Impeachment Through the Eyes of a Child is a journalistic podcast about the impeachment on Donald Trump posted on The Daily channel of The New York Times on 26 December 2019. The main characters are Michael Schmidt, a political reporter of The New York Times, Michael Barbaro, the host and Leo, a third grader interested in the impeachment. The podcast got important terms and key issues of the impeachment across to the public through Q&A between the child and the reporter, illustrating intricate concept in an innocent way.

 

The story started with the appearing of Leo, a third grader interested in the impeachment. The contrast between pure child and complex politics itself could attract audiences to follow while the voice-over together with the kid whispering questions drew a vivid picture of him working hard to prepare the talk, attracting audiences to join in. The talk went smoothly through the innocent but profound questions asked by Leo, such as the explanation of whistle blower illustrating the important term and the discussion on whether it was quid pro quo or threat pointing out one of the biggest issues. Music and sound effects all helped as pusher, raising the curtain for each change of stage, as well as the attention catcher, waking the listeners to continuously catch on. The background music was relatively light fitting in with childish style and making the serious topic accepted more easily. Besides, the sound of taking out question paper and the kid’s laughter adding more layouts for the audio, making it more comprehensive and natural.

 

At the end, the podcast added the feedback call on Leo who said that he has already changed his interest from the impeachment to the trombone. This balanced the story from political to innocent by cute nature of children.

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(The New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/26/podcasts/the-daily/trump-impeachment-pelosi.html)