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Podcasts Give Wage Slaves The Keys To The Kingdom of Knowledge

by di2 

Posted: 05 November 2005
Word Count: 622


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Great day, feeling good, spring in the step. Door closed behind me and I step out into a beautiful day to begin my daily walk. Earphones planted firmly in my ears, I hit the "play" button. The dulcet tones of the radio announcer says "this is a download from the BBC, to find out more visit BBC.co.uk/Radio4, followed very closely by the voice of Melvyn Bragg introducing his program "In Our Time, The History of Ideas". A huge smile appears on my face. For the next forty-five minutes I will have the privilege of listening to a panel of scholars sharing their knowledge with me and anyone else who wants to listen, brilliantly orchestrated by Mr Bragg.

Am I in London listening to the UK's public radio broadcaster, the BBC, on Thursday at 9.00 o'clock in the morning? No I'm in Sydney Australia, it's 3.00 o'clock on a Saturday afternoon, two weeks after the broadcast. I'm setting out on my walk down to the harbour foreshore, in the sunshine with the birds singing, the flowers blooming and all is well. I'm listening to a podcast via my portable MP3 player.

Did I have to schedule my walk to coincide with the radio broadcast? No. Will I get only one chance to hear what the experts are saying or if I get distracted will I miss those intricate bits of knowledge that require you to listen so very closely? No.

Why? Because I have a recording of the program to play at a time that fits my Wage Slave lifestyle and as many times, as I want. And guess what? It's free, no cost, nada, zip, zero. Yes it's true. We Wage Slaves have been given the keys to the kingdom of knowledge because we can listen to time-shifted quality radio programs via a podcast.

A Podcast is an audio recording, usually in an MP3 format that can be download to a computer via the Internet, then transferred to your MP3 player. Yes, we now have access to a portable world of historical documentary and anything else you would like to listen to, music included.

In Australia we have an inspiring public radio service called the ABC and in the UK there is the BBC. Who allows themselves time to listen to these radio stations when their lives are so busy? The public radio stations transmit a wonderful world of knowledge every day. The problem for the Wage Slave is that the broadcasters' schedule has made the world of quality radio practically inaccessible.

In my world the Wage Slave works three to five days a week, some work seven. We are so stuffed when we get home from our stressful day that after we rush around taking care of our responsibilities, we flop in front of the mind numbing Television, until it's time for bed. We may listen to a little light radio before going to sleep. The next day comes and we do it all over again. Morning radio blasts out hyped up fast talking DJ's accompanied by a limited selection of pop or news programs.

We Wage Slaves have moments in our life when our minds are receptive to quality knowledge. Unfortunately those moments usually don't match up with the strict timetables necessary for radio. Quality radio has been freed from its shackles and as a result we are free, at last, to enjoy it, be it music or documentary, at a time of our choosing.

We have been given the keys to the kingdom of knowledge. Thanks go to the inventor of the Podcast, Adam Curry. And a thank you to the public broadcasters who work enthusiastically to give us free and easy access to quality radio programs via podcasts.






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Comments by other Members



Richard Brown at 09:28 on 09 November 2005  Report this post
Diane,

In the forum you asked 'what is journalism?' and I think that this piece is definitely of that genre. It deals with a very modern topic, it provides information for those who haven't yet come across the podcast phenomenon, it's potentially stimulating (ie I could imagine readers changing their listening habits as a result of the piece).

A few stylisic points.

There's a degree of repetition (two 'days'and a 'daily' in the first line, two 'keys to the kingdom of knowledge' I also found the use of self-addressed questions a bit overdone. Finally, I struggled with the following:

'The problem for the Wage Slave is that the broadcasts' schedule has made the world of quality radio practically inaccessible.'

I'm not sure about the possessive form of 'broadcasts', not entirely sure what the sentence means and in any case feel it would be more in keeping with the piece if it were followed by something like; 'But the podcast has changed all that'

But..a lively and informative piece which, in my view, would definitely be worthy of a polish and a sending out to prosepctive publishers.

Richard.


di2 at 21:04 on 09 November 2005  Report this post
Thank you Richard. I'm very pleased that you took the time to have a serious look at my piece. Since joining the journalism group I've been doing a lot of thinking about what I want to write and who am I writing for. Along with trying to work out what Journalism is. I've gleaned a lot of good pointers from the comments made on my work and that of others. I seem to use the word excellent a lot at WriteWords, it is definitely working for me.

In relation to broadcasts', it's a typo : "The problem for the Wage Slave is that the broadcasts' schedule" should read as follows: "The problem for the Wage Slave is that the broadcasters' schedule". Thank you for pointing it out, I'll make the correction.

