First of all, I mean the word “amateur” in the post title in the purest sense: one who does an activity out of love for that activity. In that sense I am an amateur podcaster, since I do it out of love (so far); and I’m even an amateur magician and musician, even though I do both of those things for money rather often.
As consumers of mediated information (“mediated” being, of course, related to “media”), we have long been used to, and willing to, pay for media content, including the print media. Now, with the explosion of blogs and podcasts, absolutely everyone with a computer and decent internet hookup can and may publish.
Will there remain a place for “professional reporters” or “journalists” in the future? Even in this blogpost, I can link to a related article in the Washington Post and cause the Post to point back to my blog–thus undermining the privileged position of the “professional” journalists who are paid to write for that great newspaper. (See? I just forced the Post to link back to me by linking to a blog entry by Howard Kurtz, their media writer.)
When everybody can create content, will there remain a demand for “professional” content that people will be willing to pay for? Will there be a way to earn a living in the future as a journalist? (This question was posed by Annik Rubens to Steffen of the Süddeutsche Zeitung in edition #315 of Schlaflos in München. If you understand German, it’s a great discussion.)
Lately I have become a fan of a charming husband-and-wife podcast called Me and the Bean, produced by Chad and Amanda (“me” and “the Bean”) in Mt. Airy, North Carolina. I don’t think I am showing any disrespect to them when I say that their podcast is a modest project. They don’t line up celebrity interviews or discover new musical artists (although one of Chad’s projects, Locals Only, features independent music from around northwestern North Carolina). All they do is talk about their friends and their lives as parents of young kids.
Me and the Bean is like a semi-weekly newsletter to friends. We all listen, from all corners of the globe, and respond to them via email, voicemail, and MP3 audio files. It is nothing like “regular radio,” nor does it aspire to be.
When I wrote down the notes from which I’m writing this entry, I was listening to the show. Chad had just read an email from somebody who was listening while doing one of those mind-numbing survival jobs, like cleaning offices or something.
It occurred to me that podcasting beguiles the time in an empowering way. Not only is there a customizable content stream to listen to, but it’s a kind of content anybody can create. So you listen to your own special list of podcasts, and then you create your own audio files and respond back.
An audio podcast is essentially much different from a blog. With a podcast I can take the content with me; for a blog, I generally need to be online and hooked up to the Internet to truly get the essence of it (links and trackbacks and comments). To read a blog on a web-enabled cellphone, for example, would be just too tedious. I cannot participate in a blog, even in receptor mode, while riding on a subway train.
But while writing the notes for this blogpost, I was hearing (i.e., consuming) Me and the Bean (and Schlaflos in München and all the other shows to which I subscribe) on the Orange Line of the Washington Metro while riding home from an afternoon in DC.
Categories: blogging, podcast, media, annikrubens, meandthebean
One of the things that I am finding fascinating about amateur media right now is that it’s often as good as, or better, than “professional” media. All you need to do is sit in a hotel room and watch a few reality shows or “the Man Show” to realize that. And radio is not much better.
I have been listening to a LOT of travel podcasts since we started ours up. I started with the names I knew like Rick Steves and Lonely Planet. These are professionally produced shows that are on radio then repackaged as podcasts. In the last week I’ve begin listening to “the Amateur Traveler” which is currently one of my favorite podcasts. This guy has great content, is very interesting. Not as polished as NPR but really great!.
Your cast is another case in point. It’s easily as good as many of the shows on the radio – hey you guys definitely have the Car Guys on NPR licked!
And podcasting lets you choose. If you don’t like it you just turn it off, delete the mp3.
It’s all very exciting.
I’m sorry, but you’re not an amateur podcaster and just because you’re doing it because you want to, does not make you amateur. The Word Nerds is one of the most professionally produced podccasts available.
@Julie: sure “amateur” or as I like to call it, independent media is better. Look at Ask a Ninja and Tiki Bar TV – I’ve never had so much and been so entertained by mainstream media. And The Word Nerds is edutainment at its best. I mean it. I’ve never learnt so much from another podcast, except for maybe BBC’s In Our Time.
Can you paste a link to your podcast? I’m interested.
@Dave: don’t you think podcating should be interactive like blogging too? I haven’t been recently with your podcast and I don’t think it’s as much fun being a passive listener. The ability to affect the media and content in such a direct way is one of the things that’s going to make podcasting and blogging success over standardized newspaper articles and radio.
(have a look at the long tail blog, it’s related to what we’re talking about)
Yes, Simran, I am indeed an amateur. The reason I do podcasting is because I love it. That’s what an amateur is–not somebody who does a “less than good” job. The word has degraded a bit in meaning, but it still retains that sense of loving an activity.
And, on the other hand, no, I’m not a professional podcaster. I have yet to make (serious) money from The Word Nerds. This is most people’s definition of a professional.
I’m a professional magician, because I do it almost always for money. (If I don’t do it for money, I have my own research-and-development reasons to perform.) Many (perhaps most) magicians who create new material tend to be amateurs. They are more free to be creative because they are not burdened with having to manage a performing career (which really is a small business).
So I’m proud to be an amateur podcaster. I don’t think it’s a bad thing.
And when I talk about the “amateurization of the media,” this is what I mean: that people’s reason for doing it is not money, primarily.
Let’s face it, so far, there isn’t any money to be made from podcasting per se.
As a matter of fact, on yesterday’s Rocketboom, Dave Winer talked about this very distinction, between amateur and professional. (Long time no see, DW!)
Sim,
My link is
http://www.washingtontravelcast.com. It is actually the link under my name.
And I agree with Dave. Olympic athletes are (at least nominally) athletes, they are hardly not as good as “professional” athletes. The same can be said anywhere.
Podcasting is amateur media, though. People do it because they have an interest either in the media or in their topic, or both.
I don’t think that professional media will go away – I think there will always be a place for higher budget media – which podcasting won’t be. The ability to send your reporters to wherever in the globe an issue occurs, or to maintain bureaus in those places, is something individual podcasters can’t do – which means that people will always be afraid of holes (although one wonders if a community wiki- type organization might evolve for amateur news fiends who can podcast from all over the globe) and get some commercial media.
BUT, I see the role of professional media diminishing, much like networks did when cable boomed.
Interestingly, Dave, by your definitions you are BOTH an amateur AND a professional magician. Those are usually understood as mutually exclusive, although my Olympic athletes also blur this line.
Julie
Yes, Julie, I think you’re right: I am both an amateur and a professional magician, by my definitions.
I set the links wrong in that last post. I should have said that on yesterday’s Rocketboom there was an interview with Dave Winer. Since Dave was important in developing the concept of blogging, I should get these things right!
Wow, thanks for the heads up on that. My idea of being amateur was completely different. I was comparing professional and amateur podcasters on content and organisation and presentation of it, not on money. Well, that is interesting. You’re the second person who’s given me that Rocketboom link. I shall check it out. Thanks for the replies. Julie, I’ll give your podcast a listen. I just heard the “age” episode of the Word Nerds (yes, I’m falling behind) and Dave talked about your podcast. It might interesting to learn more about the “capital of the democratic world” so to say.
PS: I’ve also started my own podcast, which has totally taken off. In the first three days, I’ve already got 250+ listeners! It’s called Musikothek and you can find on my blog.
Thanks SIM, I’ve also listened to, and enjoyed FOWL radio, although I’m very behind on it- in mid february my computer’s hard drive crashed and with this and that was out of commission for more than a month. I fell behind with EVERYTHING, and between that and podcasting have not had time to catch back up.
I’ll check out this new one, too.