Live on WEFT this Afternoon – 5:30 PM on 90.1 FM, Champaign-Urbana, IL

I’ll be literally phoning it in to my old haunt WEFT, 90.1 FM in Champaign-Urbana, IL, at 5:30 PM to do a special edition of the mediageek radioshow for their pledge drive. Long time readers/listeners may recall that WEFT is where the radioshow got its start and where it originated until April of this year.

WEFT station manager Mick Woolf will be in the studio there while we discuss the Tribune bankruptcy, the Obama plan for media and internet and, of course, the still relevant vitality of community radio.

If you’re in the Champaign area tune in, and please consider a donation to WEFT. If you’re elsewhere you can still tune in online.

On tonight’s radioshow: Chicago Independent Radio Project

While there is a lot of good non-commercial radio in Chicago, one thing the city lacks is a true community station, programmed entirely by community volunteers and funded by community donations. Of course, it’s great that college stations like Northwestern’s WNUR and University of Chicago’s WHPK actively open their studios to community programmers. However, even great college radio is not quite the same as community radio.

That’s why an intrepid group of media pioneers are trying to get a true community station on the air in Chicago, with the Chicago Independent Radio Project. The effort required is more mammoth than other smaller cities because Chicago has no vacant frequencies for a full-power or low-power station anywhere near the city. So besides the significant task of fundraising and organizing necessary to get a station on the air, CHIRP has to take on the FCC and Congress to have rational LPFM channel spacing, allowing some new community stations to join Chicago’s and other cities’ airwaves.

On tonight’s radioshow Shawn Campbell, president of CHIRP, will join me to talk about the effort, its reason for being, its mission, and the challenges that lie ahead. Tune in live tonight on the radio or online at 9 PM CDT on WNUR 89.3 FM, Evanston, IL, or at 5:30 PM CDT tomorrow, Friday, at 5:30 PM on community radio WEFT 90.1 in Champaign, IL (also online). The show will be posted to the radioshow page by the weekend, and airs on a dozen other community stations, also listed on the radioshow page.

No fresh, live radioshow this week

Due to a pre-emption to make way for live improvised music event on WNUR, there will be no live mediageek this week. An “encore edition” of the show will air on affiliates.

Given that I’m working 10 – 12 hour days this week, it’s a fine coincidence. I had no guest yet scheduled for tomorrow, but have some just about arranged for the next couple of weeks. I will reveal when confirmed.

Post-First-WNUR-Show Recap

Just finished my first hour-long mediageek on the mighty WNUR. We had some phone system troubles during the first 10 minutes or so. First I couldn’t hear my guest, John, then he couldn’t hear me. But the very able producer/engineer Andrew figured out the glitch and got us up and working for the balance of the hour.

This is the first live show I’ve done since March and it reminds me how much I love live radio. I’m not a perfectionist, so I can roll with the little tech glitches. In fact, I think they remind the listeners that there’s a real human being working in real time behind the mic. Not a patchwork of pre-recorded segments with the occasional live break to give the time, traffic and weather on the eights.

For April through last week I’ve been recording the show podcast style in my home office on my MacBook. And while that provides a little more control, in that environment I find it hard to be inspired, nevermind focused and concise. It’s a matter of personality and preference I’m sure. But I started with live radio in college back in 1989 and that’s pretty much all I’ve ever done since. Certainly many of my interviews are pre-recorded because a lot of guests aren’t easily available during the live show time. But at least with another person on the line it’s a lot more spontaneous and lively.

So while the rise of podcasting and the easy access to high quality recording tools has leveled the playing field for people to produce their own radio-like programming, I am still convinced there is no substitute for a live multi-kilowatt transmitter. Perhaps live webcasting comes close–especially in terms of spontaneity–but the reach of a WNUR in terms of broadcast listenership could bankrupt someone with bandwidth bills on the ‘net.

Despite the minor glitches the WNUR studios are the nicest I’ve had the opportunity to work in and truly blow away most commercial stations aside from the major market leaders. And the staff at WNUR are a great bunch, and I’m having a great time getting to know them. It’s a true student run station–a dying breed, as we discussed on tonight’s show–and the students proudly put on an independent, challenging, independent and interesting set of programming.

