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Communications The Internet News

Locked-Out Journalists Turn To Podcasting 146

Posted by Zonk from the staying-on-the-air-anyway dept.
An anonymous reader writes "An Interesting Canadian Press article is up on the Macleans website discussing locked out union journalists podcasting to stay on the air. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation locked out 5,500 unionized employees Aug. 15 over a contract dispute. Most of those walking the picket line are radio, TV and internet journalists and technicians. In the last few days, they've been cranking out podcasts - locked out folks in Fredericton, New Brunswick; Regina, Saskatchewan; Vancouver, British Columbia and other cities have all participated. Some have 'real news', music and interviews. Others are more propaganda-like. A whole batch of them are at www.cbcunplugged.com."
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Locked-Out Journalists Turn To Podcasting More

Locked-Out Journalists Turn To Podcasting

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  • Two drink minimum (Score:5, Funny)

    by FatRatBastard ( 7583 ) on Sunday August 28, 2005 @12:34PM (#13421413) Homepage
    Some have 'real news', music and interviews. Others are more propaganda-like.

    So basically it's no different than your normal CBC broadcast.

    [rim shot]

    Thank you.. I'll be here all week.

    • Re:Two drink minimum (Score:1, Interesting)

      by Anonymous Coward
      "Some have 'real news', music and interviews. Others are more propaganda-like."
      Unfortunately, the CBC has long forgotten that they are taxpayer funded organization, and have evolved into being a mouthpiece for special interest groups. http://www.cbcwatch.ca/ [cbcwatch.ca]
      Although I admire the locked out reporters resourcefulness at getting their message out, I can hardly sympathize with this bunch of elitist, narrow minded idiots.
      • Although I admire the locked out reporters resourcefulness at getting their message out, I can hardly sympathize with this bunch of elitist, narrow minded idiots.

        I take it, then, that you'd have more sympathy with a bunch of elitist, narrow minded idiots who's politics you agree with?

        • I take it, then, that you'd have more sympathy with a bunch of elitist, narrow minded idiots who's politics you agree with?

          But of course, he would like CBC TV replaced with the FOX channel and CBC Radio with Clear Channel + Rush Limbaugh. Then he would sing praises of the new arrangement being "fair and balanced" and "open minded", like, say, Ann Coulter.

      • "CBC to continue with property development during strike"

        "CBC picket walker mentions teens across street cheering Canadian Idol fave."

        "CBC personalites consider appearance on college radio."

        Thanks for the chuckle. It appears we Canadians have a very low scandal threshold. Another bookmark for the Raelian crank file.

      • Also, cbcwatch.ca is run and operated by Wayne MacLaurin, one of the Canadian dot.com con artists (he owned more dot.com busts then I can count, all of which appear to have served the purpose of "asset conversion" of that of shareholders to his pocket), and whose political stance can be described as "you cant fucking tax meee! I am too fucking important!!! Down with the commie Canada!" or something to that effect. Naturally a public broadcaster (or public health or public roads) is somewheat contrary to tha
    • Some have 'real news', music and interviews. Others are more propaganda-like. So basically it's no different than your normal CBC broadcast.
      It isn't? I wasn't aware that any broadcasters carried "real news" these days...

  • I can see them... (Score:2, Interesting)

    by all204 ( 898409 )
    I'm in Fredericton, and I can see them out my appartment. They get a lot of honks from cars passing by, thats how they keep my attention, errrrr....
    • I too am also in Fredericton, here is the link to the local blog on the issue: http://frederictonguild.blogspot.com/ [blogspot.com] What caused this lockout is this, the management wants to bust the union and be able to hire contract/short term workers for half the salary or less than that of current workers. The current workers are not fighting for more money, but for job security, for themselves and new people comming into the workplace. Its the same thing that happened to a lot of industries/companies in the 90's.

  • Bush says.. (Score:1, Insightful)

    by peculiarmethod ( 301094 )
    I suggest we go in there, drop a few EMP bombs, throw a few ICBMs (to remind the world we still have 'em), and go in there and LIBERATE THOSE JOURNALISTS!