Di2

Cornelia at 21:13 on 13 November 2005  Report this post
Hi! I can really empathise with this promotonal piece because I recently bought myself an MP3 pleayer for the same reason and because I've been to Sydney.

One grammar point:

We Wage Slaves have moments in our life when our minds are receptive to quality knowledge unfortunately those moments usually don't match up with the strict timetables necessary for radio.

-should be two sentences,with a full stop after 'knowledge'.

Sheila

di2 at 23:02 on 13 November 2005  Report this post
I'm glad you enjoyed my piece Sheila. As you can tell I'm very enthusiastic about the possibilities of podcasting. Enjoy your MP3.
Plus, thank you for your grammar point. I agree. Splitting the sentence works well. I'll fix it.
Di2

Colin-M at 08:25 on 14 November 2005  Report this post
Just browsing. Spotted this and got hooked. Nice flow, but what grabbed me was your choice of radio programme. iPods and downloads and MP3 are all young terms and somewhat unnerving for the more mature audience, so much so that we give the few oldies terms like "Silver Surfer" for being up to scratch on the internet. This article didn't just sell the product, but pushed the boundaries of the appeal of iPods and Podcasts. Another reason I liked your choice of programme is because "In Our Time" and similar shows require a certain amount of attention (as opposed to your average music programme - whatever the genre), which immediately shows the appeal of being able to listen when you like.

A few points though, the term "Wage Slave" is over used. It's such a unique term that even if you use it once it will shine through and bring a smile. I also think you could remove the paragraph:
Did I have to schedule my walk to coincide with the radio broadcast? No. Will I get only one chance to hear what the experts are saying or if I get distracted will I miss those intricate bits of knowledge that require you to listen so very closely? No.
because this makes it sound like a seventies review of those new-fangled Tape Recorders. As home recording is already well established, you don't want to patronise the reader (it's obvious from quite early on that this is a recording) but you do want to focus on why this is different from and better than tape recording - ie, you didn't have to catch the programme in the first place. Smaller, more convenient. Perfect sound.

But even as it stands, I thought it was a good article. (I'm no journalist, mind).

Colin M



di2 at 07:20 on 16 November 2005  Report this post
You got hooked. That's terrific, I'm soooooo pleased because I wanted it to grab attention in the first paragraph and in the title. When I'm selecting reading material, I only quickly glance at the first sentence of the first couple of paragraphs. Thank you Colin for your comments. I'll take on-board your suggestions. I'll have another look at the piece and contemplate the changes. They sound logical to me.
Di2



Account Closed at 18:58 on 21 November 2005  Report this post
Hi Di2,
I enjoyed this piece and could relate to it - being a frequent user of the listen again radio feature. i agree with Colin that Wage Slave is overused ( I kept wondering if it had an extra meaning that I hadn't grasped!). I also agree with Colin on the paragraph removal as I feel the intro is too long as it stands.

Elspeth

James Graham at 21:21 on 21 February 2006  Report this post
Just caught up with your article. It's both very readable - because you launch it with a narrative - and informative. And your enthusiasm gives the information an edge. I'd only heard of podcasts but knew nothing about them; now I can see it's a really worthwhile piece of technology. Though I'm retired and no longer a Wage Slave, it's still not easy to catch all the best stuff on radio.

It's interesting too because coincidentally I'm working on a piece just now on TV advertising and the Tivo box, the personal VCR that allows you to skip commercial breaks. I should manage to post it in the next day or two.

James.

di2 at 21:46 on 21 February 2006  Report this post
Thanks for your comments James they are very encouraging. I'm pleased you enjoyed my piece on podcasts. It was a nice surprise this morning to receive notice that there had been a comment on my work.

I'm working on a very depthy history project at the moment so I haven't written anything readable recently, though I'm working hard at it. I'm learning what it was like to live in the world of exploration and science during the early 19th Century. Such a biiiiiggggg topic.

Journalism, for me, is something I can't "wip-up" quickly. Maybe we should try something like "flash journalism" in this group. Just a thought.

I look forward to reading your piece about the Tivo box.

Best wishes for your writing.

Di2

James Graham at 13:02 on 22 February 2006  Report this post
I know what you mean about not being able to scramble an article together quickly. I'm the same. I work on an article for weeks or months, by which time the topical 'peg' is out of date so if I want to submit it, it has to be updated. I'd be surprised, though, if professional feature writers don't sometimes dig out a ready-made article and update it for the Saturday supplement. Even so, 'flash' journalism, giving us a few days to come up with an article on some piece of hot news, could be an idea worth taking up.

James.


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