’ medium in his seminal text, Understanding
Radio (1994). The medium relies solely on sounds and in the absence of visual
stimuli, the listener is urged to create images in their mind (Crisell, 1994). Susan
Douglas (2004) argues that radio is far from ‘blind’ as it invokes rich imagery in
listeners’ minds. As radio engages the imagination, it has a potential to create a
uniquely personal relationship between the listener and the content. Voice is the
intimate key to audiences’ hearts. By listening to detailed personal experiences
of ‘others’, listeners become connected to the people whose stories they share.
Listeners feel like they know the people speaking in the radio programs, both the
journalists and the interviewees. Listening to podcasts with headphones further
emphasizes the individual’s experience of listening to a conversation with a
friend. James Tierney (2015) argues that in ‘the age of earbuds,’ podcasts offer
more than just new forms of portable radio content:

Podcasts represent an atomisation of experience, muffling the sounds of the
immediate environment and removing the individual from a synchronous
community of listeners.

Building connections of empathy between the audience and the people in the
story is the focus of a study by Lene Bech Sillesen and colleagues (2015) looking
at journalism and the power of emotions. Their study is focused on the potential
impact on readers’ ability to feel empathy for characters in journalistic stories in
the shift from print to digital culture. Sillesen et al reviewed 60 psychological and
neuroscientific studies. The literature showed that the human brain is hardwired
for empathy and the empathic response increases as we learn more about each
other. It also showed that ‘narratives spark feelings of empathy in much the same
way, which is why stories have the power to influence minds and motivate
action’ (Sillesen et al. 2015). The researchers’ explanation, put simply, is that we
identify with others’ pain and in ways, ‘our brains intertwine our own and
others’ experiences’ (Sillesen et al. 2015). This is relevant to understanding how
personal storytelling is driving the current resurgence in radio and audio. By
presenting stories that illustrate inner lives, the listener can relate them to his or
her own experience and develop insight and understanding as they listen, as
argued by Harrington (1994). This type of intimate and personal storytelling sets
up a platform where the audience can learn about themselves by hearing others
grapple with emotional challenges. According to Rosalind Coward, ‘we need real-
life stories to witness and thereby to test ourselves.’ (2013:10).

5
Narrative radio journalism

The emphasis of personal narratives in audio forms should perhaps be expected
for a medium privileging sound and the human voice. The popularity of podcasts
emerging from the US clearly shows the audience attraction of narrative radio
journalism forms with a strong element of personal involvement by the
presenter(s). They share a common personal approach to telling their audio
stories. The presenters (they can also be called reporters or journalists) are
informal and conversational in their presentation style and tone. They sound
relaxed and personal – like real people, or friends engaging in a conversation
with us.

In 2011, Ira Glass, presenter of the influential This American Life (TAL) program,
called for broadcast journalists to start sounding ‘ like human beings on air’. A
2010 NPR/SmithGeiger survey showed that the main reason for listeners turning
off public radio is because they are put off by the tone. One survey respondent
said: “This type of story could be interesting, but the reporter’s voice and
intonation is soooo affected, upper class, wasp, Ph.D. student-like, it detracts
from the story. She speaks like she is writing a novel”’ (Glass, 2011). Glass argued
for broadcast journalism to put ‘human narrators at its center’ as a way to ensure
survival of fact-based journalism.

There are different terms to describe the audio form that started and continues
to drive the reinvention in audio storytelling. Alex Blumberg’s first podcast
venture, StartUp, had the tag line ‘narrative journalism and storytelling’.
Blumberg worked for National Public Radio (NPR) before starting his own
successful podcast company. Like many of his American radio and podcast
colleagues, he follows in the creative footsteps of This American Life.1 The TAL
team has spearheaded narrative radio journalism for 20 years. Manuel
Fernandez-Sande (2015) describes the show as ‘a classic example of narrative
radio journalism’,

a genre that applies the techniques of fiction to news production to give the
settings, human subjects and topics addressed in a news story a heightened
sense of drama, emotion or entertainment value that makes it more
compelling to listeners. (187)

It is an audio production format where ‘journalistic rigor is being combined with
freedom in ways we haven’t considered before’ (Larson, 2015). The South
American podcast Radio Ambulante that started in 2011 has also taken its
inspiration from TAL. Radio Ambulante is another example of the emerging genre

1
This American Life was first broadcast 17 November 1995

6
of personal narrative journalism in podcasting. Radio Ambulante is dedicated to
telling stories that ‘narrate the everyday lives of Latin American people’
(Fernandez-Sande, 2015: 187), dealing with serious journalism through a lens of
intimacy and localism.