    I hear there's oil, too. LET'S ROLL!!
  • Can't even browse old programs

  • CPB? (Score:2, Funny)

    by Snoolas ( 910809 )
    Am I the only one who mistaked this for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting?
    This podcast made possible by listeners like you. Thank You!

  • Procrasting (Score:3, Funny)

    by ZeroExistenZ ( 721849 ) on Sunday August 28, 2005 @12:39PM (#13421437)

    am I the only one who read "Locked-Out Journalists Turn To Procrasting"

  • Critical Mass? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by jarich ( 733129 ) on Sunday August 28, 2005 @12:40PM (#13421445) Homepage Journal
    Could this event be the one that shows people how much Podcasting can replace traditional broadcasting? A critical mass moment showing the established media types how effect Podcasting can be? Or creating enough content for force more organization to the content (like a newspaper or a TV newscast)?

    Turning a large group of professionals loose with a medium like this would make me very nervous if I owned a TV station! :)

    • Re:Critical Mass? (Score:4, Insightful)

      by grazzy ( 56382 ) <grazzyNO@SPAMquake.swe.net> on Sunday August 28, 2005 @12:43PM (#13421453) Homepage Journal
      Or.. show the world how useless it is, and realize absolutely nobody is going to give a sh*t.. much like blogs.

    • Re:Critical Mass? (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Seumas ( 6865 ) *
      Only if we give it a different, less stupid, name.

      I love it.

      A frequently updated website is called "blogging" and considered a whole new revolution again after over a decade.

      Streaming/downloadable MP3s are called "podcasting" and considered a whole new revolution again after almost a decade.

      What's next? Calling online gaming "active fantasy excercise" and claiming it's a new, revolutionary fad, too?

      *eyeroll*

      Speaking of which, I have yet to find a podcast that is worthwhile. I've tried listening to quite a f
      • Comment removed based on user account deletion
        • As best I can tell, a "podcast" just means "an mp3 that automatically downloads when it's available".

          It would be about the same as sticking an mp3 on a server and having cronjobs that automatically downloaded the file every so often. So basically.. a podcast delivers an mp3 that you've subscribe to, when it's available... as long as you're connected to the internet and running the podcasting client in the background... and are too lasty to just punch in a single URL and click on a link to download it manual
          • With an RSS reader tracking your blogs, websites or news sites (like Google or CNN), you don't have to visit every site and look for new content. Your RSS reader just shows you the new stuff.

            Podcasting is exactly the same. You podcasting client tracks a large number of sites and lets you know when something new is published.

            Most of the people I know that are into podcasting have long commutes and they use the car time to catch up on various topics. Not a bad use of time... but I live 5 miles from work.

      • Only good ones are from the CBC (well, were...), and the BBC.

        Please excuse no html,

        http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/downloadtrial/

        No CBC link right now.

    • Could this event be the one that shows people how much Podcasting can replace traditional broadcasting?

      Sure, it could - but once the journalists realize they can't make enough money to eat, they'll all turn around to bash it as a mindless, useless medium, with no journalistic integrity. Oh, wait...

  • Hmm (Score:5, Funny)

    by Dirtside ( 91468 ) on Sunday August 28, 2005 @12:41PM (#13421447) Journal
    An Interesting Canadian Press article
    Ah yes, the Interesting Canadian Press. Much preferable to the Staid Tedious Canadian Press.

  • Defending Free Speech (Score:2, Interesting)

    by brianopp ( 862935 )
    this is just further proving that podcasting is enhancing free speech
  • I don't know why, but I hate the buzz word "podcasting". It's streaming audio, and it was streaming audio years before the blog generation even discovered it existed. I'm still amazed by people's reactions when I tell them the ambient music in my apartment is being streamed from an online radio station from shoutcast.

