That's why I'm glad Chris Lydon and his team are doing Open Source Radio - they're using mobcasting (in this context, public contributions via telephone) and are unabashedly happy to mix in content that's low-quality from a technical/broadcasting point of view. Even though the sound quality will leave a lot to be desired, it puts the power of podcasting back into the hands of the people....
My suspicion, for our purposes, is that terrific two or three minute thoughtful pieces recorded over the telephone will find a lot more ears than will a lesser piece with all bells and whistles attached.
What I visualize is a serious, year-long undertaking which I call "Connecting the Dots". As I visualize it, there would be a continuous call for 2-3 minute "Paul Harvey" type audio messages. (Phil Shapiro came up with one yesterday about Apple's Tiger and the City of Philadelphia. I will let him tell you about that.) (Andy's mobcasting is wide open for a dozen Connect the Dots pieces)
Move-On.org showed the way for this kind of development in the presidential campaign last year. What they did was ask their subscribers to create short videos for possible use on television. The response was overwhelming ....something like 1,700 submissions in a very short time period.
Submissions could come by phone (and/or upload); voting by DDN subscribers could take place with use of all that sophisticated (free) polling stuff. The winning pieces could be announced by emails that were also sent to radio stations interested in intriguing pieces for insertions when times were dull. Winning stuff could also be put in text, and submitted to the print media.
In many ways this is really fun stuff for people with the cast of mind who read the Digital Divide posts. I see the the goal of reaching larger audiences --- and with that cash contributions,as per the success of www.move-on.org.
John Hibbs http://www.bfranklin.edu
P.S. My favorite Çonnect the Dots involves the role of English language instructors, ICT, radio and how their work can reduce the Divide. (Blind copies are sent to the leaders of Webheads. They may wish to post?)
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