The Cox Institute hosted an Entrepreneurial Journalism Symposium: The Business of Podcasting, bringing in professionals for series of panels on topics including getting started, ensuring quality and anticipating future trends.
Athens, Georgia, on Monday, September 17, Sarah E. Freeman/Grady College
Grady’s Entrepreneurial Journalism Symposium was held on Sept. 17 with a focus on the “Business of Podcasting.” The event included four sessions throughout the day featuring podcasting experts discussing a wide array of topics including content creation, production values and business models.
Grady faculty and students who attended the sessions heard from the following speakers:
Nicole Smith, Deputy Features Editor of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Rob Connelly, Director of Digital Audio with GateHouse Media
Bob Sullivan, Host of the “Breach” Podcast
Keith Reynolds, Founder & President at Spoke Media
Alia Tavakolian, Co-Founder & VP of Content at Spoke Media
Dan Maccarone, Host of the “Story in a Bottle” Podcast
Mandi Woodruff, Host of the “Brown Ambition” Podcast
Sean Powers, Director of Podcasting, Georgia Public Broadcasting
Smith encouraged journalism students to find what they’re passionate in and pursue it, whether it’s podcasting or completely unrelated to journalism.
“If you love journalism, please go after it,” Smith said. “If you don’t, don’t.”
We had such a great time at ugagrady today!! Thanks to @keithlherndon for the invite! For those students (and anyone else) who wanted a look at our list of podcasts with the highest… https://t.co/IqYSG0ojsF
— Spoke Media (@spoke_media) September 17, 2018
For those students interested podcasting, speakers urged students to start a podcast on a subject that interests them, and take the time to plan out their stories.
“I think that there’s not one right way to do this, so find the way that’s right for you,” Maccarone said, “and don’t let people get in your way.”
Speakers also hinted at the future of podcasting, such as fiction storytelling through podcasting and audio gifs.
“Who’s going to be the Netflix of podcasts?” Reynolds said. “That’s what everyone is racing toward right now.”
Hey look it’s me in a red shirt talking to @UGAGrady students with @AliaTavakolian & @RedTapeChron & @danmaccarone ! https://t.co/UTU43RjxOx
— Mr. Reynolds (@THEmrReynolds) September 17, 2018
The symposium was produced and sponsored by the James M. Cox Jr. Institute for Journalism Innovation, Management and Leadership.
To see more photos, check out the flickr page here.
To hear more from the speakers, listen to the latest episode of The Lead podcast:
