A Deep Dive into the Podcasting Art form

Podcasting is a growing field in our new found online world. We have seen this grow from being a niche hobby to highly profitable means of making money. In order to get a better sense of this medium, I listened to five different podcasts. The first podcast I listened to was from the podcast “Call Your Girlfriend“. In this podcast, they went through just how much money they are making. They talk constantly about how they are not millionaires and make no where near that much. This is mainly due to them paying their employees 25$ an hour. They are more a media company rather than just a podcast. This podcast was very interesting because it offered an insight into the business side of the podcast industry. This podcast had three main characters who spoke throughout the episode.

The next podcast I listened to was a podcast on NYTimes called “The Daily“. This podcast went into the coronavirus but did it to answer the many questions children have about the virus. They talked about things like if dogs could get the virus, or even when Chuck-E-Cheese would open back up. I enjoyed this podcast because it was interesting to see the pod casters answer the many questions kids would bring up about the virus. This podcast had children call in and they then answered their questions. This is typically a news podcast but this was a special episode catered to easing the worries of children.

When searching for the other three podcasts, I decided on Pardon My Take, KFC Radio, and CounterClock. Pardon My Take is traditionally a sports comedy podcast. They offer many segments in their podcast and also talk about sports betting. Due to the Corona virus, they have had the problem of podcasting without sports. To counter act this, the hosts have thought of many interesting ideas and segments to pass the time. In the episode I listened to, they had an interview with Lavar Ball, and they did their own recap of the hit Netflix show “Tiger King”. The two hosts use comedy and that is what makes them successful.

The show KFC radio, is a daily talk podcast. The two hosts typically just talk about the random things going on in their lives. They use comedy in their shows and offer their podcast on many different platforms. This and Pardon My Take are both podcasts I typically listen to. I enjoy the hosts on each show and the content they provide. The episode I listened to was one of their “Friday Night Pints” episodes. In this episode, they talked to each other on Skype and drank a few alcoholic beverages. They also had guests call in to talk to them. This was a very entertaining episode that I enjoyed listening to.

The final show I watched was called CounterClock. This is a crime podcast where the host goes through various crime stories and describes them to her audience. This podcast contained 911 phone calls, and other audio clips from the news when the crime occurred. True Crime podcasts are one of the fastest growing podcasts and CounterClock is one of the biggest podcasts in this genre. This podcast was very entertaining because it goes deep into this crimes with other content added in to back it up.

Overall, this whole experience was very interesting. Listening to podcasts is something that I typically do daily. I normally listen to podcasts in my car when I am driving. I listened to these podcasts when I was driving on a road trip. This experience fell in line with my other experiences in podcasting. Many of these podcasts followed the same guidelines of other podcasts I have listened to. Personally I like podcasting better than any other medium. Podcasting just feels more personal and natural. It feels like you are in an actual conversation with the hosts. Video and social media feels scripted most of the time. It doesn’t feel like an actual person is talking to you or giving you content. Podcasting is a online medium that is growing exponentially and will continue to grow.

News Stories 2/29/20

The news stories in my freedy board today mainly covered the topic of corona virus again. I had an article that went over President Trumps press conference about the first US patient passing away from the virus. This is one of the biggest stories in the nation. We can constantly see news stories about the virus. This is what everyone wants to see in media so that is what is constantly being reported. I had over 5 articles in my news feed that solely talked about the corona virus. Journalists have a duty to report these things to the American and world wide public

This virus has shut down almost all of the media cycle. We have event going on like the democratic debates but we’re just seeing articles about the corona virus. Journalists are constantly using headlines in these stories that are scaring the public into clicking the stories. They include death totals and the total number of cases. These things are scary at a glance but are honestly not as bad as they seem. Most of the people who have passed away from this virus are older people with pre existing medical issues. Younger healthy people are not dying from this disease. They typically get the disease and can then be cured from that disease.