And a big thanks must go out to Andrew Gothelf who stepped up and volunteered to assist with mediageek as soon as the show got scheduled one week ago. I’m looking forward to his contributions to the program.

A New Chapter for the Radioshow

In the best blogger style, I’m remembering to post this only hours in advance…

Beginning tonight at 9 PM CDT the mediageek radioshow begins a new chapter with a new station. Tonight is the debut of the mediageek radioshow on WNUR 89.3 FM, the radio station of Northwestern University in Evanston, IL, serving the north side of Chicago and the North Shore suburbs. As I’ve mentioned on the blog and radioshow, I moved to Chicago back in April, saying a teary goodbye to the studios of community radio WEFT in Champaign, IL where the show got its start. Since then I’ve been producing the show at home, while it continues to air on WEFT and a dozen other stations.

Besides the change to a new station and city the show now moves to an hour-long format. Because the current mediageek affiliates only have a half-hour set aside for the program I’ll be doing the show in two segments. The first half-hour will be much like the current show, with news headlines and feature interviews.

With the second half-hour I’m planning to take a looser approach. When there are live guests who are willing to stick around the full hour I’d like to take live listener phone calls. WNUR has a live web stream, so this opportunity will be available not just to folks listening in the Chicago area. I’d also like to spice things up by featuring more audio collage, sonic art and broadcast things that have less to do with policy and regulation. I’ll post the second half-hour for podcast and online listening, too.

So, tonight’s the first trial balloon in the new approach. I’m glad that my pal and frequent guest John Anderson will be along for the ride via phone from Champaign.

Tune in tonight, Sept. 25, from 9 – 10 PM to WNUR 89.3 FM, Evanston, IL, and online at WNUR.org.

Catching Up

It seems like all of my available mediageek energy has been poured into the radioshow lately, the result of having a firm weekly commitment to dozen stations. Were the radioshow a non-broadcast podcast I’m not so certain I would be so diligent.

At least I can say that I’ve had a couple of great guests recently that you really should check out if you haven’t already listened to the shows.

Faythe Levine was my guest on August 22 where we talked about her upcoming documentary film and book, both named Handmade Nation. The project’s nice new website just went online. Faythe was also featured in today’s New York Times Home section in an article looking at the DIY craft phenomenon and connecting it to her own home design. She scanned in the print article to her Flickr site.

One of the hardest working folks in the media reform, Gigi Sohn, was last week’s guest. Gigi is the executive director of Public Knowledge, a public interest group that does great work on issues like spectrum use and preservation, intellectual property and broadcast ownership. On this show we talked about the FCC’s recent sanctions against Comcast, and why that decision deserves recognition as an historical moment in the modern media reform movement.

I have another interesting interview slated for this week’s radioshow, too. My friend Sarah Kanouse will tell us about Voices of America, a participatory radio remix project she put together along with Lee Azzarello of free103point9. You can listen live to the show when it first airs on community radio WEFT 90.1 FM in Champaign, IL on Friday at 5:30 PM CDT, either over the airwaves or over the internet. It will be available online at the radioshow page shortly thereafter.

Not dead, not sleeping

A day job can be a catalyst or a killer for a blog. A catalyst if that day job provides ‘net access and lots of desk time. A killer when… well, there isn’t so much sit time.

As I mentioned nearly two months ago, I have moved to Chicago from the much smaller burgh of Champaign. But the move has just started. I am living in a room in a guest house of sorts in the Rogers Park neighborhood since moving in four days ago.

On Monday I started a job at Northwestern University in Evanston, IL providing digital media and collaboration support to the School of Communication.

Part of my job includes becoming the staff adviser to the student radio station, WNUR. It’s a great station, largely due to the fact that it remains student-run and student-programmed. I haven’t yet started this part, but I’m looking forward to it. My hope is that I’ll be able to produce and broadcast mediageek at WNUR.

In that post from Feb I mentioned that I hoped the move would free up some more time for blogging. It hasn’t quite happened yet, but I’m only four days into it and still adjusting to a somewhat longer and much different commute. My wife is still in Champaign and we have a house to sell, so blogging may still be a bit sporadic for a while.

