Andrew Douglas B2B journalist, turned PR man, specializing in new media.

Finally, podcasts land advertising dollars

My footsteps fall lighter on the ground when my thumb is spinning the wheel on my iPod. Walking isn't drudgery when I have my podcast friends to keep me company.

I'm even willing to pay -- a little -- to keep my friends happy. After all, they're important to me. I love podcasts so much that I don't listen to the radio anymore, even in the car, where I now plug my iPod into my car's sound system. I'm like everyone else in this digital world: I want choice and I want it right now -- whether it's a sermon from an obscure pastor in Australia, a funky sports roundtable discussion, or political jokes on NPR.

But nothing is free and I've been worrying that content owners would pull the plug on my podcasts unless they started making back some coin.

In fact, last year I even emailed one of my favourites, Prime Time Sports with Bob McCown, and told them I'd be okay if they started inserting one 30-second ad per half-hour. It wouldn't be worth it for people to fish their iPods out of their pockets to scroll past the ad and it would add an incentive for the station posting the podcast-version of the radio show.

Alas, nothing.

Until now.

I just got back from a walk with The-Best-Border-Collie-Ever. I was listening to a new friend, Political Gabfest, featuring journalists from Slate.com. Midway through the half-hour show, the host broke from the banter and started an awkward, two-minute advertorial for their sponsor, audible.com. During the advertorial, one of the panelists, Emily Bazelon, gave a warm review of a book she'd listened to from the sponsor.

Whew. I'm glad that someone is figuring out how to make these podcasts pay.

But yikes, I'm not sure who I feel about the columnists shilling so obviously for an advertiser. Why couldn't they just have inserted a good old fashioned 30-second ad?

I guess I still like to see journalists at least pretending that there is a wall between the advertising and editorial departments.

It's almost like we've got to figure out new rules with these new media. What's kosher and what isn't? Do the same guidelines that have ruled in the print journalism world hold in the digital realm? Should we demand the same level of editorial integrity from podcast broadcasters as we do from the folks on NPR or CBC?

I don't know. All I know is that at least one of my podcast friends is a little bit safer from the accountant's axe.