Have you ever turned off the radio just because you can't find anything that you want to hear? Situations like these happens a lot. And yet, what does it mean?Well, you may well be an under-served minority in the broadcasting world, where the mainstream contents just make your stomach churn in disgust.
However, there seems to be a solution: podcasting. It hit the blogosphere in the late 2004. Although the idea of sharing files on the Internet has been present since its creation, podcasting pushed it further. With a podcast, you can now have the audio file downloaded right into your computer media player! Convenient, eh? Now, what would be the potentials for the podcasting industry? (still being in infancy)
Many p
arties are having an awareness that such a communicative technology is the successor for the radio. It provides the ordinary man with the power to be heard, with the RIGHT to communicate to the world. This is however, limited by the resources at hand. Although it takes a few steps to just make a podcast, it will take a Internet connection, a computer, a microphone and some tech literacy to make it happen. The question now is whether it can have the same effects as much as what the community radio has?
1) Community radio serves the minorities,: Less can be said about the proper definition of a community radio, but we do know that it serves the minorities in the community. It broadcast programmes tailor-made for the specific group of people left out by the mainstream radios. It speaks in their native languages and talks about things that interest them. For podcasting, you can literally do the same thing. You can record anything you find interesting or that which shares the same view with a small group of people and put it on your website. However, the question of accessibility and accountability comes in. Is the public able to access it? By June of 2007, only 59% of the Malaysian population is able to access the Internet. Now, the figure may be anyone's guess even as Selangor was declared a developed state a few years ago. So, does anybody really listens to them? On the other hand, who would the podcasters be accountable to? Do they self-censor or do they just express anything they have on their mind, without regards to the listeners' sensitivity?
2) Community radio is a platform for democracy: Is podcast then a platform too? Democracy is in itself a power for the people and by the people (look at the origin of democracy). Can podcast then equip the people with such power? Undoubtedly, there isn't any known effect of such magnitude yet for the humble podcast. And yet, it is undeniably taking the cyberspace by storm. Podcast content can talk about democracy and much more. It is much harder to interfere with the mainstream broadcasting air wave, therefore slipping past the radar of authorities. It is truly a marvelous idea, it being a community radio, but are these opportunities merely the icing on the cake?
I leave you with a video on how to make your own podcast, in hopes for you to execise your RIGHT TO COMMUNICATE. That's what democracy is about anyways *wink*! (Go outside of USM hotspot if you can't view it!)
However, there seems to be a solution: podcasting. It hit the blogosphere in the late 2004. Although the idea of sharing files on the Internet has been present since its creation, podcasting pushed it further. With a podcast, you can now have the audio file downloaded right into your computer media player! Convenient, eh? Now, what would be the potentials for the podcasting industry? (still being in infancy)
Many p
arties are having an awareness that such a communicative technology is the successor for the radio. It provides the ordinary man with the power to be heard, with the RIGHT to communicate to the world. This is however, limited by the resources at hand. Although it takes a few steps to just make a podcast, it will take a Internet connection, a computer, a microphone and some tech literacy to make it happen. The question now is whether it can have the same effects as much as what the community radio has?1) Community radio serves the minorities,: Less can be said about the proper definition of a community radio, but we do know that it serves the minorities in the community. It broadcast programmes tailor-made for the specific group of people left out by the mainstream radios. It speaks in their native languages and talks about things that interest them. For podcasting, you can literally do the same thing. You can record anything you find interesting or that which shares the same view with a small group of people and put it on your website. However, the question of accessibility and accountability comes in. Is the public able to access it? By June of 2007, only 59% of the Malaysian population is able to access the Internet. Now, the figure may be anyone's guess even as Selangor was declared a developed state a few years ago. So, does anybody really listens to them? On the other hand, who would the podcasters be accountable to? Do they self-censor or do they just express anything they have on their mind, without regards to the listeners' sensitivity?
2) Community radio is a platform for democracy: Is podcast then a platform too? Democracy is in itself a power for the people and by the people (look at the origin of democracy). Can podcast then equip the people with such power? Undoubtedly, there isn't any known effect of such magnitude yet for the humble podcast. And yet, it is undeniably taking the cyberspace by storm. Podcast content can talk about democracy and much more. It is much harder to interfere with the mainstream broadcasting air wave, therefore slipping past the radar of authorities. It is truly a marvelous idea, it being a community radio, but are these opportunities merely the icing on the cake?
I leave you with a video on how to make your own podcast, in hopes for you to execise your RIGHT TO COMMUNICATE. That's what democracy is about anyways *wink*! (Go outside of USM hotspot if you can't view it!)
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