Ok, I’m not trying to be a punk here. But as I was scrolling through my feed on LinkedIn a few weeks back, I saw an article by the DailyDot that was shared by a couple of my friends in the industry. It was called “The Podcasting State of the Union”, a very provocative header that definitely baited me to click.

As I read the article, the first thing that caught my eye was that it was under 1200 words…rather short for a ‘state-of-the-union’ kind of article. The second thing that caught my eye is that it repeated every known fact amongst the industry and those that follow it.

Let’s Recap Their So-called ‘State-of-the-Union’:

• Podcast listeners is growing steadily year-over-year
• Serial was the game changer for the industry
• Original programming is coming from Apple, Spotify, Pandora (this is sort of new)
• Revenue projections are surpassing $200
• There is a lack of transparency when it comes to listener data
• Many companies are working on new technologies
• Media outlets are beginning to produce their own shows
• Companies are aggressively working to create an app that curates the entire industry

So when it comes to calling this a  ‘State of the Union’ address for the podcasting industry, the article was nowhere near commensurate to its headline. And it’s not much of a ‘union’ right now. Can you say fragmented? Friction?

A 60,000 Foot Overview of the Industry

The article by The Daily Dot, while I’m appreciative they reported on the industry, and while it was just fine for ‘newpods, it should have been titled ‘A 60,000 Foot Overview of What’s Happening in Podcasting Today”.

Cliff Notes Steppin’ & Repeatin’

It was basically cliff notes, stepping and repeating the most generic articles in circulation, hence all of their direct links within it (trust me, I’m not against that style of writing…I just had an issue with being fooled by the title).  To me, it lacked the journalistic depth for something with such a title.

The Contrast: Nieman Labs or Nick Quad

I’d much rather read an article from Niemen Labs or Nick Quad on the “State of the Podcast Union”

For contrast, anyone recall the article back in September 2016 , written by Ken Doctor, at Nieman Labs entitled: An Island No More: Inside the Business of the Podcasting Boom? That article was nearly 5,000 words, and truly was representative of the title ‘State of the Union’.

If you’re going to call it State of the Union…BRING IT!  I’ll wait for Nick Quad or Ken Doctor to deliver it.