The newly launched ShoutOut Network is using podcasts to improve media diversity

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Efe Jerome started listening to podcasts back in 2010 and soon after, he realised the UK podcast market was not really catering to young people from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Drawing from his own background and experience and using the Loud Speakers podcast network in the United States as a model, Jerome wanted to create a similar platform for black millennials in the UK, where people could voice concerns and opinions that might otherwise go unnoticed in mainstream media.

ShoutOut Network officially launched on 6 August, but the platform started producing its first podcast in December 2015, when Imriel Morgan, co-founder and chief executive, joined the network and began hosting the Melanin Millennials weekly podcast.

"One of the first things we noticed was that a lot of people in our target demographic don't listen to podcasts, so that was an initial barrier we had to cross," Morgan told Journalism.co.uk.

The network now has a team of twelve people, including the founders – four out of the five podcasts it produces are weekly.

ShoutOut Network's initial aim of reaching young people from disadvantaged backgrounds has expanded too, looking to give black women and millennials from under-represented backgrounds a voice on the platform as well.

The shows are usually hosted by two people each, occasionally featuring others guests as well, and cover topics such as literature, music and the arts, with a diversity angle at their core.

"Melanin Millennials is a socio-political commentary on British pop culture and we want to keep it UK-focused because we discovered a lot of black millennials here look to the US for representation."

Melanin Millennials, Mostly Lit, Two Fools Talking and Artistic State of Mind are weekly podcasts, while Unarchived has been running fortnightly since June. Its host, Micha, does regular walking tours in London as a way to make local history accessible to the community. She wanted to create a podcast that would go hand-in-hand with the tours.

The hosts have been using Snapchat, Twitter and Instagram to promote the podcasts and build a following.

In June, ShoutOut Network reached 25,000 listeners across all its shows, the bulk of which came from Twitter and became regular listeners after being introduced to the rest of the podcasts through Melanin Millennials.

"Melanin Millennials was the first show to land on the 'new and newsworthy' page on iTunes, so we can't just rely on that.

"The podcasts go out on Soundcloud, iTunes, Stitcher, Pocketcast and other major apps, so they do have a regular audience which has been consistently growing."

Anyone can pitch a podcast idea to the network, irrespective of whether or not they have previous experience with podcasts, and the team will reach out to meet and discuss a potential segment. If a new show is approved, the hosts then go through a few weeks of training before going live.

The hosts produce the shows on a voluntary basis through a partnership with the network, which has part ownership but does not interfere with the content. Until recently, ShoutOut Network was completely funded through the founders' savings and personal earnings, although it has now started to explore other opportunities to monetise the podcasts, through advertising partnerships and diversity funds.

"Our next priority is to acquire a space and boost our day-to-day running.

"We started off by targeting people who already listen to podcasts, so in a way were fortunate that there already was a market, but our goal is also to educate new listeners as to what ShoutOut Network is and why they should listen," Morgan said.

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