We have been proud and fortunate to carry on the tradition of The Triangle for many years now, and we could not have more pride in what our writers and staff have put out in that time, especially in an age when The Triangle — and journalism at large — has drastically changed in presentation style and overall perception.

The student body was shocked to find out The Triangle bottomed-out financially a year ago. The media landscape had changed, but we had not. Our feeling of desperation was a wake-up call.

We were tasked with solving a complicated real-world business and news-media debacle. The Triangle needed to make fundamental changes in order to progress. One improvement would be to diversify the delivery of our content to keep up with changing times.

Disinterest in printed news is a problem not unique to The Triangle. According to Pew, the average readership of weekly print newspapers in America has decreased from 40 million in 2014 to 28.5 million in 2018, nearly a 30 percent drop in four years.

The reasons stem from the reliance on technology. As print readership has decreased, online readership has increased in that same period from 8.2 million in 2014 to 11.6 million in 2018.

So, starting our first week of Winter Quarter, an initiative will be launched focusing on digital content. After three years of pitching, and almost a year of work, we can now say that this division, called “Tri-Pod” (Triangle Podcasting), is ready, spearheaded by our own Armon Owlia.

Podcasting, Owlia feels, is an excellent way of releasing The Triangle in a way more readers can enjoy. Over the years, he conceived various podcasts that crossed the lines into multiple sections, each picking a particular topic or story and expanding. In 2016, he approached the then editor-in-chief with a pitch for a Triangle officiated podcast. However, he was quickly turned down, because The Triangle was concerned that there wouldn’t be enough money or potential audience for a podcast. Therefore, the idea was put on the backburner.

It’s essential to note that podcasts have slowly become much more popular, rising from being listened to by 11 percent of all Americans in 2006 to 51 percent of all Americans in 2019, with that number continuing to increase.

In other words, we could potentially boost our university audience by podcasting, thus encouraging involvement with The Triangle both internally and externally.

The Triangle will now start streaming podcasts, beginning with the debut of interview program “Last Call” on Jan. 10, 2020. Hosted by Owlia, it will focus on bringing diverse and exciting guests for interviews over their favorite drinks, with more updates to be given during winter break, and more podcasts following “Last Call” will begin airing in Spring Quarter.

However, we still want the help of the Drexel student community. Together, we can create work that better emphasizes and expresses the mentality of the Drexel community and create more entertaining and informative programming. If you want more information on how you could host your own Tri-Pod, feel free to reach out to apply@thetriangle.org

Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines and turn on the mics. We’re hot, live and ready to go.