How podcasting can teach students to be better news consumers and American citizens
Plus: Mapping your favorite pro-democracy Substacks
Note: This article was written by Anthony Payne with PBS News Student Reporting Labs for The Democracy Group.
Where former generations might’ve been able to look to the news as a gateway to civic engagement and a resource to build their opinions, young people now have little trust in the media. According to a 2024 study from the News Literacy Project, more and more teens believe unethical practices are a standard of the journalism industry, and a majority describe “news media” using negative words. Many don’t even understand what a journalist actually does – so why would they look for their takes?
Putting young people behind the mic in the role of researcher and storyteller is a direct way to equip students with the skills to navigate this complex media landscape.
Audio storytelling is an easy way for students to see behind the reporting curtain and try it themselves. They choose the topics that matter to them, ask questions of people in their communities, and get a sense of the editorial decisions that are made in real newsrooms. Students learn media literacy through media making, and often discover new ways of engaging with their communities along the way.
That’s what we do at PBS News Student Reporting Labs. We’re a national youth journalism training program. In recognition of America’s 250th anniversary, our team recently released On Our Minds: Road Trip, a collaborative podcast in which student reporters from across the US take listeners on a tour of their towns, cities, and neighborhoods, spotlighting the places and faces that make every corner of the country unique.
In one story, a student interviews members of a thriving LGBT community in Columbia, Missouri. Another explores how an all-ESOL school in Massachusetts helps students find a sense of belonging, while another episode zooms in on a small art store and the community they’ve built in Richmond, Indiana.
Through this reporting and production process, student reporters discover more about their hometowns and their own agency to participate in their local community. They develop the skills to seek out new conversations and sources to shape their attitudes and decide how they want to engage.
For this podcast season, students interviewed and connected with real people in their communities. They met their neighbors and then shared those conversations with a national audience, a reminder that even just going out and talking to someone at your park can shift your perceptions and teach you something new.
New episodes of the On Our Minds podcast produced by PBS News Student Reporting Labs will be released every Wednesday through June.
NEW & NOTEWORTHY 🎧
This is Jessie Nguyen, The Democracy Group's Community Manager. Here are some of my favorite podcasts this week. Check them out!
The Politics Guys: The New Rules of Politics: Know Your Coalition
The third episode of the special series, “The New Rules of Politics,” takes a closer look at political behavior through politician coalition dynamics. The conversation examines why and how politicians typically target voters and funders who matter most rather than maximizing overall support, among other concepts.
The TRM Podcast: Season 5: Episode 9: A TRM Roundtable with Misurell, Oddo and Pekin
A special episode featuring the three most recent guests, this conversation brought together an independent candidate running for Congress, an entrepreneur who writes about modern democracy and a nonprofit founder working to strengthen our democracy. The panelists discussed deep systemic failures and a political system that traps voters in a lesser-of-two-evils choice.
The Context: Maybe Don’t Get All Your News from Podcasts, America
The rise (and fall) of Andrew Tate along with other extreme right-wing voices in podcasting can be explained by misinformation, platforms’ algorithms and fake news traps. Angelo Carusone with watchdog nonprofit Media Matters joined the episode to explore how the online media ecosystem came to be dominated by authoritarian and anti-inclusive narratives.
Subscribe to our network’s podcast feed to receive a sampling of new episodes from across the network every week.
FEATURED EXPERTS 📰
Some of the expert guests who shared their insightful knowledge within our network.
Ann Bausum on Future Hindsight: The Lost Cause Lie
Ann Bausum is an award-winning historian and author of “White Lies: How the South Lost the Civil War, Then Rewrote History.” She writes about history for readers of all ages, with many of her books exploring issues of social justice, free speech, immigration, women’s voting rights and queer history.
Susan Page on TPNR: The Queen Had a Front Row Seat to American Democracy
Susan Page is a journalist and the Washington Bureau chief of USA TODAY. She’s covered 12 presidential campaigns and seven White House administrations. Page is the best-selling author of biographies of Barbara Bush, Nancy Pelosi and Barbara Walters. Her latest book, “The Queen and Her Presidents,” explores Queen Elizabeth II’s relationship with 13 American presidents.
DEMOCRACY CORNER 📓
2026 is the year to explore, learn and engage. Welcome to Democracy Corner, your hub for civic knowledge, happenings and action!
An interactive map visualizing the pro-democracy Substack ecosystem and how these publications connect
That’s the idea behind ProDemStack!
Created by Micah L. Sifry from a dataset of 236 pro-democracy Substack sites, the live tool allows users to explore newsletters that recommend one another, along with their audience sizes and subscription data. The interactive map also categorizes these sites based on their tone, ranging from highly action-oriented to neutral to highly alarmist.
Key findings:
57% of the mapped sites were categorized as highly alarmist, including The Bulwark, Heather Cox Richardson and Civil Discourse with Joyce Vance.
30% of the sites were considered highly action-oriented, including the Brennan Center, Pete Buttigieg and Harry Dunn.
Across both the top 25 alarmist and top 25 action-oriented Substacks, common headline language includes words like “kings,” “America,” “ICE” and “war,” as found in their word clouds.
Read more insights here. Interact with the tool at the link below!
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