Although podcasts have been available since the mid-2000s and audio buffs have
been downloading shows to listen to on their computers, portable audio devices
and smartphones, it wasn’t until the 2014 blockbuster podcast Serial that
narrative radio journalism became a dinner table conversation around the
world. Serial, produced by Sarah Koenig from TAL, was downloaded by millions
of international listeners who followed weekly episodes investigating the 1999
murder of Baltimore high school student Hae Min Lee.

The podcast also instigated an international conversation about narrative radio
journalism and the very personal approach to storytelling that became Koenig’s
signature approach. On one hand, Koenig was widely criticised for presenting
deeply personal stories of life and death of real people as entertainment, in a
format that mimicked fictional drama familiar from HBO or Netflix; on the other
hand Koenig’s method of involving herself in the story has fostered a greater
understanding of journalistic processes, and encouraged a growing literacy
around the making of radio and podcasts.

Personal audio storytelling in podcasts

The following section analyses three US podcasts Invisibilia, Planet Money, and
The Mystery Show as examples to demonstrate the rise of personal audio
storytelling as an emerging genre in radio journalism. These podcasts are
discussed using a framework for analysis established and tested by the online
journal RadioDoc Review (2014). The journal has an international editorial
board comprising practitioners and radio scholars. The aim of the journal is to
develop a canon of critical analyses of award winning radio documentaries and
features whilst also increasing literacy of the form. More recently podcasts have
been added to the journal. The criteria used for analysis and deconstruction are
developed to aid critical discourse about genres, aesthetics and forms, and to be
used as a framework for understanding highly crafted productions ranging from
non-fiction radio journalism to fictional features. Because the critical framework
is developed to assess packaged forms of radio stories with high production
values rather than live or flow radio, I argue that the criteria are transferable to
similar types of podcast, like the three examples in this article. In contrast, the
criteria wouldn’t be particularly useful as a framework of analysis for a question-
and-answer style interview podcast recorded in someone’s living room. The ten
criteria include storytelling strength; originality; audience engagement; research

7
and reporting; complexity of story and form; emotiveness and empathy; craft
and artistry; ethical production; public benefit; and impact. The original list of
criteria has been adapted for the analyses of the following three examples to fit
the word length of this article. The criteria ‘emotiveness and empathy’ and
‘audience engagement’ are the focus of attention in all three analyses to address
my point about an emerging genre of personal narrative journalism. Other
criteria are included to provide context and to create a nuanced understanding
of the content, however those criteria vary between the programs.

Case Study 1: Invisibilia – ‘Fearless’, season one episode two (Invisibilia, 16 January
2015)

The NPR series and podcast Invisibilia considers ‘the invisible forces that control
human behavior – ideas, beliefs, assumptions and emotions’ ('About Invisibilia',
n.d.). The program is led by presenters Alix Spiegel and Lulu Miller, and draws on
the highly produced, formulaic and stylized storytelling techniques that have
made NPR productions This American Life and RadioLab so popular. Each
episode of Invisibilia focuses on a single theme. The formula combines a series of
vignettes about the human experience with closely following one person
navigating a particular challenge. The episode analysed here is concerned with
fear. The stories move from humorous to serious, scientific to personal and
autobiographical. Such mix of light and shade makes for easy and fun listening.
However condensing complex scientific research into a single person’s lived
experience has clear limitations. It risks becoming anecdotal and it relies on the
connection listeners make with the main subject.

Craft and artistry:

New layers of meaning and interpretation are introduced to personal stories
through the extrapolation of scientific research, but the evidence is always
tightly wound around the central theme. Each story relies centrally on a few
voices: the host, an expert, and the subject. The host’s voice is the most
prevalent. Scripting is extensive, and highly stylized. The script is intercut with
very short and concise grabs from experts, subjects and from unidentified
informal comments from members of the public (also referred to as “vox pop”2).
Often the experts and subject will say only a couple of words, or at most a couple
of sentences at a time, while the hosts will speak at length – paraphrasing
research and stories in the hosts’ own language, which is always expressive and
vivid.

