How to Pitch a Podcast in a Pandemic

How to Pitch a Podcast in a Pandemic (HTPPP) is a think tank for dreaming up ideas for podcasts, based at the School of Journalism and Media Studies (JMS) in Makhanda, South Africa. The podcast started in 2021 when a group of senior JMS students decided that it was time to convince the school to begin producing its own podcasts. Even if it was the middle of a pandemic. They recorded the journey of pitching the podcast to the school and captured this in the first season of HTPPP. In 2022, students in the school’s second-year program are again pitching podcast ideas. For Season Two of HTPPP, they produced a whole series of pilots, each dealing with a different podcast concept. Because even if Covid 19 is not yet done with us, life continues.

Weekly English South Africa Education · How To

18 Episodes

EP 1: Africa Media Review - The Pilot

The first episode of Africa Media Review is here! In this episode, host and journalist Steven Lang connect us with media teachers, theorists, and practitioners from around South Africa. My Only Story is making headlines and uncovering ugly truths about sexual violence in several prominent South African schools. Sibusisiwe Kumbaca…

14 Nov 2021 26 min

EP 5: THE PITCH

After grappling with the ‘a podcast of a podcast’ concept, the team has a concrete plan! In this episode, Yandiswa Calane and Noxolo Manyati introduce us to the team pitching the podcast idea to Rhodes Journalism Review (RJR) editor, Prof Anthea Garman, acting head of the school Dr Jeanne du…

14 Nov 2021 16 min

EP 4: WORKING ON THE PILOT

We are getting closer to the pilot episode the team has been working on! In this fourth episode, Sibusisiwe Kumbaca and Sakhe Tshoni connect us with the team, where we hear how they are making final decisions about stories they would like to include in the podcast. The team has…

13 Nov 2021 18 min

EP 3: LIVING UP TO A LEGACY

In episode three of HTPPP, the team is trying to make sense of what it means to be producing a podcast in the spirit of Rhodes Journalism Review. They connect with the editor of RJR, Prof Anthea Garman, and Brian Garman, a designer of the RJR. They ask: what would…

18 Oct 2021 18 min

EP 2: IN SEARCH OF AFRICAN STORYTELLERS

In this second episode of #HTPPP we are back at the School of #JMS at #RhodesUniversity to continue searching for #Africanstorytellers. Our lecturer Jeanne du Toit takes us through the history of podcasting. It does not end there; Sibusisiwe, Sakhe, and Zisanda embark on a journey of discovery, in search…

27 Sep 2021 23 min

EP 1: WHY ARE WE DOING A PODCAST ABOUT A PODCAST PITCH?

In the first episode, the HTPPP team meet for the first time. They do this remotely, via Zoom. We hear their teachers, Steven and Jeanne, explain that the class will pitch and idea for a podcast to the school’s leadership. On top of this, their job is to make a…

20 Sep 2021 16 min