Category: BCM114

Locals Only: DA and Contextual Essay

Locals Only, a sports interview podcast, available here.

Contextual Essay

My Digital Artifact is ‘Locals Only’, an interview podcast focused around top level athletes from Wollongong and the Illawarra region. This was a project I wanted to develop as it combined my interest in sports journalism with my passion to grow and develop different technical skills around audio editing. A podcast was not a format I had previously engaged with, and I was keen to step outside of my comfort zone and experiment with different media formats. I looked to existing podcasts such as Dissect, Villains, and primarily The Woj Pod to model my podcast off of. I had hoped that this DA would improve my skills as a journalist.

Wollongong is a city which is fiercely proud of its own, and while sports are a large focus of the cultural psyche, Illawarra sports fans are often unaware or not informed about their home grown athletes. The aim of this podcast was to entertain, as well as provide information and insight into the Illawarra local sporting stars, as well as bring to light the accomplishments of some athletes who may have flown under the radar thus far. In creating a local sports podcast, I hoped to interview Illawarra sports stars, and engage with Illawarra sports fans.

I chose to publish Locals Only through Anchor.fm, as it enabled me to have my podcast published on a number of different streaming sites. This was successful, as it was published on a number of sites, including Google and Apple Podcasts. I also created a Twitter account for Locals Only, with the intention of running a ‘questions from the audience’ segment. However, it became quickly apparent that I did not have the necessary engagement to make this feasible, only receiving one or two questions for each episode, and often from the same audience members. I faced significant technical difficulties in recording the first two episodes, with the University recorders malfunctioning and forcing me to re-record both interviews. This lead to me purchasing a podcasting microphone of my own, which both improved sound quality and helped avoid any other equipment errors.

Generally, the season premiere received an outstanding viewership, with 124 plays. However, the viewership dramatically decreased for the second episode, only receiving 47 plays. Episodes three and four also decreased, with 39 and 20 plays respectively. While this decrease in viewership was to be somewhat expected, it was also indicative that I needed to find a way to make the podcast more engaging going forward. Overall I feel extremely positive with the progress of Locals Only to this point, as I feel that it has definitely addressed its utility in being a provider of entertainment and local sports content. Going forward, I feel I could increase the online presence of the podcast through spreading to different social platforms, such as Facebook and Instagram. Additionally, producing episodes more consistently will help engage a greater following and maintain those who are interested in my content. Through this process, I have learnt that there may have been a smaller niche for local sports than I assumed, but a much more passionate following as well.

Generally, the season premiere received an outstanding viewership, with 124 plays. However, the viewership dramatically decreased for the second episode, only receiving 47 plays. Episodes three and four also decreased, with 39 and 20 plays respectively. While this decrease in viewership was to be somewhat expected, it was also indicative that I needed to find a way to make the podcast more engaging going forward. Overall I feel extremely positive with the progress of Locals Only to this point, as I feel that it has definitely addressed its utility in being a provider of entertainment and local sports content. Going forward, I feel I could increase the online presence of the podcast through spreading to different social platforms, such as Facebook and Instagram. Additionally, producing episodes more consistently will help engage a greater following and maintain those who are interested in my content. Through this process, I have learnt that there may have been a smaller niche for local sports than I assumed, but a much more passionate following as well.

How It’s Made! Locals Only and the Making Stage

The making stage of my DA, sports podcast ‘Locals Only’, saw the refinement of the social media aspect of the project, as well as publishing an episode of the podcast in which I took on the advice that came from the previous stage of the DA. Locals Only is an interview podcast series in which I speak to high level Wollongong athletes. We talk about where they are up to in their sporting career, and how they got to that stage through their upbringing in Wollongong.

The fourth episode of Locals Only featured Wollongong AFLW player Kate Stanton, and was the first episode that did not feature the ‘questions from twitter’ segment that I had tried to implement in the previous episodes. By dropping this segment, the episode felt a lot more fluid and natural, as I was not trying to shoehorn in questions and disrupt the flow of the conversation.

Statistically, the episode performed just below average, but was still within the range of the other episodes already published. The average audience size sits at around 20 consistent listeners, and overall the podcast has amassed 230 total plays over the four episodes. I am more than pleased with this result, as a small but consistent fan base was what I had aimed to build all along, finding the niche of local sports fans to be limited but highly passionate still. I also believe that by covering a wide array of sports in the episodes so far that the content was fresh and engaging, and kept those listeners interested in upcoming episodes, rather than burning them out with the same repeated content.

