A Show That Gives People Hope feat. Democracy Works

Over at Penn State, The Democracy Works audio team isn't just producing engaging and thoughtful podcast episode. They're also working on media training, promotions plans and helping other podcasts in the democracy space network and grow.Jenna Spinelle works in strategic communications for Penn State's McCourtney Institute for Democracy. In this role, she is responsible for developing and executing marketing strategies, including the Democracy Works podcast. Since graduating with a bachelor's degree in journalism from Penn State, Jenna hasn't strayed too far from State College, PA, serving as an adjunct instructor in the College of Communications, as well as having worked in the admissions office. Host Robert Li & Jenna sit down to cover her favorite episode of Democracy Works called “What student debt says about democratic institutions,” a topic we’re sure hits home for many.  Listen as they also discuss trying to cover politics in new and unique ways, utilizing feed drops for promotion, The Democracy Group podcast network and why networks are great to be a part of, and offering services beyond just podcasts & audio editing. The Word on Campus is produced by University FM. Episode Quotes:Navigating the flow of consistent content creation16:01: With a show that comes out consistently, you sometimes just have to go with the flow to keep episodes coming on a consistent schedule. As much as I would love to have a strategy lined out, week to week, there's a beast that has to be fed, and sometimes it's just whatever kind of catches our eye in the moment.A unique approach of Democracy Works into political podcasting12:27: I think so much media in politics, whether it's podcasts or YouTube or even things like cable news, right? It's all about debate. It's all about: we're going to get somebody from the right, somebody from the left, and they're just going to argue in varying forms. Sometimes it's more civil, sometimes it's not. We're just going to try to take down the other side, right? That's not my style of interviewing. That's not what we do on the show. And we also try to, as much as we can, avoid the, you know, while Republicans did this, and Democrats did this, and really look at the structures and institutions that are behind our democracy. Political news can be a source of hope04:49: It's easy to feel overwhelmed and depressed by the state of our political news these days, which tends to focus on conflicts and these sorts of things. But the stories that don't get told are often those of people who are doing work to bridge divides or people who are finding solutions to problems in politics in their community, whether that's the local level or the state level. We want to highlight some of those stories. And the thing I hear most often from our listeners, and the thing that came through everything else, is that the show gives people hope.  Show Links:Democracy Works | Podcast on SpotifyDemocracy Works podcastWhat student debt says about democratic institutions | Democracy WorksThe Democracy GroupTink Media Guest Profile:Jenna Spinelle - Communications Specialist, McCourtney Institute for Democracy - Penn State University | LinkedInJenna Spinelle (@JennaSpinelle) / XJenna SpinelleJenna Spinelle - The McCourtney Institute for Democracy