Cultural Aspects of the Transformation of the Term Podcasting

Abstract

This article presents the results of a study of the transformation of the very concept of podcasting in domestic scientific discourse, in the Russian media field from a cultural point of view. Podcasting is a form of transmission of mainly audio or video materials (VODcasts) to the Internet, which has existed in the world for about twenty years. Today, podcasts are associated not only with spoken audio content, but also with video interviews, and even with voice messages on the social media Telegram. Moreover, a podcast can be understood as almost any work in the digital media space, even text. This work was carried out in 2023 as part of a comprehensive study of the transformation of the audiovisual environment on new technological platforms, which has been carried out by the Department of Television and Radio Broadcasting of the Faculty of Journalism of Moscow State University since 2017. The purpose of this stage was to determine what is currently understood by the word podcasting and an attempt to capture its distinctive format features, cultural aspects of the evolution of the concept. The methods used were conceptual and contextual types of analysis. The cognitive approach made it possible to consider the verbalized key concepts of scientific discourse. The definitions given to podcasting by domestic and foreign researchers, practitioners, market participants in the process of development and formation of the industry, as well as a control group of listeners were analyzed. The authors of this article make an attempt to give the most relevant cultural interpretation of the concept of podcasting. The main conclusion is that Russian-language podcasting, for a number of reasons, is developing along a trajectory that is largely different from the world one, in particular the American one. But its development is complicated by a number of factors, including geopolitical and cultural ones. The concept of “podcasting” will most likely continue its evolutionary movement in search of a more solid position in the sociocultural space.

Keywords

• podcasting
• media system
• audiovisual content
• social media
• broadcasting
• formats