regulation 1 billion


Diary of a CEO reached 1 billion streams in November 2024


“All the broadcast journalism and podcasting students at City do media law and media ethics. The podcast industry could see there was a funnel of people who were content creators who didn’t have that background in law or ethics or defamation, or an understanding of what you can and can’t say. There’s also a proliferation of people from social media worlds and they don’t have any journalistic background whatsoever. Industry backs our course because they know


anyone from us comes out as a fully rounded individual.” Both Spencer and Shah say the world of podcasting is going through a ‘wild west’ phase. Shah says the line between broadcasters and podcasters is becoming increasingly blurred. While there are no plans for regulation now, that could change. The CRTC, the Canadian version of Ofcom, has considered


regulating podcasts. On a Teams call, Scott Shortliffe, its vice-president of broadcasting, explained that the new Online Streaming Act had given it authority over online output but largely not social media. The CRTC put podcasts under the social media heading and asked if they made a ‘material contribution to the broadcasting system as a whole’. “We do not see right now that podcasting materially contributes, but it is something I think we will be asked about in future because there is a point of view that podcasting is more analogous to radio.” I think our own news and political podcasts do materially


people would complain about the big shows. It wouldn’t expose the next Andrew Tate, growing an audience under cover of darkness. Some of the worst content won’t be what is complained about. You will be disadvantaging the most popular content.” Shah disagrees: “If someone is making a podcast with a conspiracy theory and 200 people are listening, that wouldn’t be ideal, but you can’t monitor everything. But if those 200 people become 200,000 or half a million, then it probably should be hitting radars.” Maybe on a smaller scale, how do I and, more importantly,


younger listeners know how to find the truth in a podcast? Spencer and I both worked at Radio Five Live. “There’s clearly been a change in standards,” he says. “You and I used to work in a newsroom, but those days are moving on. This is the democratisation of audio. We are in a changing environment we might not like but it’s a change in audience demand. It’s very hard to put the genie back in the bottle.” In the UK, traditional broadcasting is regulated by Ofcom. The Broadcasting Code for television and radio covers standards in programmes, sponsorship, product placement as well as fairness and privacy. What it doesn’t really cover is podcasts, except those broadcast on BBC Sounds, which come under the code. So, while podcasts are subject to defamation, contempt of court and copyright laws (in the UK), they are not regulated for accuracy or fairness. I asked Ofcom what they thought about this state of affairs. The response was: “Any changes to the status quo, ie whether podcasts should be regulated more widely, would be a matter for government and parliament.” The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport said


it had no plans to regulate podcasts but “will continue to monitor this issue and the wider regulatory landscape”. Spencer runs an MA in podcasting, the first standalone course of its kind in the UK, possibly the world. There are student bursaries from Goalhanger and Spotify, and the course has a relationship with 17 podcast companies that provide work placements for students.


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contribute to the broadcasting landscape in the UK. But, after talking to Shortliffe, a penny did drop. It all depends how you view podcasts. If you see them as an extension of radio like I have done, it makes sense to regulate. But if you see them as audio on social media, you’re wading into a minefield. Perhaps this whole question says more about traditional


journalists trying to navigate a fast-changing landscape, but then again, maybe Shah and I ought to start playing around with a few designs for that kitemark.


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