2 posts tagged “podcasting”

Recently I've been keeping an almost daily audioblog. It's something I've been doing off and on for quite a long time but since interviewing 'The Naked Englishman'  (Richard Vobes) for a regular podcast I produce called 'Citizen Scoop' I've been producing them in a far more consistent fashion. I have now set-up a specific blogger site to host them.         

It's strange the way in which communicating your private thoughts in a raw and uncensored way to an audience unburdens you of them. It also helps to enforce a certain personal accountability. Of course I'm not actually accountable to anyone, simply because they happen to hear my private thoughts. Yet in some mysterious way, it helps me to feel I that have publicly shared certain thoughts and feelings with my (mostly anonymous) audience. It's a good feeling to 'let go' in a stream of conciousness way, without feeling worried or burdened by whether or not the other person is actually listening, or wondering if even they care about what I'm saying. I'm simply able to assume that 'somebody' is, and get on with whatever it is I feel I'd like to say.

Of course written blogs are equally useful for getting something off your chest, although perhaps not as portable and they can't be interacted with whilst doing something else. They require a larger measure of attention and a different kind of concentration to ensure that we get a clear sense of what the other person is really communicating.

Audio is more spacious, it's 'fuzzier' if you will, because the bandwidth of the vocal tone and the surrounding environmental sound field communicate a high volume of both subjective and specific information. When I'm listening to someone speaking, rather than reading their thoughts, I pick up a lot of this fuzzy background. Their accent, the pace of their speech, their energy level, what kind of mood they appear to be in, even their apparent level of sincerity all appear apparent from information contained in their voice and speaking pattern.

These things help to contribute to and colour my understanding and judgement when I form an opinion of what I believe they're talking about. I don't feel I am making an enormous effort to get at this information. Listening is after all a fairly easy thing to do. Although try telling that to some people who never seem to pay any attention to the things that people say to them!

Personally I enjoy the sense of mundanity, lack of pretension, personableness and the everyday reality that pervades audioblogs. Hearing people talking about their lives in an unvarnished way is somehow rewarding. I feel invested in that person and engaged in their daily life. In a certain sense I come to feel that I know them as I some of my friends and family.

The style associated with audioblogs is generally one that is unpolished and unedited. They are unscripted and therfore seem 'real' in a way that that the contrived reality shows sarurating our televsions rarely seem to be. In a media culture that bombards us with proffessional polish and fake reality it's a refreshing change to be able to listen in on the ordinary and extraordinary workings of the minds and hearts of the people who share the world with us.

It's winter here in Blighty and in the north of England it's pretty chilly right now. Not to worry though, because I've been keeping warm on the heat and energy currently sparking off from UK podcasting!

The last few months have been a lot of fun and also a lot of hard of work, but it's been a rewarding period in UK podcasting and for me personally. There have been lots of changes, many late nights, a stack of forum posts, e-mails, skype calls and late night conversations. As Christmas approaches, I can truly say, I'm looking forward to a rest and a little relaxation.

The UK podcast community has grown up very rapidly this year. We've all learned a few hard lessons about the reality of our new medium, now that so many other people are becoming interesred in it. I've learned that it's good to push yourself both creatively and socially and I think that as a commuity we've learned that nothing stays the same for ever. Change is the engine of creative media and as a podcasting pal of mine said recently quoting Anatole France, "even the most longed for changes have their melancholy."

The rapid cycle of activity really ramped up a few months back with the planning and preparation for PodcastconUK began in earnest. PodcastconUK 2006 was the UK's second annual podcast shindig and this years event was yet again a great success. It was probably more serious in tone and nature than last years debut, but this was no doubt due to the fact that there is far more commercial interest in podcasting right now, then there was at the time of the first event in October 2005. 

I chaired a panel discussion on Citizen Journalism and secured a great bunch of panelists to participate in it. As a prelude to all of this I got into producing a citizen media podcast and blog over at 'Citizen Scoop' and recorded a series of interviews and conversations with a bunch of bright and interesting people. We talked about citizen journalism, social media, podcasting, second-life, the future of newspapers and a whole host of other topics.
 
The interview work took my podcasting off in new directions and provided another outlet away from the more serious stuff I've been doing for a while now on Dissident Vox. It also helped me get to know the UK podcast community a lot better. Something which I'm really happy about.

In late November there were some serious ructions in the UK community. The Britcaster forums announced they were to close their virtual doors on December 15, prompting some pretty heated exchanges and not a little recrimination. Most of this centre around perceived agenda arising from the fact that some podcasters are now signing to commercial networks such a BTPodshow or TPN. I've had some overtures and offers myself, but nothing that I felt I wanted to commit to.

It's always better to view people holistically, as whole human-beings rather than as posters on forums with agendas, or bloggers or podcasters with certain ideas or feelings we may or may not agree with. Lately I feel I've had a chance to get more involved with the people behind the shows and postings, this has helped me to see more clearly the people behind the podcasting trees!

Hopefully most of the negativity has now calmed and people have taken stock of the changes, new forums have emerged and UK podcasting is in a healthier position than it was a few months ago. There are definite splits and factions emerging, something that is inevitable as the community grows, but in general the last few months have produced more positives than negatives.

This was evidenced by the fact that 23 podcasters contributed to the last Citizen Scoop. A show designed to say a fond farewell to the Britcaster forum. This showed that in spite of all its teething troubles UK podcasting still has a lot of great people willing to give their time and energy to create something positive.

On a personal note I was interviewed on BBC Radio Five Live this week, (again!) I've been articled and mentioned by the BBC a few times lately which is nice. On Thursday, I was asked to contribute to a conversation about whether or not blogging had now reached its peak and was about to enter its late middle-age. You can imagine how I responded!

I have had some truly brilliant feedback lately, it makes the whole thing seem even more worthwhile. I'd still like to be making a living from it, but even if that has to wait for the right offers and the right environment, I've got the skills and enthusiasm to find a way to do it.

The podcast bug has me well and truly hooked although to be fair it has done ever since my first show, way back in January 2005. I've met some fabulous people, learned a ton of fascinating and useful things, discovered new bands and new ideas and become part of a thriving community here in the UK. It's all good. Somehow I feel it's only going to get better!