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About a dozen teens responded to the request. They wanted to jump in with both feet and get one started. We had an initial meeting with them, where we shared a dozen or so teen podcasts from the Web site www.teenpodcasters.com, and came up with story ideas. It took a couple of months before we got it off the ground, picking the willing and able teens to record pieces at the Pilot’s Norfolk office. But we did it, and it was wonderful. The trial podcast, which did not go live, featured two teens talking about MySpace.com, with one even admitting to communicating with her sister via the popular blog site because they never see each other thanks to all of their school and extracurricular activities. Another student interviewed members of a hot local teen band. Yet another teen read a piece she wrote about her mother’s battle with cancer. Finally, teen correspondent Liam Dunaway, who is more of a convergence king than anyone on the 757 teen staff, went out and interviewed some teens about what they’re thankful for because it was Thanksgiving time. Kerry and I sent the link to some teens to find out what they thought. We heard from several who said it was too long and not too professional, but Kerry and I felt the quality rocked. Since then, Liam has turned out to be our go-to guy, because he has his own top-of-the-line equipment. He’s produced three pieces for podcasts, the latest being one on teens and their bad habits based on a national study that said teens’ bad habits get worse as they get older. The podcast that finally debuted in February on www.pilotonline.com came together when Kerry and I decided it had to happen. With the energy, creativity and talent of these teens, we thought not using them to put together a podcast would be a crime. Kerry and I even ran out on a Friday night before a girls’ basketball game and interviewed two players who created a rap about their team, the 2005 state championship squad. Kerry brought his microphone and I had one of my correspondents interview them. It worked out great. We then had other teens come in to record the podcast introduction and a piece about the prom. Liam rounded out the whole thing with the bad habits audio. We got about 1,500 hits on the site, which doesn’t always translate into someone actually listening or downloading the show. But, hey, it’s a great start. And we’ve gotten unbelievable support and comments from upper management, such as this one from Pilot Editor Denis Finley: “Excellent! Well done. Can we track how many listeners we get? Hope we can do more.” The teens seem to like it, too. Lashanté Goffigan, a senior from Virginia Beach, has participated in two of the podcasts we have done since then, and keeps coming back for more. “I can talk to people that are six times cooler than me,” she says. “You can hear what other teens have to say about certain issues.” Business-wise, the jury is still out. But we’ll continue to tackle this brave new world with the younger generation that lives and breathes on the Internet. Editor’s note: The Roanoke Times, which like the Pilot is owned by Norfolk-based Landmark Communications Inc., also has been experimenting with podcasts for teens. Read more about both efforts at www.naa.org/ReadershipPages/R2-New-Readers-and-Revenue.aspx. Look for the story link under “Teen Market” on the left side of the page. Toni Guagenti is editor of 757 at The Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk. She can be reached at toni.guagenti@pilotonline.com. 
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| Copyright 2008, Newspaper Association of America Foundation |
Liam Dunaway, a correspondent for 757 at The Virginian-Pilot, has produced several pieces for the newspaper’s teen podcasts.