Podcasts have become increasingly more popular in recent years with various groups and social media influencers creating their own to tell stories or other topics of interest. The City of San Marcos started their own podcast in early September to talk about updates in the city, in hopes of reaching a larger audience.
“I usually do not listen to podcasts because I like to watch what I am listening to but I will try to listen to the City of San Marcos Podcast because it is information about my local community and I would be interested in seeing the different topics they will talk about,” Ria Rao (10) said.
Hosted by City Manager, Jack Griffin, the podcast provides information on what is happening in the local government. As City Manager, Griffin provides leadership and guidance to the community members, ensuring the people have access to information and resources from the city government. This podcast was another step he took to help inform all members of San Marcos.
“The first goal is to just give our residents and businesses another place to learn about what’s going on in the city. I also think that people are starting to drop away from social media because of the negativity that so often gets embedded in those forums, so this is a place where hopefully people see it as a fact based, unbiased discussion of whatever the subject of the episode is and can make up their own minds on what they think about it,” Jack Griffin, City Manager and Podcast host said.
The podcasts range from 20 to 40 minutes each and talk about important information such as wildfires, the pandemic, and upcoming building projects. On certain episodes, Griffin is joined by local experts, business owners, educational leaders and more, to be interviewed and give additional information on the chosen topics. While the podcast will not talk about politics it will inform you on the actions the local government is taking.
“I would listen to the City of San Marcos Podcast because I want to know more about the city and listen to topics such as social injustice. I would like to hear the podcast talk about being connected to the city and how every individual is represented in our community,” Sierra Stanly (10) said.
The podcast is posted once a week and can be found on all major platforms such as Spotify, Google Podcast, and Apple Podcast, as well as the City of San Marcos website. The City of San Marcos hopes to engage a larger audience into the community by providing a news service that can be heard any time.