    • Re:Hate the term "podcasting" (Score:5, Informative)

      by hungrygrue ( 872970 ) on Sunday August 28, 2005 @12:52PM (#13421497) Homepage

      It is not "streaming audio". Streaming requires enormous bandwidth in order to play in real time. A Podcast is downloaded and saved to the subscriber's disk for playback at a later time. It does not matter, therefore, if limited bandwidth means that a twenty minute episode will take fourty minutes to download

      Streaming audio also has the same limitation that radio does, and which podcasting provides a solution to: the listener must tune in on the day and time of the broadcast in order to hear it. There are a large number of Public Radio programs which I enjoy but my schedule does not allow me to listen to live. Even more programs that I listen to are not offered by stations in my area. Podcasts allow me to subscribe to the feeds that I want and listen to them whenever and wherever I want, including on my mp3 player when I am away from my computer.
      • I stand corrected... thank you for the clarification
      • It is not "streaming audio"... A Podcast is downloaded and saved to the subscriber's disk for playback at a later time.

        Which makes it even stupider to give it a new name like podcasting.

        It's the original evil sourge of the internet known as "file downloading" - the progenitor of "file sharing!"
        • There's more to podcasting than mp3 file downloading. There's an RSS-based syndication mechanism, so that your favorite programs get automatically copied to your audio player. Online "broadcasting" has been around for years now, but it never attracted so many avid listeners -- and amateur producers -- before the podcast mechanism was invented. So a new name is called for, even if the name is just a little lame.
      • Do podcasts (and future video podcasts) utilise a mechanism like bittorrent for distribution (it makes sense to me), or does the server have to serve all the bandwidth?

        This personal access to pseudo-broadcast is the future. Great for libel/slander lawyers I'm sure, but how can you monitor all broadcasts? I'm sure that automated tools that check for occurrences of certain words in podcasts and flag ones that match will become a popular way to check for your company name (or your own name if you are lucky eno
      • A Podcast is downloaded and saved to the subscriber's disk for playback at a later time.

        So, in fact, it's downloading files, another term that existed long before the bloggers got hold of it...

        Where exactly does the casting come into it?
        • Yup. Exactly. It's downloading files, just like always. Just select a file to download and automatically recieve any updates or new versions, along with show notes, title, and other information, until you unsubscribe. Come to think of it, that doesn't sound much like what I'm used to as far as downloading files from sites goes. In fact, it sound rather different enough to diserve the coining of a new term. It is unfortunate that the term coined is "podcasting", but frankly I lack the creativity to sug
      • It is not "streaming audio". Streaming requires enormous bandwidth in order to play in real time.

        Well, but the overall volume of data transferred is roughly the same. Most providers I know today bill in bits and not in bits per second.

        A Podcast is downloaded and saved to the subscriber's disk for playback at a later time.
        It does not matter, therefore, if limited bandwidth means that a twenty minute episode will take fourty minutes to download
        So, it is an advantage that you first have to download everything

    • Re:Hate the term "podcasting" (Score:1, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward
      It's not streaming audio, and it's not shoutcast [wikipedia.org]. I hate the term too, but at least do your homework before shooting your mouth off.

    • In other words, because the files are automatically downloaded, before you listen, the technique can be used to watch full-screen video, or other high-bitrate media that users don't have the bandwidth to stream in real-time. Also, it can be used for disconnected devices that have no internet connection to stream at all.

      So, no, it's not

      • So, no, it's not streaming.

        Yeah, it's even more basic. Us internet veterans call it "downloading a file".

        The energy the tech industry invests in rebranding benign ideas into something flashy and new is laughable.
        • But sometimes the energy invested pays off handsomely.

          Apple's laughing all the way to the bank and they didn't even come up with the word podcasting.
        • Yeah, and blogs are called "editing a website" and RSS is called "downloading a page" and aggregators are called "mail readers", and all of this blog nonsense has no added value whatsoever. 13 different versions of RSS, why would anyone spend time on that junk!?
        • Yeah, it's even more basic. Us internet veterans call it "downloading a file".

          The energy the tech industry invests in rebranding benign ideas into something flashy and new is laughable.

          The lack of energy some tech users invest in actually understanding the entire concept leads to ignorant statements like this.

          I think podcast aggregators are to manually downloading files are fuel injection to manaully adjusting a model-T's carburetor. In that comparison, the engine gets the air and fuel, but FI is a lot sim
        • Us internet veterans call it "downloading a file".