Impact - craft and artistry:

The program focuses on invisible forces and both visual language and evocative
imagery are used to conjure graphic pictures in the listeners’ minds. The aural

2 Vox populi means "the voice of the people" in Latin.

8
medium is utilized to its full capacity, using music and short bursts of sound –
like a gasp of fear, a woman expressing surprise, gunshots, and even the sounds
the first mass shooting in America caught on film – to set the mood. Repetition is
used for effect and to build tension. For instance, looping the phrase, ‘it’s just like
it’s walking,’ uttered by a scientist, creates the impression that these words
haunt host Miller as she attempts to rationally overcome her fear of snakes. This
highly stylized compilation highlights how the producers create and drive the
narrative and content through editing. Listeners are not able to make up their
own minds about the sources as interviews are kept short and moved along by
interspersed commentary and explanations by the presenters.

Originality and innovation:

The stories and the concepts that the program explores are original; however,
the format borrows heavily from TAL, which Spiegel has worked on extensively
in the past.

Storytelling strength and Complexity:

While complex stories and scientific research are unraveled, an element of
personal storytelling is never far away with a tone that is casual, personal – even
intimate – and irreverent. The producers move seamlessly between talking about
their opinions, their emotions and facts supported by expert interviews. It’s an
effective style, which aims to make science fun. However, it requires that
listeners trust the producers as journalists collecting, assessing and sharing
information. The following exchange illustrates this tension between a program
employing a personal narrative style with more traditional forms of radio
journalism:

Spiegel: And because this is not just high class journalism but also cheesy secret
self help made by two women who have unironically watched all of Jennifer
Aniston’s romantic comedies, we will offer you at the end of every program an
actual formula that you can break down that will help you face your fear.
Whatever your fear is.
Miller: I think I just heard the soul of an NPR founder scream out and die.
Spiegel: Yeah, I think I just heard that too.

Audience engagement:
The visibility of the program hosts is one of the key tools used to connect with
listeners. The hosts have a familiar and friendly rapport, and become defined
characters of their own podcasts. The hosts share their sense of surprise and
discovery as they guide the listener through an increasingly complex narrative.
This meta-conversation with listeners is a technique also used extensively by
Sarah Koenig in Serial, where she was criticized for sharing her own emotions
towards a convicted criminal. There is no doubt that the presenters of Invisibilia
fully curate the content. They sub-title and explain what the interviewees say.

9
Listeners learn about people’s fears through proxy as Spiegel and Miller
translate the content for the listeners speaking right in the listeners’ ears, pre-
empting their questions, and addressing them directly. The presenter team takes
the audience on a wild ride from what Miller describes as ‘wild speculation’ to
fact-based reporting:

Miller: All right, Alix, so this music signals that we are going to leave the land of
strict reporting and journey to the land of fact-based, wild speculation.

Emotiveness and empathy:

Over the course of the series, the personalities of the hosts are developed to
create the impression that the listener knows them, and could even be friends
with them. This episode of Invisibilia gives a clear example of the emerging genre
of personal narrative journalism, using presenter Miller’s fear of snakes as an
entry point to the story. She becomes a character in her own journalism. In
addition, vox pops are used to highlight the universality of this fear to ensure
listeners not only emphasize with Miller but also identify it with their own
experiences. The personality of the host is used to anchor and personalize a
story that could otherwise become abstract.

Research and reporting/Complexity/Public benefit

Within a single episode, the line between personal storytelling and journalism is
challenged. The final story about Jason, a man who confronts his fear of rejection
by approaching strangers and asking for things so that he will be rejected, can be
unambiguously positioned as a personal story. Relying almost exclusively on his
version of events, it has little in the way of critical investigation, impartiality, or
newsworthiness. Confessional in nature, the story reveals information that is
personally revealing, and that makes Jason, the subject, vulnerable. It is primarily
an entertaining story that opens in a way in which most members of the
audience can relate to.

