In answer to May’s “painful” assessment of Podcasting it’s important to realize that Podcasting is “The People’s Radio”. Given that, why would anyone expect it – or want it – to emulate what’s already there?
I love the fact that practically anyone can create a radio show and have it sent around the world for listening with almost no or little expense. Podcasting is the folk music of the radio world: it’s earthy, real, sometimes ragged, simple, and full of voices and ideas not generally spread by any electronic medium we already have.
It’s not painful. It’s wonderful! It’s refreshing! It’s empowering – unless of course you own 1200 radio stations. Then, maybe it is painful because it’s just one more distraction from AM and FM.
Podcasting offers unrestrained speech and uninhibited subject matter which cannot be encumbered by the Federal Communications Commission. It's the latest "Wild West of Media" and our society needs it more than ever.
It's true: over time a good portion of today's Podcasters may grow bored with being talk show hosts and DJs. But, the nucleus of this movement will continue to grow and eventually even profit from it.
The list of available audio sources for listeners just keeps growing: Podcasting, Internet streaming, Satellite Radio, iPods, cell phones, and what I call Factor "X": the technological innovation we don’t know about yet but is inevitable just the same. What was once the singular domain of AM and FM is now becoming crowded with alternatives that dilute what was once an entertainment monarchy.
I’ve worked in commercial Radio for over 25 years and I can assure you: out of all the painful things one could list about the state of electronic communications, Podcasting would be close to the bottom.
Maybe the only painful aspect of Podcasting is that it took so long to empower people with such an extraordinary yet simple and powerful tool. There is no pain among those who know gain.
