Last week, we drastically changed the theme and idea of our project for this semester. After undergoing critical feedback regarding towards my group's project, we realized that it would take more than just five people to run a website.
The group was still intrigued to the content we were going to explore, the problem was the portal—the website. Discussing options for a different a portal for our content, the group figured that recording a podcast could be a viable option. A member of the group presents any topic related to the world we live in, and for an hour, each member of the group is introducing their point of view related to the main topic. Each member of the group will have to introduce a topic at least once throughout the semester. This leverage allows a member to present a topic that they have an interest, and or, to be exposed to unknown topics. As for myself, I would be interested to present political topics like, Turmoil in the Middle East or Iranian Nuclear Talks, and, I would like to be exposed to topics like, Trivialization of Culture.
To understand the timeline to produce an actual podcast, the group had to hear professional podcasts and identify common qualities that will be a necessity for the production of our project. This weekend, I spent a few hours listening to three podcasts that were related to political issues in the world: Freakonomics Radio - Is There a Better Way to Fight Terrorism?, Common Sense – Re-heating the Cold War, and Official Mark Levin Podcast – 3/20/15 show. Despite the common concept that these podcasts cover, I meticulously found common qualities of the production of these podcasts.
1. There is always a musical background and a common introduction of the company and its members before proceeding to the theme or idea being presented in the particular podcast session.
2. When having a group discussion, there is always a moderator that has task of controlling the order of the debate, but also manipulating members for an interesting debate.
3. In some podcast, I realized that quotes or cut lines from other sources of information are presented to either help the moderator to present a question coinciding with the info or to enhance an argument of a debater.
4. This isn’t regarding specifically to the podcast production, but I found these political podcast, since they’re show is being branded through many portals that are related to politics. In other words, our company needs to brand the podcast on portals related to our theme.
Coming into this week, I hope the group has the same psychological mentality that we have been having these past few weeks. To start this project as soon as possible, we need to do one more thing—cover the logistics. Members of the group communicated with the music department at my school to reserve recording equipment that is needed for a podcast. I am not afraid of not having the proper equipment, but it is something that we should get done fast. What the group needs, is to focus. To find a unique theme or a quality that makes this podcast different from others. I think our project can be unique in its way, by contacting professionals. Members from our IA class have contacts that work in areas that can be related to a topic that might be presented in the podcast. The presences and voice of a well-known professional opens our doors to more listeners. More overly, despite having more listeners to our podcast, there is a self-benefit for all members of the group by simply learning and discussing with an expert. Podcasting is hard work and time consuming, but the process for its development has more value at the end than the conclusion of the production of a website.