The use of podcasts to report news is the latest trend in news reporting. Initially, people used podcasts to share their message with others but with time, podcasting has become popular with educators using it classroom, and news reporters using it as a tool for reporting. The BBC is one of the global media companies that are taking advantage of the power of the podcasts to expand its reach, and provide news to thousands of individuals across various parts of the world. The use of the podcast to report news provides various benefits to the news reporter, and to the news consumers.
The podcast boom especially in the media arena is driving the change in the way people consume news. Podcasting brings an element of convenience into the business of news reporting, and even if one does not have access to the television or radio, they can still access news anywhere they are as long as they have access to the internet. One can even download the podcast and listen to it later. The mainstream media has a history of bias reporting. Podcasts eliminate this problem because with podcasts, experts comprehensively give their opinions about reported issue. Therefore, podcast provides the means for one to receive reliable news as well as comprehensive information about a news topic.
Despite the benefits that the podcasts provide, using podcasts as a means of conveying news can disadvantage some listeners especially the people without access to the internet. Podcasting as a means of sharing news, therefore, may be infective where internet access is restricted or is limited. For this reason, it can be a challenge for one to find the right audience. This can also be a challenge considering that podcasts are still not popular with majority of people who listen to news. Therefore, a media company may not be able to reach more people as it may want to.
Despite the issues with podcasting, the use of the podcasts to report news is emerging as an effective method to report news and share with the audience candid talk about an event or an issue. As much as podcasts are still unpopular, their popularity is slated to grow as more personalities such as former president Barrack Obama continue to use podcasts. As more people learn about podcast, there is a chance that an increasing number of consumers of news will embrace it. News reporters will also continue leveraging the podcasts to report news.