The Covid-19 lockdowns have accelerated the growth of podcasting at home and abroad. The desire to connect in times of isolation has attracted new players to the medium. Internationally, the continued growth of podcasting is following the well-worn capitalist expansionist logic of seeking out new consumers. Here, we look at a few trends and what they can tell us about what’s on the audio storytelling horizon for 2021.
For many years the nascent South African podcast industry has been stuck in the audience/advertising bind; without high enough audience numbers, it is near impossible to attract substantial advertising investment or listener donations – the model that funds much open-access media the world over. Without access to affordable data or widespread wi-fi it is hard for podcasting to gain traction, and without revenue it is near impossible to produce quality shows.
BBC World Service announces new daily podcast for Africa and launches a podcast competition in Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa Listen to article
The BBC World Service has announced a brand new daily news podcast for Africa, more episodes of The Comb podcast, and launched a new podcast competition open to residents in Nigeria, Kenya, and South Africa.
Africa Daily will be a deep dive into the news stories shaping Africa, one question at a time. Presented by Ugandan journalist Alan Kasujja, and released each weekday morning, Africa Daily will zoom in on one single story, providing context and depth to the issues shaping the continent.
2020 has above all else been a year of loss. The loss of human interaction – of hugs, of seeing each other smile of the small talk in the office that we once loathed and now impossibly miss. The loss of jobs – of security, of knowing what’s coming next, of our sense of place in the world. The loss of loved ones – family members gone too quickly and too young, ravaged by a virus, spending their last hours among strangers in overflowing hospitals with no familiar faces at their bedsides. Those of us left behind have none of the familiar rituals to hold onto. No gathering together to mourn lives lost and celebrate lives well lived. Sometimes it feels like an almighty wave has crashed over our heads and sucked us into a disorienting vortex with no familiar community rituals to hold on to. As South Africa enters its second wave of surging Covid infections, it often feels impossible to make sense of it all.