Ben Shapiro’s Surprise Podcast Movement Appearance; Un Nuevo Podcast En Español; Twitter Sets Sights on Podcast; Podcast Hosts Get a Backbone

The “who’s who” of the Podcast Industry gathered last week in Dallas for the 8th annual Podcast Movement. On next week’s Media Roundtable podcast, Oxford “Roadies” who attended will share their take on this year’s event, but this week we’re talking about the “Ben Shapiro incident” that is making news with a post by Oxford Founder and CEO, Dan Granger.

Ben Shapiro Canceled at Podcast Movement – Here’s What We Need to Do

By Dan Granger

As some of you may have read, last week I was compelled to author a rant in the form of a series of LinkedIn posts about Podcast Movement’s Twitter Apology for allowing The Daily Wire Founder & Editor-in-chief Ben Shapiro’s presence at the conference, and the harm that it caused.

As noted in my post, while many of my own personal views contrast with Ben’s, his attendance was as legitimate as mine as a speaker and in line with the diverse community environment I’d come to believe Podcast Movement was all about. In fact, The Daily Wire, his media property, was a paid sponsor!

After posting to LinkedIn, I was surprised by how many others from across the industry felt the way I do, even those that despise Ben. In short, Podcast Movement’s hasty negative response went against everything many of us in this industry have been fighting for including tolerance, credibility, and evenhandedness in media. Instead of first consulting the community, data or event tools, they bluntly canceled without clear explanation, or reconciling their decision with their stated mission.

I was grateful to see The Blaze write a story to amplify my message. I only wish that more journalists who do not align with the views of Ben or The Daily Wire would speak out as well. I’ve always been captivated by the quote (often misattributed to Voltaire), “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” Sometimes I fear that this spirit has been lost in modern media, where contradictory ideas and views are seen as harmful threats instead of invitations to a conversation in a good faith search for truth.

I hope the public shaming and disavowing of sponsorship of Ben Shapiro will serve as a teachable moment and cause us all to look in the mirror. If we truly believe in the free exchange of ideas as a foundational pillar of our democracy, then more of us will need to stand up, particularly for people with whom we have the most clear disagreements.

What now? If Podcast Movement really is a diverse community, I propose we all come together for a town hall event to discuss what happened and find ways to do better in the future, or at least address their new organizational values, which would make decisions like these less of a surprise. Why?

1) It would allow the Podcast Movement community to hear from one another. Of course, Podcast Movement reacted to the concerns of attendees. But, in their approach, they ignored others and their own decision to allow The Daily Wire to be a sponsor in the first place. The move came across as tone-deaf, disingenuous and intolerant.

2) It would allow us to dive into helpful discussions about community tolerance and tools as best practices for “hard calls” versus seemingly partisan moves by, I’m sure, the very well-intending humans in the loop.

What do you say, Podcast Movement, your place or mine? You’ve got a standing invitation to The Media Roundtable for a good faith discussion.

The Classifieds

Las Buenas Noticias Viajan Rápido

Digital news and media company My Code has launched its first podcast, partnering with the far-reaching and highly influential newspaper La Opinión Hoy. The popular publication is the largest Spanish-language newspaper in the United States and the second most read newspaper in its home base of Los Angeles. Its shortened, headline-capturing audio version is now open for sponsorship from any interested clients. Finding brand-safe news options, let alone ones in Spanish, can be difficult. Our B2B clients find it especially trying, so this is highly recommended for them or anyone looking for the next high-reach news podcast. If your Spanish only extends to “¿Dónde está la biblioteca?,” you may want to click the link below for more extensive details.

Get The Deal

The Therapists Are In

Mental health has never been a more prominent topic in our daily discourse, and yet many of us still feel the stigma of disclosing our current struggles. MTV Challenge star and therapist Sarah Rice, and Tiktok sensation Therapy Jeff are pairing with The Butler Did It to talk through those toxic ideations, give their informed advice, and provide a laugh or two along the way. Their first episode, which launched last week, covered topics such as narcissism, dating as an adult, and social media. Sarah currently co-hosts The Brain Candy Podcast, which performs well for our clients with direct-to-consumer products targeting a female skew audience. If you’re interested in laughing through the pain, please click the link below.

Get The Deal

In Case You Missed It

Chirp Chirp – Podcasts Coming to Twitter

After recording success with “Spaces”, Twitter has announced they’re bringing podcasts to the platform. The Musk rejected app announced a new podcast feature that will be integrated into its redesigned Spaces Tab, enabling users to create and consume audio content from a wider variety of users outside their immediate network. This, according to Twitter, is a way of investing in audio creators. According to Twitter, 45% of people who use the platform also listen to podcasts, so they’ll automatically suggest compelling podcasts to help people easily find and listen to the topics they want to hear more about. “For example, if someone regularly interacts with Vox content on Twitter, they’ll probably see a Vox podcast in a Spaces hub.” Bringing podcast content to an audience as massive as Twitter (even the bots) is all good news for podcast creators and those of us who advertise on them.

I Believe The Children Are Our Future

Whitney knew it, and apparently podcast networks do too. As reported by InsideRadio, a recent UTA study report says half of kids ages 3 to 12 currently listen to podcasts, and one-third (32%) listen at least weekly. While major networks like Wondery and iHeart are pumping out content for kids faster than you can say Paw Patrol, the report says that a third of parents want even more. Gen Alpha is the first to have podcasts around their whole life. As they grow older, they’ll continue their podcast journey. We’re in – keep ‘em coming.

TikTok Goes Hyperlocal

Following Instagram and Snapchat’s popular location-specific content features, TikTok plans to go local with a new “Nearby” video feed that shows videos made in your area and allows users to add location tags to content. “We’re always thinking about new ways to bring value to our community and enrich the TikTok experience,” a spokesperson for TikTok told TechCrunch in an email. The app’s ad revenues are already set to soar past Twitter and Snapchat combined, but adding localized features will help TikTok tap into valuable local advertising markets and aid smaller businesses in reaching consumers. Now if we could only get around the whole privacy thing, maybe we could get behind it.

For the Love of Gaming

Never underestimate the power of a host’s genuine enthusiasm for a product. Korey Coleman and Martin Thomas rave for over six minutes about the wonders of Backbone, a new gaming device that transforms your smartphone into a handheld gaming console. Sure, you can call it an ad read, but a more accurate description is a couple of guys talking about something they love and having a lot of fun doing it. It doesn’t get more genuine than that—endorsement or no endorsement. This genuine interest in the brands they endorse is one of the things that set their podcast, Double Toasted, apart from so many others that discuss the latest in movies and gaming. Listen to these guys. When it comes to fun, they’ll steer you on the right course.

Listen Here

OXFORd In The News

A Counter Take on Economic Doom and Gloom

The marketing news of late has been focused on the economic downturn and how it will affect advertising spend in the coming months, but a recent post from Marketing Brew shares a different story. Oxford Road’s own Steven Abraham and Jennifer Laine and others in the industry, share that at least in the podcast space, ad spend isn’t slowing down. In fact, many brands mentioned are actually ramping up. So when planning your 2023 marketing budgets, consider what we know to be the not-so-secret way to keep your KPIs in check while expanding your brand.

If you’ve read this far, thank you!

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