Can we talk a little shop?
Last time my number came up in the column rotation, I made a brief mention of the podcast Coast Reporter had just launched.
Well, Coast Beat is six episodes old this week (our iron anniversary!), and you’ve probably noticed ads promoting it scattered throughout the paper, or seen a mention on Twitter, Facebook or the website.
But we haven’t really taken the time to tell you much about it, and as the host and producer of the podcast, that job falls to me.
The credit for coining the term “podcast” goes to journalist Ben Hammersley, who was writing for The Guardian at the time, and needed a way to describe new technology for delivering short audio content on-demand, or through subscriptions that download automatically to devices like iPods.
I sometimes wish he’d come up with a different word, because although it’s catchy, “podcast” can sound strange and unapproachable (even to people in the media business).
Podcasts are just good old-fashioned radio, only we get it out to listeners in a different way. As a journalist with decades of broadcast experience, that’s how I’ve been approaching Coast Beat. It’s our own little radio show.
In a nutshell, the idea behind Coast Beat is to give you a look at the main stories we’ve been working on from a slightly different angle, a chance to hear directly from the newsmakers, and a chance to hear insight on the stories from our reporters, all packaged up into a 15- to 20-minute program and then posted online.
Coast Beat is now available on three platforms: Soundcloud (go to soundcloud.com and search “Coast Reporter”), iTunes, and on our website www.coastreporter.net. You can listen on your computer, smart phone and, of course, iPod, or download it to enjoy later. Subscribing through iTunes will deliver it to your device automatically.
We plan to continue producing a new podcast weekly, and have it on Soundcloud and iTunes late Thursdays, and on our website on Fridays.
If you haven’t had a chance yet, give it a listen. Once you’ve heard this week’s episode, and maybe even gone back to check out some older episodes, we’d love to hear what you think.
We’re bubbling with ideas here at the office for what we can add and directions we can take the podcast for future episodes, but I’m also keen to know what you want us to try. More feature interviews? Original content and stories that you can only get on the podcast? Fashion tips? Dramatic reenactments of “Kisses and Kicks”? We’re open to anything. Drop me a line via [email protected]