By contrast, other stories in the episode are much more tightly focused upon
scientific research. The story of SM, who is unable to experience fear, essentially
reports on medical research, although the way in which it is presented borrows
strongly from the methods of personal storytelling, differentiating Invisibilia
from more conventional modes of science reporting. SM is at the centre of the
story. Her personal trajectory is crucial to the unfolding narrative. The program
creates a personal empathic connection with the listeners, but also – and this is
crucial- the personal story ultimately points to some greater insight into the
human condition. That insight is also inherent to the central theme of the
episode. This is a hallmark of the TAL storytelling style, which Ira Glass has
commented on in his YouTube series (Glass, 2009).

10
Case Study 2: Planet Money, “A or B,” episode #669 (Planet Money, 11
December 2015)

Planet Money describes itself as replicating a fun evening with a friend discussing
‘what’s going on with the economy’ (Planet Money, 2015). Robert Smith and
Steve Hen produce Planet Money as a twice-weekly podcast and as separate
segments for the numerous NPR news programs. Self-described as ‘the most
meta episode ever,’ this installment of Planet Money explores the marketing
technique called ‘A/B testing.’ The technique, aimed at testing two products on
people to ascertain which is most popular and therefore likely to sell, is
explained by demonstrating how it works in relation to the production of this
episode. In this case, the presenters explain the concept by testing which story
development technique listeners would find most appealing: personal narrative
storytelling or traditional radio journalism.

Complexity of information and portrayals

Listeners are presented with two different openings to the podcast. One version
presents the concept of A/B testing using a textbook explanation. The other
version begins with a personal experience from a man who used A/B testing on
Obama’s election campaign website, enabling an increased number of volunteers
to participate in the campaign.

It’s not surprising that the Planet Money team decides to A/B test their podcast,
to create a story about the story. The test revealed that the personal story was
more popular with audiences in comparison with an opening that explained the
‘big idea’ of A/B testing. That result can of course be used in support for an
argument of the popularity of narrative radio journalism techniques. However,
as shown below, listeners are not readily convinced that opinion polls should
determine quality journalism.

Audience engagement; originality and innovation

The program presents complex ideas, making them comprehensible by
communicating them through a story that the audience can unambiguously
relate to: the experience of listening to the very program that they are tuned to.
The presenters emphasize that A/B testing privileges the opinion of listeners,
rather than some other authority like a boss or producer. The audience is urged
to consider which podcast opening they prefer, as their opinions are shown to be
important. Like other NPR podcasts, the listener is addressed directly, and the
tone of the presenters is conversational and casual.

Research
Several experts and practitioners of A/B testing are consulted. Conveying
complex ideas with clarity in a segment just 16 minutes long is achieved through

11
skillful interviewing and precise editing. There is almost no superfluous
information, as a tight focus is maintained.

Craft and artistry

In-depth information, both in relation to A/B testing generally and to the A/B
tests run on Planet Money specifically, is related to listeners through dialogue
between presenters and interviews with guests. Sound elements are simple:
music in the opening and closing of the segment, interviews are short, and
interspersed with script, to keep the explanations simple.

Storytelling strength; Emotiveness and Empathy

As the episode develops, the audience is drawn in by the hosts’ identification
with the process of A/B testing and its outcomes. Both hosts are clearly attached
to the outcome of A/B testing their podcast opening, and the audience also
becomes connected to the process and its outcomes. Dialogue between the two
hosts further facilitates the audiences’ engagement with their process, as they
share and laugh about their diverging opinions. The personality and presence of
the hosts is crucial to the audiences’ ability to relate to the content. The sense of
exposure to the minute judgments that audiences make at many different
moments throughout a single podcast opens up the audiences’ insight into the
process of production. This meta conversation between the presenters and the
audience about production practices was also used in the Invisibilia episode
above and as mentioned, by the Serial. Its focus on personal experiences and
opinions, those of the interviewees as well as the presenters, aligns with a
personal narrative journalism approach. The conversation creates a sense of a
live dialogue, but one that is fake and one-sided. It does however, highlight to the
listeners the podcast is a highly produced artifact where reporting is combined
with storytelling, aimed to get a particular message across in a style that will
attract the biggest audience possible.

