A NEW ENDEAVOUR

By joining a community of over 465 million listeners worldwide (almost a quarter of all internet users), the FCC sets foot in the realm of podcasts for the rst time this month. It’s worth noting that across Asia, podcast downloads grew by a mammoth 216 percent from June 2021 to June 2022. In reaching members and non-members alike, it is hoped that the on-demand audio content from the FCC can help further the cause of what it means to be a press club in this day and age in the context of Hong Kong and Asia.

A sister to the magazine e podcast – which shares its name with this magazine – is spearheaded by this year’s trio of Hollingworth Fellows: Teele Rebane, Simran Vaswani and Hayley Wong. With the help of veteran journalists, the Fellows will take turns to host the podcast. “I think the three of us are quite di erent, have very di erent interests and very di erent strengths, so it’s good to bring that diversity into the podcast,” Rebane says.

In fact, prior to its launch, the idea of producing FCC podcasts had been brewing for more than a year. According to Rebane, the appointment of the current batch of Fellows, who were all keen to act as hosts, was the catalyst that helped get the idea o the ground. “It took just one meeting and we were in production by the weekend, so it was simply a matter of timing,” Rebane recalls.

“ e board members have a lot on hand, and this is a novel territory,” Rebane says. “I’ve come in with experience in podcasting, and was really keen to do this; and then a seasoned journalist who has been our very helpful editor and producer was able to put a lot of his own time and e ort into this –I think us coming together is what needed to happen for the FCC podcasts to move forward.” e second area the podcast covers will be episodes that complement e Correspondent magazine. Rebane says these podcasts could allow a behind-the-scenes peek at the publication and could also conduct personal interviews that back up the text stories. “It’s the logical next step, and also a really good way to bring The Correspondent to an audience that goes beyond members of the FCC or who don’t get the magazine in their mailbox.” e third area will be original stories produced by the hosts. Rebane is hoping to focus on what it means to be a journalist in the region. “We really want to tap into the expertise, experience and skill of journalists across Asia, and share the di culties that they navigate every single day,” she elaborates. “We’re looking at getting a range of voices, speci cally in their local environment and context, whether that’s a xer, a local producer, a photographer, a fact checker or a correspondent.”

In the podcast’s infancy, its content covers three areas, with the rst one being an adaption of the FCC’s speaker events such as lunchtime talks into a podcast. “Maybe the podcast format is a little bit more accessible than sitting down and watching an hourlong YouTube video,” Rebane says, adding that this made a straightforward start to producing the podcasts.

She believes that there is a niche for media reporting because “there are so many infringements against journalists and the media every single day”. It has now become a major topic around the world with stories such as Vice going bankrupt, layo s at NBC or the CNN town hall with Donald Trump. “I think there should be more reporting on the media in Asia, and the FCC and other press clubs could be playing a bigger role in that.”

New blood, new ideas

As one of the FCC’s youngest members (having been appointed a Fellow in November 2022), Rebane is excited to be working on the club’s inaugural podcasts. “I think one of the points of the Hollingworth Fellowship is to bring some fresh blood into the FCC and also to bridge that gap between the institution that the FCC is and the younger generation of journalists,” says Rebane, who graduated from the University of Hong Kong in 2021.

A Correspondent member close to the matter chimes in. “It’s a matter of keeping up with the times, to stay relevant. We are making a lot of e ort to recruit younger members, the next generation of journalists. ey listen to podcasts, so hopefully we can produce a podcast that is relevant and compelling for them.”

Citing her own experience, Rebane says that the 2019 protests were many young journalists’ rst reporting experience. With the rise of digital media, the world is very di erent from when the FCC was founded. “Being able to produce something like a podcast that’s so accessible and open, and which everybody can appreciate, whether or not they’re a member, is a really good way to create that bridge, open the FCC up a little bit, and bring it into the 21st century.”

For press clubs, keeping up with the times goes beyond adopting new

FCC PODCAST SUBJECTS

Speaker events at the club

The Correspondent magazine

Original stories

The podcast promotes the idea of ‘a club of conversations’, where people [can]... learn from each other technology or starting a new platform as they navigate an increasingly challenging media landscape. e aforementioned Correspondent member adds: “A lot of press clubs in Asia are operating in restrictive media environments. I think the podcast promotes the idea of ‘a club of conversations’, where people get together and learn from each other. Even if we can’t say or do everything that we want to exactly, we can still make sure we’re all as informed as possible.” e new generation of journalists

“de nitely wants a voice”, says Rebane, and needs to be part of the conversation in a profession that has long been dominated by press clubs, universities or editors of mainstream newspapers. She believes that a balance needs to be struck to include other people such as local or digital journalists, who may not be FCC members, “so we wouldn’t only re ect the viewpoint of international media which enjoys certain privileges that local media doesn’t, and so that we wouldn’t only be talking from the perspective of senior editors”.

Podcasts represent a new frontier for broadcasting, one that far outstrips radio, which is limited by the strength of signal from a transmitter, the need to tune in to hear broadcasts as they happen, the format as set by management or owners and access to a studio, transmitter and all the equipment necessary to broadcast a signal.

Podcasts can be heard wherever and whenever the listener chooses. e listener can pause, rewind, skip or revisit the episode whenever they choose. Back in 2012, Apple included a dedicated podcast app in its standard iPhone/iPad app line-up and this skyrocketed uptake and interest.

Podcasts are not limited by time, schedule or genre, which is precisely why this medium has exploded: the old gatekeepers who de ned what was allowed to be broadcast are no longer needed or relevant.

Most signi cantly, podcasts can be produced with as little as an iPhone, access to the web and the ability to generate an RSS feed.

For journalists like Rebane, that the FCC is embracing this updated iteration of audio content demonstrates a welcome openness on the part of an established institution. “It means that we are welcoming a new generation of media, a new generation of journalists, a new way of doing things that maybe we weren’t used to before, and I think there’s nothing but positive,” she concludes. n

In addition to The Correspondent podcasts, check out these other sites that are zeroing in on media issues:

On The Media

wnycstudios.org/podcasts/otm

From how Taylor Swift concert tickets are controlled to the story of the owners of American broadcast networks, On The Media is a biweekly podcast which also airs on over 400 US public radio stations.

Journalism.co.uk journalism.co.uk/podcast/s399/ ?ad4d67384f1d0bbb49b0d570 53d83951page=0

With a focus on the latest innovations in digital journalism, this weekly podcast tackles challenges newsrooms face by talking to journalists from Reporters Without Borders, The Washington Post, Kyiv Independent and many more.

The Kicker cjr.org/podcast/page/1

The Kicker is produced by the epe e o profi Columbia Journalism Review and tackles subjects like fake news and the impact of the likes of Elon Musk and Donald Trump.