By: Mia Maaytah

As a recent journalism graduate, I’ve heard it a million times: the industry is dying. The research has been conducted, the statistics have been configured and the town crier has spewed his message of the inevitable death of journalism. 

Though I was terrified that this meant my degree would be useless, I wondered if the research had left any margin of error for digital evolution. And more specifically, digital audio evolution.

Recede in Readership

During the past decade, newspaper readership has declined exponentially across Canada. Since 2013, at least 250 newspapers have shut down causing multiple regions to exist with no news coverage, according to the Toronto Star.

In addition, the decline in newspaper advertising revenue combated with operating costs for journalist salaries also hurt the industry. 

From 2016 to 2018, newspaper advertising costs dropped eight per cent in Ontario, 21.2 per cent in Quebec, and 16.4 per cent in the Atlantic provinces. Things weren’t much better in other areas; Statistics Canada also notes a 13.4 per cent drop in the Prairie provinces, British Columbia and the territories.

“As they endeavour to generate additional revenue from digital advertising, many newspapers find themselves competing not only with other newspapers, but also with other services such as online search engines, social media and programmatic advertising services,” Statistics Canada stated.

As the willingness of readers is changing, the industry has been forced to evolve to keep audiences engaged.

News on a New Medium

In North America, many traditional news outlets have pivoted to include audio-based storytelling in order to catch the attention of consumers. 

In 2017, The New York Times moved into the audio space with The Daily. The podcast hosted by American journalist Michael Barbaro was the most downloaded podcast on Apple Podcasts in 2018, according to Podtrac. As the name suggests, the show is produced daily, providing listeners with a different way of consuming the newspaper’s reporting with interviews of journalists from the New York Times.

While the New York Times was launching The Daily, Canadian newspapers were still trying to find their footing with paywalls and other digital platforms. Most notably, the Toronto Star was investing millions of dollars in their tablet edition, Star Touch. After two years, they scraped the project. In 2020, they decided to jump on the bandwagon and launch a daily news podcast modelled after The Daily, called This Matters.

In Canada, most of the country’s largest newspapers have started investing in creating podcasts.

As of 2021, the Globe and Mail has more than five podcasts, all advertised to different types of listeners including Stress Test that focuses on the personal finance for Gen Z and Millennials, Looking Ahead which details the idea of retirement between different generations, and the upcoming podcast called Globe Up Close that will deliver news updates across Canada.

The National Post also started dabbling with podcasts, and have launched their own version modelled after The Daily, called 10/3.

Although none have gained the notoriety of The Daily, it’s encouraging to see this kind of movement in the journalism industry.

Looking Ahead

Traditional media outlets are continuing to experiment with how they can use podcasting to reach audiences. In Canada, TV and radio outlets are beginning to invest in the medium, with the launch of networks like Frequency from Rogers (and their news podcast called The Big Story).

In the United States, news outlets are experimenting with different podcast formats. In Boston, WBUR Radio published a remodelled version of regular newscasts that turned COVID-19 updates into short segments in what many are now calling microcasts. Episodes ran every evening from March 2020 to March 2021 and featured news headlines and expert voices in about three minutes.

Although some newspaper connoisseurs still argue for classic methods of news sharing, media outlets who are moving into audio storytelling are garnering a collective of consumers ready to listen.

Through a journalistic lens, audio storytelling is another route for our communities to obtain new information in an accessible fashion.

During the four years of my undergrad at Ryerson University, the journalism world has felt narrow and sectioned; a slew of channels kept separate. With audio mediums, the doors do not lead to separate paths, but on many roads that interlock and cross each other. The world of podcasting will allow myself and other young journalists to hone in on traditional journalistic skills, while establishing a sense of creativity, and an opportunity to cultivate a culture of excitement and innovation.

Though they may say journalism is dying, we know that there will always be a story to tell and somebody who wants to listen. If we are worried about newspapers going extinct, let them. If podcasts get old, news outlets will pivot again. But right now, podcasts seem to be the glimmer of hope the industry needed.

Journalism is not dying, it is evolving with us. And as long as our curiosity remains, storytelling will prevail.