Channel 4 has announced two new podcasts designed to maintain its connection with younger audiences. Untangled, fronted by Stacey Dooley and Ben Zand, and A News Thing, hosted by the comedians from A Comedy Thing by Channel 4, will offer audiences “an impartial and fact-checked response to the week’s news stories”.
The launches follow the publication of Channel 4’s study, Gen Z: Trends, Truth and Trust which highlighted the scale of the challenges facing Gen Z in sourcing trusted news, including that young people have more confidence in social posts from friends than established journalism. Commissioned following this research, the podcasts will provide “reputable and regulated round ups of events on YouTube and Spotify”.
Channel 4 said A News Thing is an entertaining and enlightening weekly review of the news in which comedian Michael Odewale is joined by a selection of A Comedy Thing by Channel 4 regulars, including Finlay Christie and Dan Tiernan.
Untangled, meanwhile, is a new weekly current affairs podcast in which Dooley and Zand will explore the headlines at the top of social media feeds, bringing listeners clarity, warmth and context rather than spin or soundbites.
Louisa Compton, head of news and current affairs, specialist factual and sport, Channel 4 said: “Young audiences are drowning in an online world of disinformation, divisive and toxic views – as a result they’re hungry for informed, fact checked and reliable information to help them make sense of the world and these pods will help them do that in very different ways. We’re delighted to bring Stacey Dooley to C4 and think she and Ben will prove an audience favourite”
Stacey Dooley added: “With Untangled, we’re hoping to make sense of it all – to have open, honest conversations about the stories everyone’s talking about, without it feeling overwhelming or heavy. It’s about curiosity and compassion.”
Ben Zand (pictured) said: “We wanted to make something that helps people get to grips with the biggest stories without feeling overwhelmed by them. And most importantly, to really focus on the impact of the human beings at the heart of these stories. Untangled is about slowing things down and having reasonable, honest conversations in a world that feels increasingly polarised. We’re aiming for curiosity over conflict.”
The podcasts were commissioned by Charlie Hyland, digital commissioner, with Sacha Khari, outgoing head of digital commissioning, and Louisa Compton. A News Thing is produced by Strong Watch Studios. Untangled is produced by Zandland.
