David Dowling
Since its emergence two decades ago, podcasting has spurred a rapidly evolving body of scholarship examining its social, technological, political, and cultural impact. However, much of podcast theory relies on analytical frameworks derived from other media. Moving beyond the binary debate that positions podcasting either as a wholly unique medium or merely an extension of radio, this article proposes a podcast-specific theoretical framework that advances a third approach within podcast studies. Rather than treating these perspectives as mutually exclusive, this approach synthesizes their strengths, recognizing podcasting’s broad esthetic range and time-shifted consumption patterns alongside its narrative lineage in radio drama and longform storytelling. In doing so, it situates podcasting within the genealogy of longform documentary journalism, aligning it with the evolving structures of digital publishing. At the intersection of podcast and journalism studies, this historically informed paradigm foregrounds three defining characteristics of podcast journalism: intimacy (manifested in personal narratives and parasocial relationships), reflexivity (evident in metajournalistic transparency and postmodern approaches to evidence), and democracy (leveraging progressive inclusivity or its oppositional countercurrents). While these features may be adapted or subverted across different productions, they remain core conventions that distinguish podcast journalism as a unique form of narrative digital media.