What we learnt – by Emily Maitlis, The News Agents
It’s been almost three years since we left our full-time jobs at the BBC and started a new venture, The News Agents – with Global – from scratch.
Here’s a tiny bit of what we’ve learnt since then.
- Podcasting doesn’t have to happen in a garage.
It took me a while to shake off the original sense that the podcasting world was an underground one. In a literal as well as figurative sense. That it had to be the product of basements and games rooms – dense no-light dens where people left long pauses to show how thoughtful they were. Our studio looks pretty much like a TV studio. But with comfier chairs and – thankfully – much better lighting. Occasionally we pop a little picture of a wood burning fire on the TV screen to make it feel cosy. And we do an excellent line in hot beverages – one former Secretary of State used to pre-book his hot chocolate as the bid went through.
- Podcasting can be bizarrely therapeutic… for the guests.
Sometimes we interview extremely busy politicians who then don’t… leave.
On more than one occasion we have stopped recording only to find they have bedded down for the afternoon and are keen to tell us all the things they shouldn’t say ‘on record’. There they are sitting in front of a mic, inches from the gallery, staring at a camera… and yet they can’t stop telling us things they shouldn’t. They never seem concerned that we might use the stuff that ends up after the interview. And – for better or worse – we never do. Perhaps they like flirting with jeopardy? Perhaps we do too.
- Podcasting can be done with pictures.
One of the things we wanted to do with the News Agents was escape the one (audio) dimension of the podcast. We’ve made our visual clips as much as part of the daily routine – Georgia, Rory, Shane, Arvind are our ‘socials team’. They listen out for anything that works as a 2-3 minute video.
Michaela, Jacob and Michael are developing a new website that turns interviews and discussions into written pieces. We end up with three very different audiences – those who listen long form, those who watch in bite size. And those who read. All are very welcome.
- Podcasting on US time can be brutal.
Our normal UK record time is 12pm ish. Which is a 7am start on the East Coast. And a 4-5 am start if you go West. No one wants that. It’s almost impossible to sound both relaxed and informed if you’ve literally had to set your alarm for the middle of the night. Be aware: if you never hear other voices on a podcast apart from the presenters, it may indicate that they are doing exactly this and can’t find anyone else to join them.
- Podcasters still need lawyers.
Even though we aren’t live, aren’t covered by Ofcom, or subject to press regulation as such, a shout-out to Lucy, our brilliant Global lawyer, who often sits across a whole record to tell us if we’ve gone too far, or if, (crucially) on a news scoop, we could get sued. Media lawyers have to want to help you tell the story, not stop you telling the story. And the reason we get to sound relaxed is because others are quietly pulling their hair out, checking we are on the right side of risk.
- Podcasters can be embarrassed to call themselves podcasters because everyone now has a podcast. It’s like calling yourself a citizen. We may need a new name.