I also aimed at using the Locals Only Twitter page to build and maintain engagement with my fan base, particularly around upcoming episodes, but also in bringing attention and views back to earlier episodes, to try and engage the audience to a greater degree.

By bringing attention to previous episodes I hope to both bring awareness to them, but also maintain the engagement of fans through a longer period without an episode, owing to technical difficulties and scheduling problems which I faced. However, by bringing attention to these earlier podcast episodes I was also able to see how my podcasting style had grown and develop over the course of this DA, and also showed the areas in which I can still improve or adjust.

While this is the last module of the DA process, there is still much room left for growth and development in the making of Locals Only. I hope to continue to create this podcast, and hone my interviewing, audio editing and general computer skills, as I create engaging content for both Illawarra sports fans, and hopefully down the track for sports fans in general.

All episodes of Locals Only can be found here, keep an eye out for more to come!

PROTOTYPING: Locals Only in Action

The prototyping stage of my Digital Artefact has seen the continuation of the Illawarra based sports podcast, ‘Locals Only’. Locals Only is an interview podcast series in which I speak to high level Wollongong athletes. We talk about where they are up to in their sporting career, and how they got to that stage through their upbringing in Wollongong. I also have a Twitter account to engage with my audience. Through this stage, I made tweaks and amendments to the process and how I composed each episode, to produce a better flowing, more engaging product to attract greater attention and interest.

I have now published three episodes of ‘Locals Only’, and while the views are down from the premiere episode, they have maintained a consistent following. A drop off is expected after a premiere, but the following two episodes have had similar views, showing that there is consistent engagement. The most significant change that has come from this stage has been the removal of the ‘questions from Twitter’ feature that I had tried to implement in the first three episodes. While it was a goal of mine to have audience interaction, the replies and questions were not consistent enough to warrant a continued segment, especially when the questions were coming from the same few people. This was to be expected considering the limited size of my twitter base, however I had hoped for a higher rate of interaction.

Another issue that I encountered to a large degree was the editing software I was using. Up to this point, I had been using the program ‘Hindenburg’ to edit the podcast. However, with my free trial of the program ending, I have elected to start using Adobe Audition. It is another relatively easy to use program, which I have access to through my university and I have experience using in the past.

I also looked for audience feedback in relation to the direction of the podcast a number of times during the prototyping stage. I looked for which sports and sports people would garner further interaction, which sports my audience would like to see covered, and was met with some surprising results. There was a large request for local athletes and high level players who had not quite reached the elite level, as well as requests for a number of more alternative sports. I also suggested the idea of spin off segments or episodes, focusing on a theme rather than an individual athletes. One such idea was a round-table interview featuring the captains of the winning Rugby League, Rugby Union, AFL and Soccer teams from the respective local competitions. This ‘Grand Final Wrap’ would unite Wollongong’s major sporting codes and cover the different grand final experiences, as all grand finals were played in a two week span and all garnered considerable local interest.

This engagement has not been huge, but it has been enough to understand what people who interact with my project are interested in seeing. Based on these suggestions, I have tried to make the following episodes more engaging and focusing on content that the audience will be interested in interacting with. I have not yet recorded any discussion episodes, however they are certainly a way to diversify ‘Locals Only’ that I will be looking to introduce as the podcast continues. This will hopefully result in a more engaging product, and will reach more viewers. For now, keep an eye out for ‘Locals Only’ episode four, set to drop sometime in the next week.

BCM114 DA Beta – Locals Only

I have currently published the first three episodes of the podcast, and while there have been a number of setbacks to this point, it has for the most part been successful. I’m currently uploading the podcast via anchor.fm, a site built solely for making and sharing podcasts. Through being on anchor, it is also available on six other platforms, including Apple Podcasts and Google podcasts. It is still a goal of mine to have it published on Spotify, but being available on this many platforms is a great thing as it gives more people access to the podcast. Over the first 3 episodes, I have had an average audience size of 63, with 190 overall listens. Along with the podcast, I have also set up a twitter account, to spread awareness of my podcast and to interact with fans and viewers. This included a segment where I would field questions from Twitter to ask each weeks guest. However, the interaction and responses I was getting for this segment here was pretty limited and didnt add much value to the show, so it is something that I am going to be phasing out going forward.Ive also asked for suggestions as to what sports my audience would like to see covered in upcoming episodes in an effort to engage them. This was fairly successful, and recieved a range of answers, anything from local afl to even some alternative sports and e-sports. One big issue that I dealt with in recording the first few episodes also related to the recording technology itself. I was originally planning on using the university recorders, but I had two failed recordings in a row. This lead me to invest in buying my own recording microphone, so i would have reliable access to recording equipment which would streamline the process. The microphone i chose to go with was one that is used by a large amount of youtubers and podcasters that i am aware of.

