Podcast Tools for Journalists

Record: capturing audio and video

Riverside

Riverside records each participant locally at full quality, then uploads the tracks separately. This means internet hiccups don't ruin the audio. It records up to 4K video and 48kHz WAV audio. Each guest gets a separate track, which makes editing and leveling much easier.

Riverside runs in the browser. Guests don't need to install anything. The free tier includes 2 hours of recording per month with separate audio and video tracks.

OBS Studio

OBS Studio is free, open-source recording and streaming software. It captures audio from multiple sources (microphone, desktop audio, browser tabs) and records to MP4 or MKV. Journalists use it for screen recordings, livestreams, and capturing video interviews.

OBS has a steeper learning curve than Riverside. It runs locally on Windows, Mac, and Linux. For solo recording or screen-capture workflows, it's the most flexible free option.

Recording tips for journalists

• Record locally, not just to the cloud. Local recordings survive internet drops.
• Use a USB microphone. Even a $50 USB mic dramatically improves audio quality over a laptop mic.
• Record in a quiet room. No post-production tool fully removes background noise from a bad recording environment.
• Get separate tracks. Riverside and Hindenburg both support multitrack recording, which makes editing far simpler.

Edit: cutting and mixing

Hindenburg

Hindenburg is built specifically for spoken-word audio. It auto-levels voice tracks, strips background noise, and has a clipboard-style editing workflow that journalists find intuitive. Drag clips around like paragraphs in a document.

Hindenburg Journalist costs $95/year. Hindenburg Pro costs $375/year and adds multitrack mixing, loudness metering, and publishing directly to hosting platforms. Many journalism schools teach Hindenburg as the primary editing tool.

Descript

Descript lets you edit audio by editing text. It transcribes your recording, then you delete words from the transcript and the audio follows. This is genuinely faster for rough cuts and removing filler words. Descript also removes "um" and "uh" automatically.

The free tier includes 1 hour of transcription per month. Paid plans start at $24/month. Descript also handles video editing with the same text-based workflow, making it useful for video podcasts.

Audacity

Audacity is free, open-source, and runs on every platform. It handles basic editing, noise reduction, and effects processing. The interface is dated, but the tool is reliable and has been used in newsrooms for over 20 years.

Audacity is best for simple edits: trimming interviews, adjusting levels, exporting to MP3. For multitrack podcast production, Hindenburg or Descript are more efficient.

Transcribe: text from audio

Whisper

Whisper is OpenAI's open-source speech recognition model. It runs locally on your machine, which means your audio never leaves your computer. Accuracy is strong across English and dozens of other languages. It handles accents, crosstalk, and background noise better than most commercial services.

Running Whisper locally requires some technical setup (Python, command line). For journalists who want Whisper's accuracy without the setup, MacWhisper provides a Mac app that wraps Whisper in a simple interface.

Good Tape

Good Tape is built by the Danish Broadcasting Corporation specifically for journalists. It uses Whisper under the hood but adds a clean web interface, speaker identification, and timestamped output. Files are processed in Europe and deleted after transcription.

Good Tape is free for journalists. It handles files up to 5 hours and supports 97 languages. For journalists who need transcription without technical setup and want to keep audio off US servers, Good Tape is the best option.

Master: polish and level

Auphonic

Auphonic is an automated audio post-production service. Upload your edited file and it levels the volume, reduces noise, and outputs broadcast-ready audio. It applies loudness standards (LUFS targeting) automatically, which matters for podcast distribution.

The free tier processes 2 hours per month. Auphonic integrates with podcast hosting platforms for direct publishing. For solo producers without audio engineering experience, Auphonic closes the quality gap between amateur and professional sound.

Publish: hosting and distribution

Hosting options

Both options generate an RSS feed that distributes your podcast to Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and other directories. Publishing a new episode takes minutes on either platform.

Start here if you're new to podcast production

Recommended learning path

1. Riverside — record a test interview. Takes 15 minutes.
2. Descript — import the recording, edit by deleting text. Takes an hour to learn.
3. Auphonic — upload the export, let it auto-level. Takes 5 minutes.
4. Spotify for Creators — upload and publish. Takes 20 minutes.
5. Good Tape or Whisper — transcribe for show notes and accessibility. Free.