Ethics, impact and public benefit

Interestingly, comments on the Planet Money webpage comments are
consistently critical of this episode. Listeners did not necessary agree with the
episode’s portrayal of A/B testing. Some contested the veracity of the findings,
while others expressed discomfort with the idea that current affairs content was
being A/B tested. Listeners’ comments pointed to the ways that A/B testing in
this instance may be flawed, and how it might simply produce content that
researchers thought audiences wanted to hear. Relying on A/B testing might
ultimately lead to a ‘click bait’ approach to current affairs reporting, and could
compromise the individuality of programs, their tone and style.

Listeners’ comments show that this episode effectively engaged the audience,
although almost all of those that made comments were dissatisfied with the
content of the program. As audiences reflected on the podcast, the values and

12
ethics that they expected to find in NPR current affairs reporting were
articulated, precisely because this episode challenged journalistic values that
prioritise accuracy, impartiality, and independence. This highlights some of the
potential pitfalls of personal narrative journalism, and opportunities for further
studies into definitions of and boundaries between journalism and storytelling.

Case Study 3: Mystery Show, “Belt Buckle” (Mystery Show, 18 June 2015)

Mystery Show is one of the first series to be produced and released by the
podcasting company Gimlet media. Host and producer Starlee Kine is a former
TAL producer. Introducing the podcast, Kine promises to solve a new mystery
every week: ‘mysteries that can’t be solved online. Mysteries that you can’t solve
yourself.’ (Mystery Show, 18 June 2015)

The aesthetic of the podcast is quirky, original, and rather charming. With a lisp,
Kine at first seems an unlikely podcast presenter, although this quickly becomes
part of the appearance of her being ‘ordinary’ rather than a professional
presenter. What stands out in her presenting and reporting style is her ability to
develop a rapport with almost any stranger she speaks.

In ‘Belt Buckle’, Kine sets about finding the owner of an unusual belt buckle.
Kine’s friend Carson was captivated by the belt buckle from the age of 9, and
charges Kine with solving the mystery of whom it originally belonged to.

The tone of the program is established from the start, as Kine shares a little piece
of wisdom in her best storytelling voice: ‘When you have a mystery, you carry it
around always. Usually that happens in your head. But in Carson’s case, his mystery
fits in the palm of his hand.’

Storytelling
The Mystery Show is not a storytelling show, according to Kine, who in an
interview with magazine Vanity Fair, explicitly says that she began to consider
The Mystery Show a departure from storytelling podcasts.

I was kind of tired of doing personal stories and stuff… I was like, screw
storytelling. I can tell mysteries. (Lawson 2015)

However, the podcast draws heavily on the storytelling conventions established
by earlier NPR podcasts. Specific and idiosyncratic details of characters and
events are delved into, in addition to attempts to draw generalities from these
experiences that will resonate with a broad listenership. There is extensive use
of script, strong host presence, and an element of surprise that maintains the
listeners attention – rules of storytelling exhibited in TAL and other NPR and
Gimlet productions, and articulated by Ira Glass (2009).

13

While the overarching structure of the podcast may involve solving a mystery,
Kine doesn’t entirely leave storytelling behind. The unfolding mystery of the belt
buckle follows a narrative arc with a beginning, middle and end, a climax, and a
resolution. Each new character that is introduced plays a part in solving the
mystery, but they also have their own story. These smaller stories revealed
throughout the program are crucial to the podcast’s appeal.

But perhaps the most defining element of Mystery Show is the importance of
exploring human connections throughout the program and this is where the
podcast can be understood within an emerging genre of personal audio
narratives.

Emotiveness and Empathy

Each episode is structured around solving a mystery; however, the podcast is at
least as much about exploring emotional encounters and touching conversations
between strangers. Sometimes the listener feels as though the mystery may be
simply the vehicle with which to orchestrate encounters with strangers. Kine’s
strength as an interviewer lies in her ability to quickly build empathy and
emotional connections with almost anyone. There is a quaint appeal to the trivial
nature of Kine’s mysteries, and they are a kind of antidote to the conditions of
modern living, where isolation, anonymity, lack of community and loneliness are
common experiences and where the intimacy that the aural medium can foster
through listening to a voice in headphones is effectively exploited.

