FYI.
http://www.mediahelpingmedia.org/content/view/112/96/
Running a radio station on free software
News and features -
Global
By Douglas Arellanes
Monday, 22 January 2007
var sburl4850 = window.location.href; var
sbtitle4850 = document.title; Campcaster in actionThe newest tool to emerge
from the Media Development Loan Fund's Campware Initiative is a tool for
managing radio broadcasts and archives called Campcaster,
which enables a PC running Linux to both play sound files 'live' from
the studio as well as automatically at a set date and time. At
the same time, it also allows stations using Campcaster to easily
exchange program content, both over the Internet and offline.
Such software, referred to as a playout and automation system, used to
cost thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars, but Campcaster is
offered as free and open source. Such
software, referred to as a playout and automation system, used to cost
thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars, but Campcaster is
offered as free and open source. And while that means
stations can download and use Campcaster for free, in the long run it
also means they are also free to make their own modifications to the
software if they want – the only catch is that if a station makes
changes to the programming code, they must share those changes with
others. MDLF has worked to implement Campcaster among
radio stations in the Cornet radio network in Sierra Leone. At present,
four Sierra Leonian stations are using Campcaster, as is West Africa Democracy
Radio,
a station broadcasting across West Africa on shortwave on 17875 khz and
in Dakar on 94.9 FM. A complete list of Campcaster users can be found here. A
number of other stations are testing Campcaster or are in the process
of implementing it for their broadcasts. Part of Campcaster's goal is
also to build local capacity to provide service and technical support. In
Sierra Leone, the project is working with the Sierra e-Riders, a local
group charged with providing tech support to NGOs and media
organizations. Similar arrangements are in place in
other countries as well. The BBC World Service program 'Digital Planet'
did a feature on Campcaster on 9 January 2007, which you can listen to here. A
news report on the broadcast is here. The
next step for Campcaster is to integrate it with the other software
offered in the Campware Initiative, including the Campsite newsroom
management system. This integration will allow Skala Radio, a station in
Kotor, Montenegro, to adopt free and open source software in their entire
operation: journalists write their reports and program scripts using Open
Officesound files are edited using Audacitythe reports are put into the
Campsite system, where they are edited and prepared for broadcastthe items are
broadcast using Campcasterall PCs at the radio station use the Ubuntu Linux
operating systemthe
station's website runs Campsite, and sound files from the station's
Campcaster archive can be easily linked to website articles. Radio
Skala became interested in open source alternatives after businesses in
their region were raided by police looking for pirated software; the
move to legal and free alternatives to commercial software will save
the station money as well as allow it to upgrade to future releases of
the software for free. For lack of a better name, the
joint Campcaster-Campsite release is being called the 'Radio Package',
and will be released on 31 January 2007. The release will include the 2.7
Campsite release as well as Campcaster 1.2, which is code-named “Kotor.”
Campware
is dedicated to develop, distribute, support and implement useful tools
for independent news media in emerging democracies. All Campware
software is released as open source and under the GNU General Public License.
To find out more about Campware, visit the website at http://www.campware.org/.
You will find links to manuals, support mailing lists and chat rooms at the
Campware site.
Arti Jaiman Project Manager: TRF Radio | a...@trfindia.org | www.trfindia.org |
www.jaiman.org | www.pitara.com_______________________________________________
cr-india mailing list
cr-india@sarai.net
https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/cr-india
