
Podcasts are accessible to people because they easily slot into the "news moments" which appear throughout your day, making them a great way to stay on top of a fast-paced industry like the media world.
They are a way to get your regular scoop of the latest media news and research, career advice and journalistic tips, or best practices that are working for other publishers.
Here, we have collated a list of our own personal favourites, and those from our community, to help you find a new regular fix. Fair warning: it is not exhaustive, so let us know if any other podcasts for journalists have you hooked - or if you have your own show that should be on this list - by tweeting us @journalismnews. We want to hear from you.
READ ALSO: How to produce a podcast from home
The essentials
Presenters: John Crowley and Hannah Storm, Headlines Network
Focus: Mental health, online abuse, journalist wellbeing
Check out: Interviews with Clive Myrie, BBC war correspondent and an ever-present face in the Ukraine coverage; Marianna Spring, the BBC's specialist disinformation reporter; Gina Chua, the newly-appointed executive editor of Semafor and one of the most high-profile trans women in media
Presenters: Tim Peterson and Kayleigh Barber (formerly Brian Morrissey)
Focus: US media and publishing industry, commercial revenue strategies, digital strategies, modern newsrooms
Check out: Google on disabling third-party cookies, an interview with the former Vox editor-in-chief on her next non-profit venture, and the recent revival of its live podcasts
3. The Rebooting Podcast with Brian Morrissey
Presenter: Brian Morrissey (who first ran The Rebooting as a Substack newsletter)
Focus: Media business models, pivot to privacy, creator economy
Check out: The interview with Forbes COO Jessica Sibley and a deep dive into the future of work
4. Journo
Presenter: Nick Bryant, BBC correspondent (produced by Deadset Studios and published by the Judith Neilson Institute)
Focus: Journalist careers, censorship, war reporting, journalism standards
Check out: Reporting on climate change (with News Corp on the record about its u-turn on the subject) and the next frontier for political journalism
6. Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism
Presenters: Federica Cherubini
Focus: Media research, social media platforms, news formats, young audiences, press freedom, diversity and inclusion, and much more
Check out: Its flagship Digital News Report podcast series, currently running
Presenters: Beck Bamberger
Focus: Tech journalism, journalist careers, professional development
Check out: Interviews with guests from Alcynna Lloyd from Insider, Adrienne LaFrance from The Atlantic, or Anita Ramaswamy from TechCrunch
8. Media Voices
Presenters: Chris Sutcliffe, Esther Kezia Thorpe and Peter Houston
Focus: Media and publishing industry news, commercial revenue strategies, audience growth, podcasting tips
Check out: Episodes with the winners from its Publisher Podcast Awards (which the Media Voices team organise)
Presenter: Amol Rajan
Focus: UK news and media industry, regulation, journalism standards, legal battles
Check out: GB News one year on, another star presenter leaving the BBC, the future of Channel 4 amid privatisation, the high profile case of Carole Cadwallader vs Aron Banks and the interview with the 'godfather of sound' Ira Glass
10. Media Masters
Presenter: Paul Blanchard
Focus: Career advice, professional development, leadership, journalist careers
Check out: Interviews with Chris Kay, CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi, and Zillah Byng-Thorpe, CEO of Future plc
Presenter: Stephen Lepitak
Focus: Career advice, professional development, leadership, journalist careers
Check out: Interviews with Tim Loxley, editor of Radio Times and Gary Jones, editor-in-chief of The Daily Express
12. Untold Stories with Osama Gaweesh
Presenter: Osama Gaweesh, editor-in-chief of Egypt Watch (and a former Journalism.co.uk apprentice via the Refugee Journalism Project)
Focus: Live and interactive podcasts, human rights, democracy, press freedom
Check out: Killing of Palestinian journalists referred to international criminal court
13. Freelancing for Journalists
Presenters: Emma Wilkinson and Lily Canter, both freelance journalists and authors of the Freelancing for Journalists book
Focus: Freelance journalism, skillsets, interviewing tips, journalist safety, funding
Check out: Evergreen episodes on getting started, finding case studies and experts, safety and security, and getting paid
