Blog #1

My MA Project topic is still coming together and something I am still narrowing down.  My initial thought is that my project will have the final form of a podcast, as I want to focus my future work on audio media, such as radio broadcasting and podcasting.  That said, I am still putting consideration int0 producing my project as a video podcast or “vodcast,” that can be published on a video platform such as YouTube, while also being fit for publish on an audio podcast platform such as Spotify.  While I am not as focused on video production in my future career aspirations, adding a video element to my project could help me to develop and showcase a more versatile skillset for myself.  With regards to the content of my project, I want to address a topic related to the field of sports.  I am still determining the exact details of my project, but I am leaning toward focusing on the fan experience and fan culture in sports, particularly how sports affect the fans that watch them.  I like the idea of interviewing certain sports fans about the positive impacts of sports on their lives.  That said, my topic is still not set in stone and I am considering all options.

An example of a prior project that stood out to me was Matt Kasznel’s “The Athlete” podcast.  The content of Matt’s research seems like it will likely be very different from the research that I will conduct for my project, but the podcast format is definitely similar to what I am looking to achieve with my project, as well as the relation to sports.  I love Matt’s inclusion of natural sound and fan interviews at the Eagles game at Lincoln Financial Field, as well as audio clips from sports broadcasts and other related media that supported his project.  Similar audio clips and interviews are something I definitely intend to utilize in my project.

Kasznel, M. (Host). (2018). The Athlete: Racially-Coded Language In Professional Football Media [Audio podcast]. Retrieved from https://soundcloud.com/mkasznel_tu/masters-doc-mixdown.