Jeff Jarvis: New podcast is 'good landing craft for the Guardian's invasion of America'

New monthly media podcast 'Media Talk USA', hosted by journalism professor and blogger Jeff Jarvis, has gone live on the MediaGuardian site today.

As reported by Journalism.co.uk on Sunday, Jarvis' inaugural podcast includes an interview with Arianna Huffington, in which the HuffPo founder argues that the Huffington Post Investigative Fund will help make journalism 'better'.

"I've been an admirer of the Media Talk podcast since it began and was jealous every week I wasn't on," Jarvis told Journalism.co.uk in an email ahead of its launch.

"I like that Media Talk breaks radio convention - and that contrast is all the clearer with the recent start of the BBC Radio 4's own Media Show - by featuring casual but smart discussion of media news with voices I came to know and respect.

"It managed to take the Guardian's preeminence in and attitude toward media coverage and transplant that to the appropriate web form in a podcast."

"I hope the new podcast will become popular among both American and British audiences, as developments in the media across the Atlantic are so often indicative of things to come in the UK and Europe," added Matt Wells, Guardian News & Media's Head of Audio, in a release.

Jarvis told Journalism.co.uk he had pitched the idea while visiting London last June for the Guardian's future of journalism series.

"I suggested that it was both a good landing craft for the Guardian's invasion of America and that we needed it over here," said Jarvis.

"There isn't the kind of media coverage here that there is in the UK. We have the public radio show On the Media, which is very good but tends to bypass the news - of which there is certainly plenty now - for higher altitude topics, and the CNN show Reliable Sources, which is also good but tends to concentrate only in the latest news.

"I thought there was an opening for a discussion to try to understand the changes in American media. The Guardian brings its reputation, resources, promotion, and format."

The first show features Jay Rosen, associate professor of journalism at New York University, and Elizabeth Holmes, the digital media reporter for the Wall Street Journal, in a discussion about how Obama's direct interaction with online users changes reporters' role in covering the White House. Guardian-owned PaidContent.org provides a report on media news.

Journalism.co.uk is running a series of articles about journalism in New York: watch out for the tag 'JournalismNY' for a range of features on eminent US-based online thinkers and developers.

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