Birth of a podcast

Continuing with more from behind the scenes of “Dateline: RIT – The Podcast” . . .

Several weeks ago, following discussions with colleagues about future University News podcasting, I conceived the idea of an audio version of , the e-newsletter, as a complement to its older sibling and an ideal foray into podcasting. Thus, “Dateline: RIT – The Podcast” was born, in concept.

From the start, I didn’t want the podcast to consist of me alone reading the news. Rather, it would feature a variety of voices—using “actualities” (short audio clips of interview subjects)—resembling a radio newscast. As a newscast about stories that have already appeared elsewhere in the news, I opted to record the remarks of RIT newsmakers—restating their published quotes in their own voices.

A podcast prototype, produced in mid-August, was exactly that: Ninety seconds of actualities related to RIT story placements. After Bob Finnerty suggested including more campus news, the “On the campus” segment was added. It features news updates from Bob and highlights from Vienna. Along with a segment by a University News staff writer presenting a news story synopsis, the podcast’s total run time—usually under five minutes—is about the length of a typical contemporary pop hit (not a coincidence).

“Chapter markers” allow listeners to jump back and forth between segments (convenient for repeating a segment or skipping over another). The total concept of the podcast—particularly the inclusion of actualities of published quotes—is quite unique.

Next time: What’s the deal with those sound effects, anyway?