Making waves 💥

Audio for social change

Mar 28, 2024

As journalists and audio producers, we’re increasingly thinking about the impact of our work on the people and communities whose stories we’re telling. But how do we go a step further? Ayo Oti believes that podcasts can be used to galvanize listeners, motivating them to make ripples of social change.

After studying environmental public health, public policy and international development, Ayo interned on Gimlet / Spotify’s How to Save a Planet. She was then hired as Spotify’s Social Impact Editor.

In this issue we talk about intersectionality; how to move listeners to action; who’s benefitting from stories; and which companies are making responsible, impactful work.

Tell us about your social impact consultancy, Unofficial Social Chair.

I started Unofficial Social Chair after being laid off from Spotify. I wanted to move into impact production because I had this belief that we could do more to move people to action after listening to podcasts tackling various social issues.

Whether building partnerships with nonprofits, developing curricula and programming, I thought there was more that could be done to extend the impact of certain shows. My newsletter Sounds Like Impact was meant to bring more attention to this idea. Sounds Like Impact bridges audio and action. I still believe in the potential for impact production in the industry, and a few folks are doing some of it, but with all of the layoffs and lack of funding for marketing, it has been tricky.

Why do you believe audio is an effective way to work towards social good?

Portability. For a visual documentary you must be rooted in place. Sometimes, you don’t want to read a long news investigation or a nonfiction book. I have friends who are pretty socially engaged but rarely—if ever—want to read nonfiction or watch a documentary. They prefer books and TV/film as an escape from reality.

So with that said, the fact that you can listen to a podcast without having to be attentive to a screen / book, or be in a particular place, is a bonus for content focused on social issues. People had long gotten their news from the radio, so podcasting taps into that, and you don’t have to be in a car to listen. You could be cleaning your house, walking your dog, and still tapped into the world around you. I think the flexibility that podcasts give us to engage with important content is essential.

Now of course there is still a need to make podcasting accessible. We are making progress on transcripts, for example, but there is still more we can do.

What are some of the causes you personally really believe in?

Where to start?! Well, a lot of social issues are connected. A through-line I have found, particularly when it comes to the US, is racial injustice. If you name any type of social issue, I bet I can tell you how discriminatory policies and practices based on race are connected. Even when the impact is unintentional, or “disparate impact” as they say in the legal field. Race is how we historically prioritized who gets resources / access and who bears the burden of harm induced by a capitalist system. We deal with the fallout today in education, in public health, with the environment, with mass incarceration, I could go on…

My belief system boils down to: every issue we look at must require an intersectional approach.

What are some ways we as journalists / producers can begin working in a social impact-focused way?

I believe the first step is asking yourself why you want to tell a certain story. Let’s put aside the existential debate of whether you will be viewed as an activist or “unobjective” for taking on a certain story. The real question is: who is getting something out of the story being told?

In my view, hopefully it’s the individual or community impacted, and that they are somewhat better off as a result of your reporting. When I say better off, I mean: are listeners now aware of the highlighted issue and could it result in some type of change?

The next thing to think about is what resources can you provide. No one is saying you have to start a Gofundme or a Change.org petition or even partner with a nonprofit, but I think transcripts and show notes are the bare minimum assets you can leverage to help listeners take the next step. What sources did you use (Science Vs. is incredible at this type of documentation), were there organizations that were mentioned that you can link to–not necessarily as an endorsement–but can you hyperlink in the footnotes of your transcript or in your show notes? Did you encourage your audience to seek out show assets?

Don’t treat these assets as an afterthought, especially if there is not any funding for social campaigns or a full show website. My point is, the impact piece doesn’t have to be flashy; events, fundraising initiatives, curricula, are nice to have, not a need to have. At How to Save a Planet, we did have a newsletter and Instagram we ran as producers, but we also made sure our show notes and transcripts were solid and encouraged people to check them out.

