The Journalism History podcast reached a new milestone this week by crossing 2,000 downloads.
As of today, the podcast has 2,027 downloads from 42 states and 32 countries, most recently picking up West Virginia and Saudi Arabia.
Show transcripts available at https://journalism-history.org/podcast/ have been accessed 718 times. The podcast team released its 23rd episode Monday featuring Melita Garza discussing her book, “They Came to Toil: Newspaper Representations of Mexicans and Immigrants in the Great Depression.”
“It’s really been unbelievable to see how the podcast has taken off,” said Teri Finneman, vice chair of the History Division and executive producer of the podcast. “Since joining the leadership team, my goal has been to help increase the communication and community of our journalism historians. It’s been fantastic to get our work out to the general public in a new and accessible way.”
To date, eight guests have made it into the Podcast 100 Club for more than 100 downloads of their individual episodes. These are William David Sloan, Erin Coyle, James Farrell, Pamela Walck and Ashley Walter, Maurine Beasley, Mike Sweeney and Greg Borchard.
The Journalism History podcast team is also pleased to announce the inaugural winners of the Best Podcast Guest Award.
Taking into consideration the number of podcast downloads and other factors, the team selected Pamela Walck of Duquesne University and Ashley Walter of Penn State as the winners for Episode 13: The Flyin’ Jenny Comic Strip. The research partners were also finalists for the 2019 Michael S. Sweeney Award.
“I’m really thrilled that this research on Flyin’ Jenny continues to gain a wider audience—and that what started as a conference paper on a World War II comic strip with a graduate assistant can evolve into a publication and podcast episode with a co-author that expands our understanding of WWII and the shifting roles of women,” Walck said.
“I’m also very excited to be on the bleeding edge of the History Division’s efforts to get journalism history to wider audiences. Looking to the past remains critical to our understanding of today’s events. And one of the reasons scholars research and write is to inform others. This is truly an honor and a privilege,” she said.
Walck and Walter will each receive a snazzy trophy and a $50 cash prize during the History Division Awards Gala at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 6.
“Good podcasts are all about the energy of the guests, and Pam and Ashley’s passion about Flyin’ Jenny translated into an easy conversation that clearly resonated with listeners,” said Nick Hirshon, who hosted the episode. “They also share a chemistry, with Pam as mentor and Ashley as mentee, that made this episode of the podcast particularly memorable. I’m grateful they came on the podcast to talk about their important research on a forgotten piece of media history, and I’m glad their work will be recognized with the inaugural podcast award.”
Journalism History podcast episodes are available on iTunes, Spotify and Podbean, as well as at https://journalismhistorypodcast.podbean.com/. New episodes release every other week. Upcoming summer episodes will feature Josh Shepperd, Pam Parry, Candi Carter Olson, Jason Lee Guthrie and Aaron Atkins.
The History Division Awards Gala will also feature a live podcast interview with Matthew Pressman, winner of the AEJMC History Division Book Award for his book “On Press: The Liberal Values that Shaped the News.”
Registration for the gala is $5 and now open via AEJMC conference registration at http://aejmc.org/events/toronto19/registration/.