I love radio, always have and always will. And while other media platforms have grown and exploded around me, radio will always have a special place in my heart.
Growing up in Beirut in the midst of a brutal civil war, my little transistor radio was my escape hatch. By manipulating my antenna in very clever ways, I was able to listen to great broadcasts from the likes of VOA, BBC, RFI and others. I discovered jazz, country, classical and listened to all kinds of ideas and thoughts. All floating freely across borders and artificial lines.
Later, and while in college here in the US, I worked the late night shift at the local NPR station in rural Tennessee. Due to my accent, I was assigned the late night "graveyard" shift, where I was spinning new wave music and early electronica to an audience of drunken college kids and local rednecks.
While it may seem for the business sector (ad sales and executives) that Radio is dying, I beg to differ. I would actually argue quite the opposite. These are the golden days of radio... for listeners, at least.
Thanks to the internet and other new technologies, such as the iPhone, radio is now everywhere... and in new and exciting packaging. Radio broadcasts from virtually anywhere in the world are now available at our fingertips and on our own terms. Did you miss yesterday's "Fresh Air"? A couple of clicks and it's right there... Miss your hometown radio? Fire up your favorite mobile application, and there it is. For me, it is so cool to drive down a country road in Virginia while listening to Radio Nostalgie from Beirut, Lebanon. Just blows my mind
Between Sirius Satellite Radio and my iPhone, I can access thousands of radio stations in excellent quality in my car. Using services like Slacker, Sticher, and LastFM, I can custom design my own radio station. Pause, rewind, and fast forward controls included. If I like particular content and feel that it's worthy of sharing... one click, and it is sent to my Facebook and Twitter followers. And it's only going to get better.
I am convinced that eventually corporate folks will figure out how to monetize all of that. But in the meantime, I am loving the evolution of this great medium.
Radio Is Dead... Long Live Radio
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John Jacob Di Gasbarro
Bill Maher
resistanceisfruitful
Kerry Lauerman
Joan Walsh
Salon.com
Comments
but,
here in Winnipeg, I have tuned in the following places on my tabletop GE "superradio":
Vancouver, Montreal, all Canadian cities between,
Los Angeles, New York, New Orleans, (fishing show) Pittsburgh, and most places in between, especially, Denver, (3 stations) Minneapolis, (3 stations) and Chicago (3 stations).
I remember taking a break from studying in my dorm room in Madision Wisconsin around two in the morning (this was in the late '70's). For some reason that don't recall, I switched my stereo radio from FM to AM and was amazed when it picked up a station in Texas and then a different one in Quebec! It was a cold, clear night and the weather conditions must have been perfect. Now I can listen to music and news from Paris, or London, or wherever - any time I choose! It's awesome.
A mere six years ago, driving from Chicago to my uncle's funeral in Dayton, I was horrifiedto find that every single on-air station in every town I passed through, was broadcasting Rush Limbaugh. Luckily I had a stack of CD's which made the trip easier.