How the Northern Miner Podcast Introduces the Medium to the Industry

The Northern Miner Podcast came about in an advantageous way. Matthew Keevil, staff writer, and Lesley Stoke, Staff Geo, took the lead with one of the most respected publications in the mining industry and directed content into a new medium.

Timing was right for the podcast. In 2016, when the podcast began, the podcast genre as a whole was accelerating. More and more content users were turning to podcasts with their phones and tablets to listen in on stories and information.

Specifically in mining and resource investing, the podcast space was not competitive, giving Matthew and Lesley the opportunity to utilize the publications reputable brand and deliver content to a new medium and to a new user demographic.

In the fall of 2016, Matthew and I connected to talk about how the podcast was coming along and what were some of the challenges and successes the team found in its first months. At that time they had produced episode 50.

This past January, I was able to reconnect with Matthew at AME's Roundup in Vancouver to follow up on some of the same questions. This time, however, experience had been established and structure of the podcast were being formed. 

"Audio on demand is so big," Matthew said. "Its different than print because you can hear the persons voice. You can get a little bit of a read on somebody by the way they talk."

In our discussion, Matthew and I share some humor in additional benefits of the podcast based on the listener experience. For example, as a user, I typically listen to the podcast while I sit in my children's room patiently waiting for them to fall asleep. So, in many ways, Matthew helps me put my kids to sleep a few nights a week.

Listen to my entire conversation with Matthew. We discuss a lot about the podcast, including its growing listenership, the podcast's role while moving into a bull market, being weary of the overly promotional exploration project, and Matt's newly found role of being a "personality" within the resource industry.