IDEATING: The Making of Locals Only

For my digital artifact, I had always intended to focus around sports media, as I was already contributing to a basketball site. However, in recognising that I was aiming to connect with more of a local audience, the concept of ‘Locals Only’ was born. I had hoped that by focusing on local issues, it would engage with my audience better, leading to more interaction and also increased feedback. Initially, I considered the idea of a blog or some type of forum to showcase Illawarra’s sporting talent:

However, a lot of the feedback I received was that while local sport was an area of interest, a blog or forum was not seen as a viable or engaging way to feature this type of content. Looking to other ways to present this, I realised that by running a podcast I could use and develop interviewing skills I have as an aspiring journalist, and combine that with my passion for sports. I had never done any podcasting or sound recording, but in speaking to a friend who has he advised me that Anchor.fm was a perfect platform to upload to, as it is quick and easy to use, and allows you to upload to Spotify and Apple Music for free. After a brief attempt at graphic design, I was able to receive the help of a fellow 114 student to create a logo, and registered a ‘Locals Only’ podcast account on Anchor.fm.

  • Initial attempt at logo
  • Final logo design
  • Anchor.fm site for ‘Locals Only’

Whilst setting this up, I also created a Twitter account for the podcast to build interest, and also to interact with my audience. This includes general promotion of the podcast, news and accomplishments of the athletes, and gathering questions as part of the ‘questions from the audience’ feature. Additionally, a Twitter account gave me the ability to produce some quick content and build a following whilst producing the podcast episodes. This incorporates the F.I.S.T theory, as the twitter content has proved a quick and effective way to build interest in my podcast, before publishing an episode.

Recording the episodes has proved to be more challenging, with F.E.F.O definitely coming into the equation. My first attempt at episode one felt successful, until I learnt that the recorder I had used was corrupted and that the recording had not saved. However, a positive I took from this is that I am able to reflect on how I interviewed the first time and tweak this to create a better all around product. Additionally, it has taught me the lesson of double and triple checking sound equipment before recording.

The aim is to produce ten episodes, and I already have six guests lined up. I came across these guests through both word of mouth and research into successful Illawarra athletes. Guests already lined up include a professional soccer player, professional basketballer, ex-professional WAFL player, an Australian representative Equestrian rider, an Australian representative hockey player and an Australian champion surfer. I hope by covering a wide array of sports and disciplines, it will both engage a wider audience and truly represent the Illawarra sporting community, which has a broad and deep sporting community.

The eventual aim of ‘Locals Only’ is to be a premiere Illawarra sports voice, that covers and features the world’s best athlete, from right in our backyard. Looking to the future, I am focusing on improving my podcasting quality, both through improved equipment and technique. I would also like to expand the podcast to talk to coaches and other personalities in local sports, and take suggestions from the audience for different segments and formats. Looking at podcasts such as ‘The Woj Pod’ and Cole Cuchna’s ‘Dissect’, I hope to make a relevant and engaging podcast that can be enjoyed by anyone.

Locals Only: BCM114 DA Pitch

Locals Only is a podcast/interview series which focuses on Illawarra athletes who compete at the highest level. Posted every two weeks, the episodes will each feature a one on one interview with a high level athlete from the Illawarra, where we will cover their beginnings in sport in the Illawarra, how their career has progressed, and what they have coming up. To further involve the audience, I plan to set up a ‘questions from the audience’, where I will ask for questions via Twitter for each weeks athlete, that I can then ask them. Locals Only will be posted through ‘Anchor.fm’, a free podcast creation site that also allows the content to be posted on streaming sites such as Spotify and Apply Music. By bringing attention to these athletes, I hope to promote the sporting community of the Illawarra as a whole.