Originality and innovation

There is nothing newsworthy in the content of this podcast, and in many ways it
contradicts the defining principles of journalism. The outcomes of the mysteries
don’t really matter – it is much more about the process of discovery, the journey
that the listener goes on. As one blogger writes of the program, ‘With the stakes
so laughably low, Kine sets up a fascinating storytelling problem: how does she
get listeners to care about mysteries so banal that the parties to the mystery
barely even care?’ (Zuckerman, 2015)

Craft and artistry

With the substance of the mysteries relatively inconsequential, the art of this
podcast lies in the delivery of content. The sound elements are relatively simple.
The use of indie pop music throughout establishes the tone and pace of the
program. Music breaks between script and interviews create a leisurely feeling
that the mystery will be solved without any pressing urgency.

Audience engagement
Kine uses the script to point out detail and to guide audience responses, ushering
them through the listening experience. The script plays an important role in
establishing the light-hearted tone of the program, using humour and emotion to

14
engage the listener with something that mostly is relatively banal. Kine
addresses the listener personally, telling them where to direct their thoughts and
imagination as they listen. She demands an emotive engagement with the
listener through appeals to childhood, imagination and nostalgia:

Think back to when you were a little kid, how badly you wanted to believe
that the world was full of hidden treasures. Now. Imagine seeing that belt
buckle. (Mystery Show, 18 June 2015)

Impact and ethical practice

Fans of Mystery Show tend to agree in online forums that ‘Belt Buckle’ is a
favourite episode. As one blogger points out, Mystery Show is the antidote to
Serial. Both have mysteries at their heart. While Serial takes on a high stakes case
and ultimately leaves it unresolved, Mystery Show takes on low stakes cases and
is dedicated to resolving them. While Serial left some audiences feeling ethically
compromised, Mystery Show is defined by the warmth and compassion with
which it treats guests and subjects.

Discussion

The three US podcasts discussed in this article all draw on the rules of
storytelling, as articulated by Ira Glass (2009, 2010), including the power of the
anecdote, focusing only on interesting topics, raising questions and offering
points of reflections. The stories also showcase the two forms of confessional and
personal journalism that Coward (2013) identifies in her work. First, the
podcasts place human experiences as centerpieces of their programs, using
personal stories to explore diverse issues ranging from new scientific research
into fear, to marketing testing, to daily mysteries of lost objects. Secondly, the
presenters are highly personal in their presentation style. They engage with
listeners as if they are friends in a conversation. They lead the listeners through
stories in an intimate way, creating lasting bonds and loyalty to the programs,
where listeners feel like they know the presenters personally.

It has been argued that these case studies point to an emerging genre of personal
audio storytelling that is driving much of the reinvention of podcasting,
especially prevalent in the US market but also influencing production styles
elsewhere, like Australia (Lindgren, 2014; Lindgren and McHugh, 2013). The
development of podcasting, especially since the success of Serial in 2014, shows
the interplay between production conventions and audience expectations,
creating a discernable and detectable genre.

Invisibilia’s format of a series of largely personal vignettes references the
structure of This American Life. In the Planet Money episode the personal

15
storytelling approach is tested as part of the story about advertisers using A/B
testing to determine the effectiveness of narratives. Similarly, in Invisibilia the
presenters and producers use personal narrative radio journalism techniques to
turn ‘the dry and scholarly into utterly captivating storytelling’ ('About
Invisibilia', n.d.). Complex issues are presented in an entertaining and simple
way – journalism made fun. The Mystery Show fully embraces the personal in its
program. Each episode is about solving a small mystery by exploring emotional
encounters and intimate conversations. Both Invisibilia and Mystery Show
include specific and idiosyncratic details of characters and events and they
follow storytelling techniques developed by NPR producers, including highly
produced and finely edited audio, successfully exploiting the aural medium
through a range of voices, wild sounds, music and effects.

