This is being submitted for a college assignment.
As a journalism student, the media landscape has never been as a crazy as it is now. The internet and social media is a blessing and a curse. There is a plethora of work opportunities out there for journalists. Lot's of work, but lot's of competition for that work. It means that your blog, your podcasts or videos all have to be good and unique, to make it in this industry. Our consumption habits are changing too, the traditional print media is dying and we tend to binge watch TV now instead of it being a family moment. You never know what the future holds as technology is ever changing and improving.
Our smart phones have so much power. Books, movies, TV shows, music and podcasts can all be accessed by them. Podcasts are extremely popular. The likes of Serial and the West Cork podcast are just two of the most talked about ones today. The range of podcasts is huge - from McDonald's sauces to football, if it exists, there is probably a podcast about it. To find out about new ones can be tricky, it's why podcasts need to have a strong social media game to get attention. The What's The Story podcast, is one such podcast.
The crisp world cup dominated twitter feeds in March of this year and it lead to increase listeners and followers for Danny Murray and Graham Merrigan, the hosts of the podcast. I initially was interviewing them about another topic, but the crisp world cup and the fallout was mentioned and this is what was said
Whilst the increase in social media activity is great for a podcast, it still doesn't answer the question that many podcasts hosts ask "How can I start earning money from this?". Some American and British podcasts have been able to acquire advertising. Yet some Irish podcasts still struggle in that regard. Sites like go fund me or patron are the calling cards for people trying to run a successful podcast.
Some of the issues that podcasts face in Ireland, is a lack of trust and the power of the radio, these issues and more were addressed in the clip below.
Whilst it is difficult for journalists and creators nowadays, it is important to keep at it. Even if running a blog or a podcasts becomes your hobby and not your main job, it's vital to keep it professional and interesting because you never know what may happen. The idea of watching TV on our phones seemed alien not too long ago, but is the norm now.
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