About mediageek
From the original mediageek about page, Februrary, 2000:
A medigeek is someone who, like a computer geek, delves into the inner working of media both to understand it and to hack it. A mediageek doesn’t accept the rules and restrictions of the mainstream media, circumventing and jamming them by doing it him or herself.
This site will serve as a guide for mediageeks, looking at how the media works, both systemically–the political economy of the mainstream, indpendent and underground media–and practically–how you can put media making tools to work.
I also hope that the site can be inspiration and encouragement to become a mediageek, creating, hacking and jamming the media yourself.
This website is an eight-year journey into blogging about grassroots and independent media, and the issues that affect our ability to create and use that media freely. This blog reflects my own idiosyncratic approach to issues like community radio, underground and alternative press, pirate and community radio, videomaking, and, of course, blogging and podcasting.
Independent media is not a self-contained bubble — it has a co-dependent relationship with the dominant media. In turn, our whole media environment is constantly affected by law, legislation, regulations and corporate action. I take a critical look at these things from the standpoint of how they affect us, our everday lives, and how we can make changes in them towards a better, more just world.
The history of mediageek:
Mediageek in its current form started in 2000 as a blog and home for my previous community radio program, Radio Free Conscience. That program was a lot like the current mediageek radioshow, except that it aired only biweekly, was more focused on radio, and was overall less consistent. RFC actually had a webpage of its own going back to 1996, but it was pretty much just a static page with occasional posts to archives of the program.
The mediageek radioshow debuted in 2002 as a weekly program with a broader focus than RFC, more like the blog. In 2003 the mediageek zine debuted, putting mediageek in three different media. The zine only lasted three issues (I swear a fourth is still forthcoming), which is more of a commentary on my own industry than the viability of print.
If there’s one thing this enterprise has taught me, it’s that there’s an audience for critical views on mainstream and independent media, but don’t get your hopes up. I’m proud of the fact that I’ve kept the blog going consistently for nearly eight years — frankly, quite a bit longer than most bloggers.
I started the mediageek blog because I stumbled upon Blogger and thought, “Damn, that would be an easy way to keep this site updated.” That was before your grandma had heard of blogs, and before anyone thought a blog was a way to get famous, popular or rich. In writing mediageek I’ve become none of those things, but I am glad to have created an archive of ideas and viewpoints (not to mention tons of dead links) about my relationship to media.
Paul | 
January 4, 2006 6:09 pm
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By Mike Kalas, April 2, 2009 @ 6:28 pm
“Blessed are the Geeks, for they shall inherit the Earth” ~God (Actual translation)
By Matthew Lasar, July 29, 2009 @ 10:53 pm
Mediageek is a God.
By Pat Kelley, December 26, 2009 @ 8:59 pm
I’m proud to be the General Manager of WLFM…Smooth Jazz 87.7FM in Chicago. I read your write up about the WBEZ challenge.
Looking beyond the technical part of the argument, there has been a very positive impact that 87.7 has been making in Chicago since May 22nd. First, based on my 15 years at the previous Smooth Jazz station, there is a proven market for this format …I would be happy to show you the over 1500 emails we have received.
More importantly, while most media companies are cutting back we are hiring…many of those we have hired or partnered up with (including me) are displaced, talented professionals who were loyal to the over leveraged, larger media companies. We just want the opportunity to work and hopefully make a difference.
WLFM LLC is an enterprising business that is looking to satisfy a very specific need in the Chicago radio market. We are responsible and serious broadcasters. So far…so good.
I would love to talk with you one-on-one…there’s a very good story here…the more human side.
Thanks for listening…
Pat Kelley
SVP/General Manager
WLFM LLC