Dear writers, columnists, and contributors,
By now, everyone is aware we have a podcast in conjunction with the newspaper. We are now in our fifth year as a podcast! In February 2025, we broke 25,000 downloads across all of our episodes! This is all great news, and we want to keep making this podcast better.
So, how do we make it “better"? For starters, we want to expand our reach to more people in our community. One of our key goals in The Mountain-Ear is to serve as “the voice of the Peak to Peak.” We want to include as many voices from across the region as possible!
This is where all of you come in. We want to invite anyone interested in hosting a segment or show on the podcast to reach out and see if it might be a fit. The podcast has plenty of room for more hosts and versatility, and our mountain community wants to listen.
Our current shows:
Articles from The Mountain-Ear archives read by community members
Music of the Mountains: Where to be and what to see by Jamie Lammers
Peak to Peak stories and tales by Maryann Rosen
Community-led stories about businesses, events, and history contributed by community members
Shows we’re looking to add:
We would like to add more human-interest shows that relate directly to the experience of life in the Peak to Peak. We also want to see more shows added that have a direct link to the weekly newspaper.
Shows centered around a specific mountain topic might work as well, such as: Health and Wellness, Gardening in the Mountains, Local Authors and Book Reviews, and Comedy and Entertainment.
Music is a popular subject in our area. We might consider additional music related shows as long as it offers a different experience from our current music show.
More examples:
Segments interviewing featured artists for the upcoming studio tour.
Segments interviewing local business owners or highlighting upcoming events.
Narrators for our audio news segments.
If you are interested, there are more details below to get you started.
Host requirements:
We need clean audio. Anyone interested will need to complete an easy two-hour training. Additionally, we require all staff to complete the “Earn Your Press Pass” course online.
We love and appreciate submitted segments that are already fully edited, but we also understand this may deter some from contributing. Let us help you learn how to podcast!
Stories can be told in any style you prefer. Our current hosts work in a variety of ways, so you can choose your own style. Some examples include: in-person interviews, scripted segments, or conversation style. Hosts can include music, other soundbites, or narration for an event or a story from the paper.
When thinking about a show idea it is important to always follow copyright laws.
ALL music must be copyright-free or submitted as 100% free use to The Mountain-Ear newspaper and Mountain Vale Media. Every host must sign a contract in agreement before their show is published.
All segments must be submitted 48 hours before the scheduled release. Shows are published once approved.
All content and/or story ideas must align with what we also present in The Mountain-Ear newspaper.
Show hosts are encouraged to share and promote their own segments across their socials.
When everyone shares, everyone wins! With our new structure in place, we have the ability to gauge the progress of every show individually. Hosts are encouraged to share and promote their own show. This is a perfect way for all of us to see firsthand the effectiveness and draw of our content.
Hosts are compensated a minimum of $25 and a maximum of $75 for each segment OF ORIGINAL CONTENT published.
If you would like to try narrating for our audio news platform, reach out. The pay is based upon how many stories are read. Compensation starts at $25 per hour.
If you would like to find out more about how to get involved in our audio news podcast please reach out to Barbara Hardt directly by email at info@themountainear.com. More news and dates available for training will be announced soon.
