Canadian Lawyer

36 O C T O B E R 2 0 1 6 w w w . C A N A D I A N L a w y e r m a g . c o m Getting Started in Podcasting P odcasts have been hailed as a great democratizing force in speech, because they present such a low barrier to entry. How complicated the process gets depends on your own preferences. Bargain Basement All you really need to start a podcast is a phone or other device with a voice recording facility. As for location, any will do. The Docket host Michael Spratt says most of the podcasts are recorded at home, but he has also captured audio out and about at offices in parliament and the Elizabeth Fry Society's Ottawa head- quarters. "My favourite place to do it is at my mother-in-law's cottage, with a nice fire going and a view of the lake," Spratt adds. Free audio editing software such as Audacity or Garage- Band offer intuitive tools and plenty of help for new users. "I had absolutely no experience. It's all been YouTube videos and a lot of reading," says Borderlines host Steve Meurrens, whose level of technical skill before he started podcasting was typical of most lawyer-producers inter- viewed for this story. "The first time it takes a lot of time, but the second time, it takes half as much, and it continues to get easier after that." Even iTunes has a relatively straightforward approval process for podcast, once you've registered and hosted your podcast files on a Web site. Podcast Pro To take things to the next level, some of our lawyers have invested heavily in equipment. For audiophiles such as Meurrens, a high-quality microphone is a necessity. "As someone who listens to a lot of podcast mate- rial, if it doesn't sound good, I just turn it off and wait for the next one. Good sound is most important," he says. At Counter Tax, where Peter Aprile co-hosts Building NewLaw, he says a sizeable capital investment in micro- phones and stands, headphones, a mixing desk and "more cables than we know what to do with" has transformed the firm's boardroom into a professional-looking studio space. Gold Standard "I say if you are going to do it, then I recommend you spend a bit of money and do it right," says Canadian Immi- gration Podcast host Mark Holthe, who followed his own advice by taking a podcasting training course to hone his broadcasting skills before exposing them to the world on his show. "I spent hundreds of hours reading, studying and learn- ing to improve. If the quality is not right, people will tune out," Holthe adds. Both Holthe and his friendly competitors over at Bor- derlines have had theme music commissioned for their shows, while the Canadian legal podcasting stalwarts at Hull on Estates have kept up their pioneering spirit by add- ing a video element to their podcast, and streaming it live over the Internet as well as making it available on iTunes and other podcast providers. Borderlines grew out of Edelmann's and Meurren's regular lunch meet- ings, where the two would shoot the breeze with colleagues about the hot topics in the field. "We realized that a lot of the things we were talking about might be of interest to other people if we presented them in a more formal way," Edelmann says. The venue of the chats has changed — switching from the restaurants of Vancouver to Meurren's law firm boardroom — but the content is essentially the same, says Meurrens, who has found himself pleasantly surprised by the enthusiasm of the show's reception from listeners and podcast guests. "We've had MPs, academics and other lawyers on, and no trouble find- ing people. Hopefully, that continues," Meurrens says. Despite a wealth of experience in the field, Popovic-Montag still finds it hard to come up with a reliable formula for content that audi- ences will jump on. "A sexy topic or a celebrity angle will usually get a lot of hits. When Prince passed away and there was some discussion over his estate, we got a lot of interest in that. The same happened with Robin Williams and Whitney Houston," she says. "But it's hard to predict, since we have two different groups of listeners: lawyers and then all the rest of the world. Sometimes, it's a discussion about a new court of appeal case that takes off." Ottawa criminal lawyer Michael Spratt, founder of The Docket podcast, says some of the show's most popular episodes delve into the legal implica- tions of stories that get only superficial treatment from more traditional media. "There is a broad, under-served appetite out there from engaged Cana- dians who want to dig deeper than a short newspaper article on a Supreme Court of Canada case. They want to know how marijuana legislation could play out in Parliament, and who the winners and losers could be from it," he says. "I think we're filling a sort of void in Canada of places that deal with the intersection of law and policy." The podcast launched in 2014 in the midst of a bittersweet golden age for criminal law dialogue, with lawyer associations engaged in an almost constant war of words with Stephen Harper's government over its tough- on-crime agenda. But Justin Trudeau's election as prime minister could signal the start of a different sort of era, according to Spratt. "It could get a bit one-note with the Conservatives and their mandatory minimums over and over," he says. "With the new government, it's inter- esting because there's been a lot of talk and very little action. There's going to be plenty for us to discuss when it comes to all the things the Liberal ntinues rward approval gistered and el, ted heavily ch as Meurrens, a ssity. of podcast mate- n it off and wait for rtant," he says. -hosts Build nt in su pod "W ing p D finds ences w "A Pr Peter Aprile and Natalie Worsfold recording their Building NewLaw podcast

• Cover