The Data Dealers Podcast
OSWEGO, NEW YORK — Hi, we are James Kuntz and Rory Parker and we would like to welcome you to Data Dealers, a podcast mini-series on the ethics of data tracking on the web. Over three short episodes, we will walk you through the data tracking process, do a deep dive into the issues of data tracking and deepfake technology, and look at future ethical implications of this issue. Analyses of articles about data tracking, looking at the comments of industry leaders, and our own personal opinions will be offered as we delve deeper into the topic. So strap in, clear your cookies, and get ready to learn more!
Episode 1: The Blue Suit
Episode 2: Diving into Deepfakes
Episode 3: Discussing the Ethical Issues
Reflective Essay
This was a really fun project to work on. While planning the podcast with Rory, we determined that we wanted to combine an informative, newsworthy approach while also offering a discussion where we could offer our personal opinions and analyses. If the the length of the podcast episodes were longer, we would have combined these approaches in each episode, sort of like the pieces on NPR or Radiolab. However, with the shortened time limit, we determined that we would break each episode up stylistically. The first 2 episodes have a more informative, journalistic tone, and utilize narratives that the listener can relate to that “disguise” the informational nature of the presentation within the context of a story. The final episode is more of a discussion between Rory and I where we can be more casual and conversational - we felt this was a better style to offer our own opinions, while still referencing articles and events from the news to ground the editorial aspects. By combining these two approaches - journalistic information pieces and opinion-based discussions - we were able to inform the reader while still giving them personalities to relate to, empathize with, and respond to.
The first episode laid the groundwork of the data tracking issue so that users not familiar with the topic would be informed enough to dive deeper into a specific subject that Rory reported on. We offered a big picture approach in the first episode, a more specific analysis in the second, and finally facilitated the reader to form their own opinions through the questions and answers in the third episode. While the conversation in the third episode was between Rory and I, we wanted the listener to feel like a “fly on the wall” and answer the questions as they listened along. Our goal was to provide enough information for young/less-informed listeners to attempt to answer these questions, and to give them a nudge in the direction of where the general debate around these issues lies. In addition, we made sure to have consistent theme music, intros, and outros to ground the production and let listeners know that they are listening to the same podcast. It was also important to consistently use our names and reference the title of the podcast to achieve this. All in all, this was a fun project that got me thinking more deeply about the issue of online data tracking and its future implications.