My news feed for today was very interesting. While many of the stories were about one subject it is important to be informed about these things. It was also interesting to see different news outlets takes on the subject. You could see the different authors voices shine though with the way they are reporting about the virus. Feedly is a very beneficial tool to see news articles from many different sources. You are also able to cater your feeds so you are only seeing content that is important you. Overall, I will definitely be using feedly as an outlet in the future

My live tweeting experience with the Masked Singer

Throughout my experience with live tweeting, I found it pretty interesting to participate in live tweeting. I found this practice to be a really good time. I was able to engage with the audience of the show. Utilizing the hashtag #MaskedSinger and #TheMaskedSinger I was able to communicate with lots of fans of the show. When I tweeted using those hashtags, my tweets were able to be seen by hundreds of fans who also were watching the show. The Masked Singer was very interactive using twitter. Many of the judges would tweet out during the show asking all the fans who they thought was behind each singers mask. Overall, this was a very informative and interactive activity

https://twitter.com/robbiegblog

News Feed 2/27/20

Today my news feed included a lot of information about the corona virus. Today many reports have come out regarding the virus. It is beginning to spread and is looking like it will soon become a global epidemic. It is beginning to come into contact with other countries which will just spread the disease even more. When reporting things like epidemics, it is very important for these writers to avoid releasing wrong information. This has the possibility to spread and make the public unaware of the actual issues going on. They have a duty to themselves and a duty to journalism to not spread lies or exaggerated information.The articles I read did a good job of solely reporting facts about the situation. They did not try to exaggerate facts in order to get more clicks on their story. As a reader I value this greatly in everything I read. I do not want to feel persuaded or feel like I am being pushed to a conclusion.

Other stories that were on my news feed today dealt with political stories about Trump and Mike Pence, and other political figures. These articles went into these peoples public policies and described what was going on. Mike Pence’s article for example went into what he hasn’t done about health in his policies. When journalists reports about politics, it is essential to avoid from using their own bias. They have to present facts without having any disdain for each candidate. This will allow the reader to go through each article and get the facts without being exposed to any bias.

These articles in my feed did a great job of giving me headlines that tell me directly what will be included in the article. They refrain from using “click-bait” in their articles to generate additional clicks. This is the sign of a trustworthy news source who should be reliable in reporting information. Overall, my articles in my news feed today were very informative.

CNU Captains vs Washington and Lee

It’s a breezy 40 degree February afternoon, a great day for some Captains baseball. Christopher Newport comes into the game with a (4-4) record while Washington and Lee comes in undefeated at (6-0). This is the first time since 1987 these teams have played each other. Captains lead 6 games to 5 in their all time series against the two teams.

2:05 PM: Captains Lead off batter grounds out to second base

2:09 PM: 3 batters up 3 batters down for The Captains. 0-0 at the end of the 1st inning

2:11 PM:Washington and Lee catcher Bryce Burnett with a deep fly out to right field

2:16 PM: Captains Senior Trey Hicks with a single (0-0)

2:19 PM: (0-0) top of the third inning. Washington and Lee with some great defensive plays in the second inning

2:23 PM: #21 on Washington and Lee with a strike out

2:24 PM: Captains left fielder with a diving highlight reel catch

2:24 PM: Washington and Lee shortstop Jackson Gazin with a single to center field. Then stole to second and was balked to third base.

2:27 PM: Washington and Lee scores (1-0) after a deep double off the fence in center field

2:30 PM: Number 11 Samuel Essex walks out for the Captains to the ZooPals theme song; then proceeds to ground out to first.

2:33 PM: (1-0) Washington and Lee at the end of the third inning.

