How podcast storytelling is evolving

Dear Storyboard community, 

Starting this week we're featuring stories and insights from the recent 2025 Power of Narrative conference at Boston University, with reporting from new Storyboard contributors (and BU journalism students) Lindsay Shachnow, Ava Berger, and Emilia Wisniewski. 

Specifically, we're digging into the craft of audio storytelling, with an inside look at "Snitch City," the serialized podcast from The Boston Globe's investigative Spotlight team, and lessons on how to write for audio, from producer (and 2024 Nieman Fellow) Julia Barton. 

As Mary Schmich and I discussed last week, unlike newspaper columns, podcasts and digital media have few boundaries or constraints when it comes to space, length, and story structure. You can build a cliffhanger into each episode, or produce a series of standalone vignettes. But when it comes to budget and distribution, the constraints are clearer.

The post-"Serial" boom created an explosion of serialized narrative podcasts. This demand was also driven by the platform distributing these shows — Apple Podcasts, and later Spotify. As podcasting matured, there was pressure for more episodes, more downloads, and more growth, so we moved into a world where "always-on" chat shows became the trend. (If you had a member of the Kelce family involved, even better.) 

Now, with YouTube embracing podcasters, audio hosts are turning on their cameras to capture video, too. Editing a show for both YouTube and audio can present its own storytelling challenges and compromises — how many jump cuts can I use on video before I look like a malfunctioning robot? — but the lure of the audience can be too compelling to ignore.  

As algorithms and trends change, journalists and producers are looking for new ways to do impactful work: Some news organizations might consolidate their longform documentaries into an "umbrella feed" instead of offering standalone shows; others might turn their work into an audiobook. 

" Where I come down is that there's a lot you can do to be a storyteller regardless of the format," Sound Judgment's Elaine Appleton Grant told me. "You can use a lot of the same storytelling techniques — you can 'narrative-ize' a chat show." While formats and platforms evolve, the core principles of reporting and storytelling remain the same.

[ Read the story ]

[ Read the story ]

Keep sharing your stories, 

Mark Armstrong
Editor
Nieman Storyboard
Follow the Nieman Storyboard Podcast 
On Bluesky: @niemanstoryboard.org  

[ Follow us in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app. ]