All three shows are tightly scripted and highly stylized, intercut with interview
grabs. However, the scripts are written and delivered in a way that makes them
sound conversational and unscripted, led by the distinct presence of the host(s).
Across the three podcasts, the presenters share a role in the program heralded
by Ira Glass in TAL. Invisibilia presenter Alix Spiegel writes in her Transom
podcasting Manifesto how Glass’ innovation has influenced her, especially Glass’
desire to question and re-position the traditional objective news reporter ‘an
arms length’ away from the subject,

He [Ira Glass] wanted a tape collection that got deeply inside people’s heads
and hearts; he wanted the use of “I” because he felt that brought the
reporter closer to the listener; and he wanted to hear the reporters real
reactions on tape, their wonder, their laughter, their anger (Spiegel, 2014)

Allowing audience access to hearing ‘the real Sarah Koenig’ became a hallmark
style on Serial. She spoke directly with the listeners about the production
challenges of the program, guiding them through the twelve episodes by inviting
them to share her ethical conundrums and journalistic challenges. As Glass
suggested, listeners heard her reactions on tape and her emotions. As Coward
argued, the audience reflected on their own behaviours by ‘witnessing’ Koenig
(cf Coward, 2013). This technique is effective in building bonds between
listeners and producers. In Koenig’s case listeners connected deeply with her:
‘People feel like they know me and they kind of do, in a way’, (Sarah Koenig
quoted in a panel about podcasting, in Larson 2015).

The power of the personal is clearly demonstrated across all three podcasts
analyzed in this article. The personal audio narrative approach is proving
popular with audiences but the style also raises questions about trust,
impartiality and independence. Listeners are required to have acute awareness
of the artifact that is podcast and a well-developed ability to critically

16
understand what they hear as they follow presenters moving seamlessly from
‘wild speculations’ and opinions to facts. It relies on careful production practices
that balance Ira Glass’ idea of reporter actively participating in the story and that
of the traditional objective news reporter staying outside the frame.

Conclusion
Using three podcast examples, this article has argued that personal audio
storytelling is an emerging and popular genre in podcasting. Lüders et al. (2010)
contend that examining emerging genres can illustrate how ‘everyday life
“upgrades” itself’ (961) in digital environments. The move to forms of personal
narrative audio journalism can be conceptualized as radio formats ‘upgrading’ or
metamorphosing on podcast platforms through changing production
conventions and listener expectations into an emerging genre: podcasting can be
seen as a transformation of radio (Bonini, 2015: 23)

Jonah Weiner (2014) reminds us of the centrality of voice in podcasts. Voices
convey ‘warmth, empathy, personality and provide us with company – an
antidote to the loneliness of the internet.’ The capacity of personal stories is
echoed by presenter Lea Thau, from the podcast Strangers. In an interview with
the website The Timbre, dedicated to reviews and discussions about podcasts,
Thau explains that personal stories offer a different way to get to reality: ‘To my
mind a more essential truth of what it is to be human and what makes our lives
worthwhile.’ (Thau in Taylor, 2015). Thau said she didn’t set out to share much
of herself in the program, but she found listeners responded positively when she
did reveal her personality; her personal approach created direct engagement
with the audience. Over time she became more open and personable. Like Ira
Glass, Thau aimed to break down the authoritarian role of the presenter and not
have to be ‘impersonal and objective and stoic’ (Thau in Taylor, 2015)
‘THE TIMBRE
You said you don’t consider yourself a journalist, so what do you consider
yourself?
LEA THAU
That’s a great question. I guess a facilitator of stories?
THE TIMBRE
I think that’s a new occupation.’

However, capturing and sharing stories that deal with deeply personal
experiences carries a great risk of exploitation, especially when lines between
non-fiction and fiction are blurred. Capote’s iconic text In Cold Blood highlighted
an ethical dilemma that remains relevant to the rise of confessional and intimate
journalism 50 years later: ‘What are the journalists’ rights and responsibilities
with other people’s lives?’ (Coward, 2013). Moreover, what are the risks of
‘facilitator of stories’ such as Lea Thau telling confessional stories without a

17
framework of ethical guidelines and codes guiding the production? The first-
person narrative approach employed by Sarah Koenig in Serial received criticism
about the ethics of using real people and events in a format that resembled
fictional television dramas. The way many listeners ‘binge listened’ to the twelve
episodes further mirrored our viewing habits. Furthermore Koenig’s subjective
style of reporting raised concerns about influencing listeners’ judgment of who
might be guilty or not in the murder case. This is an area ripe for future research
into podcast genres and practices.


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