The AEJMC History Division and Journalism History are excited to announce our new podcast is now live on iTunes. You can find it by searching Journalism History in the purple “Podcasts” app on your iPhone or find it on this website: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/journalism-history/id1437309234

Here are some answers to questions you may have about this new project.

First, what is a podcast?

A podcast is like a radio show that you can tune into at any time and listen to individual episodes that are all related to a general theme (in our case, journalism history). There are different ways to format a podcast, but many focus on evergreen content. Therefore, if someone finds your podcast six months or a year later, the content of the show is still relevant. This is our goal.

Why do we want a podcast?

“The new podcast is part of the leadership team’s goals to bring more multimedia into our field to reach a wider audience of academics, students, journalists and the general public with our research and knowledge,” said Teri Finneman, vice chair of the History Division. “Plus, it’s simply fun and interesting to hear about others’ journalism history work outside of conference sessions in a more informal structure and when we have time to listen.”

The Pew Research Center reported that the percentage of podcast listeners in America has  substantially increased in the past 10 years. About 45 percent of Americans ages 12 and older have listened to a podcast, according to Edison Research and Triton Digital survey data, and 26 percent listen to at least one podcast a month.

“Students are engaged with podcasts, and I’ve found that assigning them for my courses is a good way to supplement readings,” said Will Mari, the History Division’s research chair. “They like listening to podcasts because they can do so on the go, some of them are auditory learners and even–remarkably–think podcasts are just plain cool. I like them because they’re like topical lectures by smarter people than me.”

What are we doing with these podcasts exactly?

We hope you personally enjoy them as a listener (great for during commute time!) and will let your co-workers, friends, family, etc., know about the new podcast to generate interest.

We really hope that you will consider incorporating these podcast episodes into your journalism history courses as homework since podcasts are popular with college students and give you a permanent series of “guest speakers.” Obviously, a sophomore doesn’t need to know how to advise a dissertation (one of the conference sessions we hope to record). However, you can select which episodes make the most sense for you to assign. Our first episode features Greg Borchard discussing Abraham Lincoln and the press, for example, which would tie nicely into curriculum.

How will our podcast work?

The podcast team includes hosts Finneman, Nick Hirshon and Mari, who will rotate hosting episodes, and our technical intern, Savannah Wakefield, a film studies major at the University of Kansas. Our podcast will include interviews with division members and authors of Journalism History articles about their work, as well as include recordings of sessions at conferences like AEJMC, AJHA and the Joint Journalism and Communication History Conference.

Episodes (with the exception of conference sessions) will generally be 25-30 minutes. We aim to have new episodes every two to three weeks and will announce on social media when new episodes are ready. You can also just check back in the app or on the website for new episodes, too. The episodes won’t go away. They stay there.

We have secured advertising/sponsorship for our first few episodes from the journalism schools in Missouri, Georgia and Ohio. If you are willing to support the podcast, we charge $25 per episode and highlight the sponsor at the top and bottom of the show. Contact Finneman at finnemte@gmail.com if you would like to sponsor an episode.

I know nothing about podcasts or technology. Can I still be a guest?

Yes. The podcast team will aim to do a lot of in-person interviews at conferences to bank up some episodes, but you don’t need any prior technical knowledge to be on a show if we need to interview you long distance. We’ll help you.

We’re excited to launch this new venture and see where it takes us!