Longtime readers of The Lincoln County News are now able to learn about the stories behind the articles with the debut of “Beyond the Broadsheet,” a new podcast from the newspaper’s staff.
“We hope to find new ways to help tell the stories of Lincoln County. ‘Beyond the Broadsheet’ is one of the ways we are working to engage with our readers and members of the community in a different manner,” Publisher John Roberts said.
The podcast will be a companion to the physical paper, providing an avenue for reporters to share other information about interviews, experiences, and the process of covering the news for Lincoln County.
“This podcast will help reporters and staff provide a different perspective into articles than is done in the newspaper and to also grow our audience,” Roberts said. “Everyone digests news and information in different ways, and expanding our reach to other platforms helps everyone be more informed about the goings on in Lincoln County.”
The efforts were funded in part by a planning grant from the Maine Independent News Collaborative, a group formed to help develop a long-term funding model to support Maine-based journalism. The collaborative, which LCN is a member of, believes that local journalism is a keystone of healthy communities, and all participating media partners agree to provide funded content freely available to the public.
General assignment reporters Johnathan Riley, Molly Rains, and Piper Pavelich serve as the podcast’s rotating hosts.
“When starting a podcast was brought up, the idea that we could talk directly to the community about our experiences covering stories sounded really exciting,” Pavelich said. “There are things that we experience day in and day out that don’t go into our articles, and it’s so fun getting to sit down with my fellow reporters to talk about what we’re doing to bring these stories to life.”
On the podcast’s technical side, the LCN contracts with Tyler Davis, owner of Tyality Productions LLC, to process the audio. Maine Basketball Rankings founder Lucas McNelly, who joined the Lincoln County Publishing Co. team in July, handles the in-house production and distribution.
Some of the conversations on the podcast are a natural outgrowth of the talks the reporters have in the newsroom, they said.
“I think the podcast plays well to the strengths of our current reporting team, which is quite tight-knit and introspective to begin with – hopefully that comes across,” Rains said. “It’s been a great exercise to bring the conversations we were already having in the reporters’ room into a more structured setting, and bringing in guests allows us to delve that much deeper into our stories.”
The podcast will go beyond what’s on the page of the LCN, providing a window into the reporters’ newsgathering and writing process in a “fun and accessible” way, Rains said.
While Riley, Rains, and Pavelich will be a consistent presence on the podcast, they will also welcome guests from both inside the building – such as Roberts, LCN Editor Maia Zewert, Associate Editor Sherwood Olin, and sports reporter Mic LeBel – as well as out in the community. Early episodes have featured appearances from Skidompha Public Library Executive Director Matthew Graff and Waldoboro Fire Chief Paul Smeltzer.
“I hope the podcast helps create a two-way understanding between the paper and the community that strengthen the bond we already have,” Riley said. “I am also excited to deepen our coverage and add a few more human elements that only hearing the sound of someone’s voice can add.”
The staff has been busy getting equipment setup, finding a space to record, and aligning schedules to make room for recording sessions.
“It’s been a learning curve for sure, trying to figure out how to bring these stories we crafted for the page to the sound waves, but it’s something I’m feeling optimistic about,” Pavelich said. “I really hope people will enjoy reading what we have to say, and then hearing what we have to say.”
Four episodes of the podcast are currently available, and new episodes are planned to be released weekly. As the news works to bring this new project to life, weeks that contain a holiday will likely not have new podcasts released, as this shortens the news cycle.
“Beyond the Broadsheet” is available on major podcast platforms, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, and more.
