What makes a winning podcast entry? Advice from podcast editor Daniel McLaughlin

“What’s in a name?” Juliet, the doomed lover, once pondered from the Montague household’s balcony.  

It is a question that is on the minds of those within the podcast field. If you were to ask PodNews editor James Cridland, he would say a podcast is “something for your ears when your eyes are busy”. Max Cutler, the founder of PAVE Studios, believes that the phrase ‘podcast’ will become obsolete, and they will simply be called “shows”. Amplifi Media’s Steven Goldstein notes that podcast has “become shorthand for personality-driven, on-demand programming”. 

I am personally less concerned about the name, and more interested in the things that make podcasts tick. As Stephen Fry remarks, we are not nouns – we are verbs. 

If I really scratch my head, and attempt to conjure up any definition of podcasting, I suppose I can come up with this: podcasting is intimate storytelling, available anytime and anywhere. It can be personal and emotional, irreverent and funny, eccentric and innovative, preposterous and delightful. People, despite the concerning efforts from Inception Point AI, are at the heart of podcasting. 

Real people, real voices, real stories. 

I have been judging the Podcast category of the NCTJ Awards for Excellence over the past couple of years. I could pretend that it is an act of altruism, or giving back to the journalism community; but frankly, it is a selfish exercise to see where the future of podcast journalism lies.  

The students and trainees are the future, and despite the doom and gloom proselytised about our trade, I remain hopeful and optimistic – and practically thrilled by the emerging talents.  

The only thing I feel fearful about is my own position with the diligent and energetic future journalists waiting in the sidelines. 

This is perhaps not the advice the NCTJ expected from me in this communiqué: make me fretful, nervously looking over my shoulder at the advancing next generation of podcast journalists. 

Something old, something new 

Whenever I tell people about my profession, working as a Podcast Editor for Reach, the older folk tend to remark that podcasting seems to be all the rage these days, this exciting new development in the audio world.  

However, podcasting is not new; it is an established medium with a packed history. And if we are to delve deeper into this audiovisual storytelling, we would find it is not a disruptive force; it is a continuation of radio and TV, supported by the solid foundations of old-school journalism. 

You still need a strong top line, authoritative voices, diverse perspectives, emotive storytelling, professional production values, and to serve your audiences. Podcasts still boil down to those fundamentals of journalism: to inform and to entertain, and I daresay, to intrigue. 

As a student of journalism innovation myself, I am also looking for invention and flair in your storytelling, whether it is being playful with the formats, or experimenting with your production.  

Above all, I want to hear stories delivered by the people in the know, or those experiencing them directly, that will make me smile or make me think. Voices are integral to podcasts. The job of the host or the interviewer is to facilitate those stories, gently but authoritatively guiding it along, creating a platform for their perspectives. 

Over the years, the students and trainees have transported me into the lives of incredible and interesting people. From England’s green and pleasant lands to war zones around the world, the fervour of a football ground to the rush of the morning commute, it has been a privilege to hear each and every story. 

And I cannot wait for the next trip through my headphones. 

Don’t forget to enter your podcast by 12 November into the NCTJ Awards for Excellence 2025. Submit your entry here.