One thing I’ve really been enjoying–amongst many–is the left end of the radio dial. In addition to WNUR Chicago’s north side has two other great community and freeform oriented stations: WZRD 88.3 FM from Northeastern Illinois University, and WLUW 88.7 FM from Loyola University. Eclectic, unpredictable and edgy, these three stations make the rest of the dial nearly obsolete and make me glad to be on the north side.

Where Ya Been?

This little ol’ blog celebrates its eighth birthday this month, which is pretty damn old for a blog, you must admit. But I sit here feeling blog-daddy guilt at how neglected it’s become, yet again. Posting is sporadic, and I’ve let the design go to hell (due to some weird WordPress bug that got fixed, but I haven’t had the chance to dig in and repair the design).

So, I guess a little explanation is due.

First of all, I am not giving up on mediageek. The radioshow continues to go on, especially since having a weekly spot on a radio station demands that sort of discipline. But furthermore I still think this enterprise is worth it.

But I’ll admit to having my doubts over the last couple of years. When I started in 2000 there really wasn’t any other blog (that I knew of) covering media policy from independent/reformist angle. There were also much fewer sources for media news, and much of the time I found stuff by reading between the lines of the mainstream press and digging in the FCC’s archives. I think I had more time on my hands and was much quicker on the trigger to get news posted when I did find.

Now, nearly five years after the FCC’s failed attempt at decimating media ownership regs sparked to life a new and invigorated media reform movement, I often feel like I’m not nearly on top of it enough. On top of that the number of critical media groups, websites and blogs has truly exploded. Groups like Free Press and Media Matters for America are doing a great job of getting news and analysis out there–and they’re better funded than I.

Late last year I was telling my friend John this, arguing that it was time to just give up on the media policy analysis on mediageek. He challenged me on that and pushed me to rethink that direction. And I have.

However, a complicating factor has been that I recently have been on a job search and now have accepted a position that soon will be taking me out of the comfortable, familiar environs of Champaign-Urbana, where I’ve called home for more than fourteen years. This process has been fairly distracting, and uncertainty over my ultimate destination placed doubts in my mind about whether or not I’d be able to continue with the blog or radioshow after the move.

Luckily, the prognosis is good for the mediageek empire. At the end of March I will be moving a mere 150 miles north to the great city of Chicago. Although I therefore also will have to leave community radio WEFT, home of the radioshow, there is a very good possibility that there will be a radio station home for mediageek up north. I don’t really want to say more until the possibility is more certain. In any event I feel pretty confident that I will be able to continue producing the show mostly uninterrupted, even if by using a home studio for a while.

I anticipate that my time to work on the mediageek blog will actually increase. First, because I’ll be in a new place with fewer obligations and social ties to distract me. Second, because I want to take this opportunity to refocus my energies on mediageek. Additionally, there is so much interesting independent media action going on in Chicago that I want to expose via the radioshow and blog. Geographic proximity makes this so much easier, at least for me.

As the move date draws nearer I’ll share more details of the transition and the new job, which is quite mediageek-friendly. Please let me know if this info is interesting or boring for you, dear reader. The easies way is to comment right on the blog. You no longer need to register with my blog to post comments — you just have to enter a valid email address (which is not published with your comment).

Radioshow 2007 Highlights

There were actually more than two highlights from the radioshow in 2007, but for this last show in 2007 I wanted to focus on just two interviews to that if you missed them the first time around you’d still get some good info and context. I think both of these interviews will have continuing relevancy. First, we listen to an excerpt of a talk by Google’s Internet Evangelist, Vint Cerf, who talks about the origin of the basic architecture of the internet, highlighting the importance of end-to-end neutrality. Then we hear from Maria Juliana Byck of Paper Tiger TV, who discusses the 25th anniversary of this pioneering public access TV production organization, spearheading radically DIY video a quarter-century before YouTube.

You can download the mp3 or ogg vorbis at the radioshow page, or listen in your browser:

Go get Adobe Flash Player!

Links from the Dec. 21 Radioshow

On this evening’s radioshow John referenced a blog post by Art Brodsky at Public Knowledge’s Policy Blog: Let’s See If the FCC Is Serious About Stopping the Next Media Consolidation.

And don’t miss John’s Enforcement Action Database for 2007 at DIYMedia.net.