Podcasts are “Written in Pencil”

One of the benefits – and drawbacks – of the podcasting craft is that literally every element of a podcast can be changed.

The artwork, the show’s title, an episode title.

Even a published audio episode can be replaced with a new and updated episode at the click of a button.

As I like to say, podcasts are “written in pencil,” meaning something that was there can be erased just as easily as it was put in.

It’s not like a published book or even a newspaper article that, once published, is permanent for better or worse.

While this certainly gives a great deal of flexibility to the podcast host, this ability must be used with caution.

For the permanence of older mediums forces those involved in the process of publishing to be far more careful with what is said, lest it come back to haunt them years into the future.

Podcasters would do well to heed this level of preparation. Yes, you can go back and change something that has been published.

You cannot force people to forget what they’ve heard or seen if the content you’re changing was offensive or in any way objectionable.

Years ago I worked for a podcast that had run ads for a company that had been exposed as a fraud. Federal investigations, the whole shebang. As their producer, I was bombarded with frantic requests to delete each ad that particular company had run as soon as possible.

The company that employed me to produce their show had no idea there was any malfeasance on the part of that company. But they sure wanted to disassociate themselves from them!

I was able to remove the ads and reupload the files rather quickly, thanks to the “written in pencil” features of podcasting.

And truth be told, any repetitional damage my employer suffered was minimal, if any.

But it serves as a warning to be careful of what is there when the “publish” button is pressed.

Sure, a podcast is “written in pencil”, but just like a pencil eraser leaves a faint mark of what was once there, so does modified content leave a mark in the psyche of those who initially consumed it.

Best to start with a blank sheet and leave it as clean as possible!