2:38 PM: Crowd is filled with predominantly W&L fans

2:41 PM: Captains Trey Hicks with a double to left field for his second hit of the game

2:42 PM: Score remains (1-0) W&L at the bottom of the fourth

2:52 PM: W&L freshmen Zach Perkins with 2 RBI’s with a deep hit to right field. W&L leads (3-0)

2:54 PM: W&L scores again after a single to center field (4-0) W&L

3:02: PM: Zoo Pals lover Sam Essex gets the Captains on the board with a deep line drive to left field (4-1 W&L leads)

3:08 PM: Number 11 Chris Cotton comes in to pitch in relief for W&L (4-3 W&L leads)

3:13 PM: Captains Trey Hicks with a 2 run triple to center field ( Captains lead 5-4 at the bottom of the fifth)

3:40 PM: End of the sixth (Captains lead 9-4)

3:55 PM: End of 8th (Captains lead 10-4)

4:15 PM: Captains win 10-4. Captains advance to 5-4 on the season while W&L faces their first loss and drops to 6-1 on the year.

Great team win for the Captains on a cold day of baseball. Captains with a huge win over previously undefeated W&L. Player of the game Conner Clark led the team with two hits and three runs batted in. The Captains move on to a three game tournament in Myrtle Beach, SC where they will play three games against Eastern Nazarene College, New England College, and Johnson & Wales University.

Captains shake hands after a 10-4 win over previously undefeated W&L

News Feed 2/26/20

My news feed for February 26th ranged in topics greatly. It went everywhere from a church burglary in Hampton to articles about the election. The way they are reported it is very easy to see the articles topics. I was able to decipher what each article was going to be about without having to read the whole article. This is a a good skill of the headlines. You are able to decipher which article you want to read based on their headlines. Feedly allows you to go directly to the sources website when you find something you want to read.

Many of these articles are focused on the democratic debates as well as focused on news stories in my area. This shows my that these articles about the senate and other political articles were very popular today. These articles were following the digital journalism role of being informative. Each article attempts to just tell the reader what is going on. Rarely do you see opinion coming out in these articles. This allows us to be able to take in information without being persuaded to change our opinion about any of the topics. Each company who puts out these stories are very reliable because of this.

One of the articles I read was about how a 95 year old tragically was killed in a tractor trailer crash in Windsor. This article detailed how the man was killed without glorifying the crash. It just provided the reader facts about the tragedy. The author included quotes from a news release about the situation so the reader could get all of the information possible. Another article I read was about a man who was arrested in connection with a church burglary in Hampton. This article went into all of the details about the case including police reports about the event. Overall, these two articles were very informative about the event. I was able to get all the information without being persuaded in any way.

The Theory of the Long Tail Model

The Long Tail model involves the idea that selling high numbers of few products is very costly. The cost of shelf space is vast and makes it more difficult to make higher profits on these products. The Long Tail model, coined by Chris Anderson, talks about how it is much more beneficial to a company to sell low numbers of multiple products. These products are typically not sold in high batches but due to the ability of the internet, you are able to sell small amounts of multiple products. Anderson argues that that this demand for less popular goods could even rival the demand for higher demand products. Customers are beginning to move away from these highly popular products and moving to more niche markets.

The rise of the internet is one of the biggest reasons for this model. As consumers we have the ability to get any product at any time. Doing this online also allows for cheaper margins for businesses. They do not have to spend the money to put these products on the shelves but instead can keep these multiple products in a warehouse. The internet has also thrived because of this model. Customers can shop from the comfort of their own homes and get these products sent directly to their home.

Many companies have benefited from using this model of business. One of these companies being Amazon. Amazon has the ability to offer thousands of products to their customers. Customers can even make accounts and have Amazon offer them products that are catered to them personally. Amazon stores all these products in warehouses and customers can shop their online catalog and buy whatever small niche products they want. Another company that offers this practice would be Etsy. Etsy offers handmade products that are made by regular people for regular people. Etsy houses each persons individual shops, and these people can offer whatever products they want. Many of these products are very niche. For example, Etsy has everything from handmade clothes, to handmade battle axes and swords. Customers have the ability to shop and buy whatever niche product they want. Overall, each of these companies brutalize this method in different ways. Both utilize it for the betterment of their company and the betterment of their pocketbooks.