I Podcast di informazione internazionale: Il caso de Il Mondo

Abstract

In the past year, the podcast has become one of the most widely used forms of everyday storytelling as a tool for knowledge, entertainment, and companionship. The awareness of the existence of this narrative medium has increased, such that the percentage of those who do not use it due to lack of awareness has decreased by 8%1. Conversely, the number of users has increased significantly compared to 2022: studies show a growth of almost one million listeners, reaching a total of sixteen million listeners in 2023. Specially in the past two years, there is an almost equal distribution between men and women, although women have shown renewed interest. There are many factors that have contributed to this development alongside technological advancement, and one of the main is the Pandemic: while closed in their homes, people were driven by a need for companionship. Although it is a recent phenomenon in Italy, in the United States similar contents have been created since 2005 with the birth of the iPod (from which the term podcast derives), culminating in Serial: the first podcast structured like a TV series, which reached 250 million listens by 2018.

From a creative and specialized point of view podcasts offer endless possibilities, while from an informational perspective, there are some reservations. The risk associated with the large quantity of homemade audio products is the multiplication of sources (including uncertified ones) while covering information about the world and sometimes sensitive topics. Yet, in the United States, the podcast medium has been established as a journalistic medium for almost ten years: The Daily and Up First are listened to daily by 29% of the adult population who report using podcasts for information. Since the Covid-19 pandemic, this habit has developed worldwide, contributing to the rapid decline of print media in favor of the convenient and intimate smartphone. In 2023, countries such as Brazil, China, and Morocco ranked national news podcasts among the most listened to in August, allowing them to overcome media gaps and censorship.

Thanks to my Master's thesis in Publishing, Journalism, and Cultural Management at La Sapienza University discussed in January 2024, I was able to observe that this new information medium has also consolidated rapidly in Italy. Considering that today 43% of Italians listen to podcasts for information, it is easy to understand the need to create a product suitable for the ears and social media of the moment. In my study, I aimed to analyze the development of informational podcasts worldwide and in Italy, comparing listening trends in 17 countries and delving into the market for journalistic podcasts in Italy. To conclude, I provided the example of the podcast Il Mondo, in its daily recording and creation, made possible by the internship I did at the Internazionale editorial office. This article aims to be a summary of that research.