Spelman and Spotify partner to train underrepresented voices in the art of podcasting

Giving voice to diverse, historically underrepresented groups in front of and behind cameras, as well as microphones, is a considerable goal for media outlets in the 21st century. Training these voices remains an important goal for academia. A new initiative supported by the Spotify Creator Equity Fund called NextGen has partnered with Spelman College as the first HBCU offering its programming to students this semester to uplevel their skills in the art of podcasting.

The program was co-created with Spelman faculty, starting with Dr. Michelle Hite and Spotify’s SoundUp team. Dr. Hite also heads the honors program at Spelman. In this interview, “City Lights” host Lois Reitzes speaks with Hite about the Spelman-Spotify partnership.

“A part of what I needed to do was to get students to realize that, unlike other social media platforms, this one was not going to be anchored to the visual,” Hite said.