The Spirit In The Law podcast : testing the democratization and audience behavior of new media broadcasting /

by 1968- Lunt, Scott Lin

THE SPIRIT IN THE LAW PODCAST: TESTING THE DEMOCRATIZATION AND AUDIENCE BEHAVIOR OF NEW MEDIA BROADCASTING Scott L. Lunt Department of Communications Master of Arts This project summary presents the details of a podcast project conducted from April to December of 2006. The project consisted of the creation of a new Internet-based audio interview show entitled Spirit In The Law. The interviews were delivered to listeners who requested the shows via the Internet, and were available to a targeted audience of law students in the United States and abroad. The show featured interviews with 20 notable attorneys and professionals who answered questions regarding spiritual values in their professional practice. The project was informed by two theoretical frameworks: New Media theory and Situational Theory of Publics. The results, when applying both theoretical frameworks, were mixed. While podcasting did demonstrate universality, it was hindered by the complexity of traditional radio production roles. Similarly, it was useful to use the Situational Theory of Publics to help to conceptualize audiences in groups, but the goals of moving the groups into activity were not completely achieved. The main objective for the project was to understand more about the opportunities and obstacles of the new communication technology of podcasting.