THE DAILY
Publisher: The New York Times
Host: Michael Barbaro
Producer: Theo Balcomb
Since The Daily was launched earlier this
year, it has quickly gained a lot of attention. It was 13th in the
March Podtrac Rankings, topping longtime podcasts such as 99% Invisible and Hidden
Brain. Additional information about The
Daily is available here.
The Daily is a daily news-oriented podcast published by The New York Times. Each edition is 15 to 25 minutes in length
and features between one and four different stories. It is fed first thing each
weekday morning and it is available for online and mobile listening. It is available
on Android devices via RadioPublic.
 |
| Michael Barbaro |
The podcast host is
Michael Barbaro, a well known Times
political reporter. Barbaro has spent most of his time at the Times working as a print journalist. In
2016, he launched his first podcast in 2016, The Run-Up, covering the election. The success of The Run-Up played a major role in management’s
decision to shift him from writing to audio.
 |
| Theo Balcomb |
Theo Balcomb is the
senior producer at The Daily.
Before joining the Times, she was supervising
producer at NPR’s All Things Considered.
Theo is highly regarded by her colleagues at NPR. Balcomb began her work at NPR
in 2009 as an intern.
PROGRAMS USED FOR THIS
REVIEW:
• Tax Plan Explained, published Friday,
April 28, 2017 [link]
• An
Illuminating Drive Across Venezuela, published Monday, May 1, 2017 [link]
KEN’S REVIEW:
These are two very
different editions of The Daily. One works fine (Tax Plan) and the other sounds like it was taken out of the oven before it was
baked. (Venezuela).
• Tax Plan showcases Michael Barbaro’s best attributes. He is an easy-to-listen
to conversationalist who obviously loves talking with other people. Barbaro is
clearly in his element as host. He has successfully transferred his sharp writing and reporting skills
to the audio platform.
The podcast begins with
a breezy forward promotion of what will be heard during this edition. In
addition to coverage of President Trump’s new tax proposal, Barbaro says we
will hear “three short scenes” on other topics.
Barbaro sounds his
best when he is talking with reporters. In this case, fellow Times reporters
provide background thoughts on their stories concerning the tax plan. I love to hear the
banter between articulate reporters and these do not disappoint.
The conversation is
fast-paced but it never feels rushed. Coverage of the tax plan lasted 11.5 minutes,
approximately half of the lengtht of this podcast.
The “three scenes”
were all very strong. The first was a short discussion about GOP efforts to
re-introduce the failed Health Car Bill. The
second explored arguments before the Supreme Court (with riveting raw audio
from the testimony) regarding revoking US citizenship. The third, my favorite, was
a first-person essay by a Facebook executive who learned a lesson about the
power of social media.
Some observers say
Barbaro practices “narrative news.”
To me it sounds like good old-fashioned reporting.
• Venezuela didn’t work out as well. It failed
to include many of the elements that I praised above. The entire 23+ minutes feature
one story: A reporter’s 1,200 mile trip across Venezuela. The reporter, Nicolas Casey is based in Caracas
and has been reporting on a country as it teeters on the brink of collapse. Barbaro
never says, that I recall, whether Casey works for the Times.
Casey’s travelogue
wanders from place-to-place in Venezuela and he describes what he is seeing. It is a monologue, not a conversation.
Barbaro never gets a chance to do what he does best, interacting with
reporters. Instead, Barbaro sounds like
a distant anchor in this piece.
To me, the
low-point is the awful audio quality of Casey’s report. It sounds like he is in
a boomy room. This makes his deadpan delivery even harder to understand. I
began to loose interest around eight minutes into the program. I exited soon thereafter.
Will I listen to
this program again? Yes, I certainly will.
The
Daily feels like is hasn’t jelled yet. The combination of Barbaro’s
comfortable style, and the opportunity to hear other Times reporters talk about
their work, will keep me coming back.
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