Infotainers, Mediators, or Watchdogs? Mapping the Field of News Podcasters and Their Role Conceptions in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland

News podcasters, predominantly male, middle-aged, and academically educated without journalistic experience, shape mass media discourse, a study across Austria, Germany, and Switzerland reveals. They emphasize education, information, and entertainment, aligning closely with their audiences’ preferences. Meanwhile, monetization strategies remain underutilized. This research illuminates news podcasters’ unique roles and values in the evolving media landscape.

The relationship between environmental context and attentional engagement in podcast listening experiences

A study of 264 podcast listeners shows that environmental context affects a listener’s engagement with podcasts. Five contextual elements were identified: outdoors, indoors & at home, evenings, soundscape & at work, and exercise. Particularly, some listeners use podcasts to mask distracting sounds around them. This finding offers valuable insights for podcasters and researchers about object-based and personalized media.

“I just couldn’t cope with it, you know? I just couldn’t believe that she was gone”: The Portrayal of Co-victims’ Grief in True Crime Podcasts about Missing (but Presumed Killed) Women

True crime, a subset of crime-focused media that turns real cases into entertainment for the public’s consumption, regularly features co-victims within their narratives. To our knowledge, no studies have examined how co-victims (i.e., family members and friends of the victims and/or perpetrators) of intimate partner violence are portrayed