The Podcast Revolution? Exploring Journalistic Pioneers Beyond Legacy Media

Podcasts have established themselves in the digital media landscape as an integral part of information gathering and opinion formation for many users. The number of podcast users has stabilized at a high level in recent years. However, podcast producers, including podcast journalists, remain a largely unexplored group. This study focuses on podcast journalists and aims to identify the perceptions, motivations, and quality standards relating to their roles in podcasting. It is based on the results of an online survey of 378 podcast journalists from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Against a background of the concept of pioneer journalism, this article argues that podcast journalists are innovative contributors to the journalism ecosystem and have positioned themselves as new actors within the field. The findings of this study show that podcast journalists create, produce, and present journalistic content, for instance news or background stories, in the form of audio episodes, and see themselves as both educators and entertainers. They use the creative freedom of podcasting to engage deeply with their audiences and achieve high levels of listener loyalty. While financial gain is not their primary motivation, they have innovated new revenue models. They are committed to the quality of their content and emphasize comprehensibility and accuracy of information.