Not to pick on true crime, but I want to spotlight the genre because this is a popular side of podcasting and has high potential for both good and harm. A lot of people turn to it because it can be fascinating and therefore, entertaining. But what do those victimized–and the people in their lives–get out of this story being told?

True crime has often been handled problematically, but there is hope. I think Tenderfoot TV for example, with their podcasts Freeway Phantom and Dear Alana, has done a pretty great job of telling these stories in a sensitive way, while also making sure people have relevant resources.

For Freeway, the production companies involved came together to add more reward money to get more information to solve the crimes against the young Black girls that were abducted and killed. Having interviewed Jaime Albright, who worked on the show, I know that their desire to tell this story was driven by a sense of justice, not just by revenue for talking about a series of unsolved murders.

In the end, my only ask is that we find a way not to leave listeners in a pit of despair.

What are some of the key challenges or restraints in using audio for social good?

While my sample size isn’t too big, some feedback that I was able to get from podcasters was the fact that they rarely had marketing budget. Running events, making designed infographics, resource sheets or websites… costs money! But most folks were just talking about struggling to get money to buy an ad or make a few social posts. At How to Save a Planet, we did not have social support for our Instagram. We–the producers–made the assets and compiled resources. So I think marketing budget is the biggest constraint…once there is commitment to make the show.

But stepping back, trying to get a show made, I cannot imagine in this climate. What some called “the dumb money” phase of podcasting, is over. But even then, there was starting to be this huge emphasis on celebrity-led shows and true crime. Now what I’m sharing is my understanding of what was happening in the industry, but I personally have not sold a show. However, outside of public radio–which is currently struggling–and more indie players such as LWC and Lemonada Media who also get foundation funding for certain shows, I’m not sure who is clamoring to make the next environmental justice show, for example. It’s really through indie producers that are grinding, and some of the production companies I just named, that I’m still seeing some social good shows even come out.

What metrics can we look at to determine whether our podcasts / radio is having social impact?

This is something that I am hoping to get to the bottom of myself, in terms of talking to some production companies that have done some type of impact campaign with their work. It’s a bit more involved because you aren’t just looking at how many people listened to or downloaded the podcast. You want to understand what actions they took as a result of the podcast. I don’t think hosting platforms give analytics on how many people click into links in show notes (at least when I was at Spotify they didn’t).

So then you have to look at, did they visit the show website for resources? Did they follow you on social media? But to be frank, those are vanity metrics in this context. For impact, we really need to care more about the outcome–did they contact their congressperson, donate, increase their education on the issue, etc–and that is harder to measure.

For understanding outcomes, surveying is a method, but it is resource intensive if done well. I think events can make outcomes a little bit easier to track in that you can calculate how much was donated (if that was the intention), or you can survey people in real-time when they are there to be present with the issue at hand. Or if it is a podcast about someone who is incarcerated or someone who has been victimized in some way, you may see some advocacy or reforms that bubble up as a result. Hopefully the journalist or politician references your show in that case!

Among audiences, are you sensing a growing appetite for this kind of content? How does it resonate with listeners?

I think excellent case studies are looking at the success of Lemonada Media and LWC Studios. Both of these production companies are managing through what has been a turbulent past couple of years in podcasting, and media in general. LWC recently partnered with The Meteor to release The A Files and Lemonada with Ms. Foundation for Women for When We Win. In some ways, I think that signifies there is interest in developing this type of content for audiences.

At the same time, some smaller podcast companies have folded and larger companies that acquired companies have essentially dismantled a lot of podcasts (e.g How to Save a Planet, Stolen, in the case of Gimlet / Spotify). I also think the podcasting landscape is still pretty crowded. There are so many podcasts you can listen to, so finding an audience can be hard, and it’s not an indication that the podcast isn’t good enough.

But anecdotally, my newsletter has grown, and that gives me hope that people still want to hear about social issues. I think if we see more of these types of shows continue in 2025 (since they likely will be developed in 2024), that will be a good indicator.