14. The Data Journalism Podcast
Presenters: Alberto Cairo and Simon Rogers
Focus: Data journalism, tech and tools
Check out: A data journalist in Ukraine
15. Journalism.co.uk (us!)
Presenter: Jacob Granger
Focus: Media innovation, audience growth, digital strategy, revenue strategy, social media
Check out: Nadine White: A year-on for The Independent's race correspondent
Specialist subjects:
16. Media Insider: Brought to you by The Fix Media, an excellent source of media news from across the European media landscape with episodes on media innovation and digital strategy
17. The Kicker: 'encouraging excellence in journalism in the service of a free society' by Columbia Journalism Review
18. Better News: Brought to you by 'the broccoli of media-focused podcasts', It's All Journalism, this show is produced in partnership with the American Press Institute.
19. How To Fail with Elizabeth Day: Not journalism-specific, but useful pep talks and how to bounce back from failures
20. The Tip Off: behind the scenes of investigative journalism in the UK, hosted by journalist Maeve McClenaghan
21. On The Media with Brooke Gladstone: WNYC Studios looks at current news events from a journalist's perspective, aiming to dig into topics of concern to reporters
22. International Press Institute: Shows include Media Freedom Rapid Response In Focus, The Press Freedom Files, Today in Short
23. The Business of Content: 'The podcast about how publishers create, distribute, and monetise digital content' with Simon Owens
24. Almost Professional: smartphones, filmmaking, social media, apps and other techy goodness, with Blake Calhoun
Old but gold:
These are either discontinued or not publishing regularly, but are well worth diving back into or keeping tabs on:
25. We Are Black Journos: Elevating and inspiring stories from both established and aspiring black journalists
26. Interhacktives: Social media news from students on the Interactive Journalism MA course at City, University of London
27. Media Tribe: Stories from some of the world’s most critically acclaimed journalists, directors and media executives, brought to you by Shaunagh Connaire
28. The Mobile Storytelling Podcast: Sporadically publishes, but when it does, few better places to get the latest know-how in mobile journalism, from Wytse Vellinga and Bjorn Staschen
29. Geekout with Matt Navarra: Social media wizards Matt Navarra and Martin SFP Bryant talk to the big names and chew over the latest news in the ever-changing social media landscape
30. The Storyful Podcast: Issues around the journalism industry itself, while analysing news coverage in the 21st century
31. The BBC Academy Podcast: A beginner's guide to everything from craft skills to taking your next step in the broadcast journalism industry. Evergreen
32. The Knowhow: Three academics discuss the political and social issues in a post-truth era and the dilemmas news media face covering them
Ones to watch (not literally)
33. The Backstory with Andrew Neil
After a turbulent time launching GB News, Andrew Neil's next venture is with slow journalism startup Tortoise as the face and voice of its podcast The Backstop
34. Emily Maitlis and John Godel's new podcast
The veteran broadcast journalists, and the hosts of the critically-acclaimed US politics podcast, Americast, left the BBC back in February 2022 to join media group Global. The duo will host a podcast together for LBC and more details on that show are expected later this year. As part of the deal, Dino Sofos, the founder of audio production company Persephonica, also joined Global as the podcast's executive producer. Sofos was the former head of BBC News Podcasts and created Brexitcast, Newscast and Americast formats.
It has been hinted that the new show will be thinking hard about how younger audiences access news content, hoping to avoid being another politial news podcast 'rooted in Westminster'. Expect big plays around social media platforms and video.
Coming out soon, this podcast by the BBC will explore the challenges facing the media industry; disinformation, funding and audience engagement. These are all issues spelt out in the recent Reuters Digital News Report as the UK wrestles with low levels of trust and willingness to pay for news, as disinformation and polarisation in the media landscape rages on.
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