#KleinCamp18: Using Audio to engage and expand online audience

Putting the Noise in the Noise

Audio gives us a way to amplify news in a way that we could never do.

John Ensslin (@bergenmatters), an audio specialist at The Record (Northern New Jersey), spoke about the importance of audio in journalism.

Ensslin finds audio stories. He looks for stories with ambient sounds that work for great storytelling.

His process includes finding good audio and then interviewing the reporters working on the story for context.

When it comes to audio storytelling, he makes sure that he has a good, tight script. “It takes time to get it right,” he said regarding the preparation he does for the scripts.

Audio by the numbers

• The average online news story published by The Record takes 32 seconds to read. When a podcast is added, the average engaged time increased 5 fold. That, is engagement.
• 1,000–2,000 listeners listen to The Record podcasts monthly on average.

Ensslin is a print reporter by trade. However, he says he has an “audio voice,” which helps for great storytelling. Though he started out creating audio with his phone, he's since been able to upgrade to more expensive equipment that helps to really capture the moment.

Ensslin’s prediction for the future of media? It will be voice-driven. There is a “great market up ahead for audio as told by smart speakers,” he said. While he does video, he sees a great advantage to focusing on audio first.