Longtime audio journalist, Elaine Appleton Grant believes public radio needs better training for on-air talent. In her recent article for Current, she explores “hostiness” with powerhouse journalists and storytellers: John Barth, Glynn Washington, and Juleyka Lantigua (in photo).

Hosting skills, and the considerable abilities of the reporters, editors and producers supporting on-air talent, are perhaps the most important skills in spoken word audio. And yet they are the most overlooked.

Are you paying enough attention to training your newsroom talent?

As a longtime audio journalist, I have long felt that we do not provide enough training in the skills required for the kind of immersive and accountability journalism that public media, done well, excels in. This is especially true for on-air talent.

In this article recently published in Current, Elaine makes the case that you're probably not. Through examples from respected hosts and producers such as Glynn Washington, Juleyka Lantigua and John Barth, you'll find the kind of strategic thinking (and thus, training and development) that, if we invest in it, will help public media content leaders develop, launch and maintain more standout shows over time. 

Many station leaders are grappling with how best to serve existing audiences and attract new ones, in an effort to achieve their missions and counter the decline of traditional broadcast listenership. 

Radio leaders have long known that one of the primary drivers of loyalty is the relationship listeners have with a host. The same is true in podcasting.

Listener loyalty and fandom grows audience.

More than 80% of women listeners have shared a show with friends and family, according to Edison Research’s Women’s Podcast Report (December 2022). Word of mouth is also the number one way women find new podcasts. What prompts listeners to share a program? Almost 70% of women listeners do so because they they believe their friends and family will like the host.

→ Read the full article from Elaine in this article published by Current on Feb 24, 2023.

• https://current.org/2023/02/these-lessons-in-hostiness-matter-more-than-ever-for-public-medias-future/

→ Listen to the Sound Judgment episodes mentioned in this article:

• The host defines the brand with John Barth - Sound Judgment Ep 2

• Snap Judgment's Glynn Washington: Lessons from a Master Storyteller - Sound Judgment Ep 10

• Juleyka Lantigua: What if all of your editorial choices were to serve one person? - Sound Judgment Ep 13