Episode Description
This week’s podcast is by Erica Mandy. Experienced broadcast journalist Erica Mandy is like a trusted friend who always ‘gets’ both sides. As a former TV news reporter, she was tired of talking heads and alarmist headlines, so she quit her job in Los Angeles to create something new.
Links from the Episodes:
– Special Edition: COVID Testing Questions Answered
More About The Newsworthy
The show description is the day’s news made fast, fair, and fun in 10 minutes. Erica Mandy is like a trusted friend who always gets both sides. She’s a veteran journalist who was tired of talking heads, alarmist headlines and monotone voices. So she created something different. The Newsworthy is packed with politics, tech, business, and entertainment from a variety of sources brought together in one convenient place and with a fun twist. The length of each episode is about 10 minutes long. Erica never uses vulgar language, but she does talk about the news of the day, which you may not always want your kids to hear.
The show is ongoing. It drops every weekday morning with a special Saturday episode that dive in a little bit deeper to a topic that has something to do with either the news that week or that time of year. So they do vary quite a bit.
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Now we get to hear from Erica about how her experience in the news industry made her want to start her own news podcast.
Introduction to Erica & The Newsworthy
So I was a TV news reporter for over 10 years, and I kept hearing from people that news was too depressing and time consuming and biased and overwhelming, and frankly, as a news reporter I was feeling.
Like it was all doom and gloom too, and it took a toll on me personally as well. And so I was thinking about how can I create something for people that’s gonna at least help fix those problems while still allowing them to stay informed and stay part of the daily conversation? And I saw what was happening with podcasting and the trend going up even four years ago before I started this, and I wanted to be on the forefront of how people were getting their news, and I wanted to try to help people stay informed without all of the extra anxiety and anger that comes along with it often. Yeah, and so that’s really our goal with the newsworthy is to tell you, yes, some of the sad stories that are happening, but do it in a way that is not overly alarming and is combined with other things that are going on that is a reminder that it’s not just the bad stuff and that you don’t have to sit there for hours.
Looking at it, you can be informed. You can dig a little deeper into the stories that interest you the most if you want after the show, but our goal is to give you a round up so that you know and can move on with the day. Because I think, you know, I always say don’t sit in the tragedy. If you’re sitting there watching hours and hours of it, you’re not gonna wanna leave your house
But if you know what’s going on and then you move on with your day, you can maybe take an action, whether that’s you wanna donate to something or you wanna write your lawmaker, great. But sitting there watching it for hours is not gonna help.
The Vibe of The NewsWorthy
Well, our tagline is fast, fair, and fun, and that I think really sums it up. And just to briefly explain each one fast is it’s about 10 minutes each day, fair and unbiased. My team and I really go out of our way to pull from multiple sources, try to bring multiple perspectives into every single story.
And then the fun part is just about bringing a casual friendly voice to the news, not being overly alarming and having that variety of stories. So we talk about 10 to 12 news stories in those 10 minutes. So you’re getting everything from politics all the way to entertainment and the award show that’s happening tonight or something like that. And even within each story that we talk about, even though it’s short, we really spend a lot more time than 10 minutes on each story so that we’re telling it to you in a very clear, digestible way.
My hope is that you’re not having to rewind the show to understand what the heck we’re talking about. I think a lot of news outlets sometimes forget that people aren’t paying quite as close of attention as their reporters are to everything that’s happening in the news. And it can be really confusing. Like, I know I’ve heard of filibuster before, but what does that mean again? And so it’s, it’s not that people aren’t smart, it’s that they have a lot going on, and so it’s my job to clearly explain what they need to know, leave out the stuff they don’t need to know and explain it all in a really clear, digestible format.
Special Edition Saturday Episodes
I think I really like the variety that we offer. So, you know, sometimes I have questions about, like we, I just did an interview about at Home Covid 19 tests and what we need to know about them.
And I think clarifying some of that is really important. But at the same time, for Valentine’s Day, we’re gonna be talking about, you know, the dating trends for 2022. And so I just am all about having it all. Like we don’t have to. Stay in our lane when it comes to whether it’s serious news or fun news.
And, so, you know, things stand out to me about like our coverage, about Covid 19 and how we talked to the first Broadway star in a wheelchair and her experience growing up and, and being, you know, being the first one to win a Tony Award. And so I think. All of them have their place in my mind.
The Newsworthy & Little Kid Ears
I think it’s an individual parent’s decision. I have heard from mental health experts that it’s better to hear something, even if it’s tragic than. See the images of it, especially for children. And so I think if you’re trying to get that news without having the TV on, it’s a good alternative. I hear from a lot of parents who do listen on their way to school or when they are, you know, preparing breakfast.
But I will say there are usually one or two stories in there where we will talk about something that is, you know, the, the biggest story of the day, which is, which can be a school shooting or something like that. And so it’s kind of up to each parent, what they feel like their threshold is for, for their children.
And if they plan to kind of have that extra conversation, and maybe it’s also skimming, you know, our show notes to see what the stories are before you hit play that day.
Where to Find The Newsworthy
So everything about the show and About Me is on the newsworthy.com, and you can find our social media from there. But across social media platforms, we’re at Newsworthy Pod.