          Pfft... you whippersnappers don't know how good you have it. Us real veterans call it encapsulating data in ethernet frames.
           
          • Ethernet!?!

            Back when I got my first MSDOS machine, I transferred all the stuff over from my CP/M system using three ordinary pieces of copper wire (transmit, receive, ground) between the machines.

            Modem7 on the CP/M side, Procomm 2.4.2 on the 'Pee Cee' side.

    • Looked to me like a blog, with a bunch of CBC staff babbling about irrelevant trivia like most bloggers do. I can't see why anyone would want to download an audio version of the same inane comments that were in text.

      Guess I just must be too old. I still phone people instead of texting, I read forums and news sites instead of blogs, and I expect "news" to have some validity and fact-checking behind it. Guess I'd have to be young and "cool" to understand why downloaded MP3 talk-only audio is a "podcast"

      • I found the few MP3s that are actually on the site, and it seems that these goofs think you need 128KBit near-CD quality stereo MP3s for someone to talk! 20KBit mono is more than adequate for talk-only MP3s, and would save huge amounts of bandwidth.

      • I read forums and news sites instead of blogs, and I expect "news" to have some validity and fact-checking behind it.

        You're contradicting yourself.

        Or do you go exclusively to 'three letter acronym' sites based on the old NBC/CBS/ABC hierarchy?

        Didn't you know that old time journalists always said 'when you flunk out of Calculus, you can always switch to Journalism School' (meaning- all the high-falutin' 'integrity' blather from 'professional journalists' is hot air. The old time reporters started as copy b
    • Can someone make a Firefox extension that replaces words with other less obnoxious words so I don't have to look at the buzzword and many others ever again You could create it under the guise of protection children from harsh language.

  • My spoon is too big. (Score:3, Funny)

    by ichigo 2.0 ( 900288 ) on Sunday August 28, 2005 @12:44PM (#13421462)
    1. Create a mp3
    2. Put it on a website
    3. ???
    4. Postcast podpod castpost castpod!

  • Just remember its a lockout not a strike (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Noclar7 ( 788433 ) on Sunday August 28, 2005 @12:45PM (#13421474)
    A good friend of mine works with the cbc, and trust me, they want to work! Its especially depressing to see here in nothern New Brunswick since on the same street in Bathurst, there are also hotel workers on strike, nurses and healthcare workers on strike, and a mill that just shut down with a days notice, laying off about 500 people just down the road.

  • unionized? (Score:5, Funny)

    by Yonatanz ( 798506 ) on Sunday August 28, 2005 @12:50PM (#13421490) Homepage
    The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation locked out 5,500 unionized employees

    Good thing too, you don't want those un-ionized employees going about stealing everybody's ions.

    I wonder where they were locked though... In a Faraday cage, maybe?

    • Re:Charged Issue (Score:1, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Un-ionized? Yeah, that' the last thing you'd want in journalism... neutrality.
    • I believe they've been locked out of the cage. Which only means one thing - they're now on the loose!
    • Working in tandem with the un-ionized journalists they will canada the first plasma screen visable from space. But they still won't have anything to say.
    • I know a way to re-ionize them. how about a million volt tesla coil [cyty.com] Now whether unionized employees are like herding cats when you try to re-ionize them. I don't know. Lets create a crack squad of tesla coil ionizing squads and go to Canada! Least us americans can do for our neighbors north. We shock them in other ways, why not with electricity?

  • Improved ratings (Score:5, Interesting)

    by FatRatBastard ( 7583 ) on Sunday August 28, 2005 @12:56PM (#13421515) Homepage
    One of the funniest things I've read about the lockout is how the CFL broadcasts have improved their ratings [footballoutsiders.com] since they've gone play-by-playless.
    • The same happened with hockey a couple years ago. (I can't remember if it was SRC, CBC or both that were commentary-less). Of course, the best part about this is that at least one radio station (CHOI, the one that almost got shut down) would have its own play by play, by completely random people.

    • "Play-by-play" commentators in most TV-worthy sports are just time-fillers/shills.

      They are the equivalent to a sitcom's phony laugh track. The best example of this is professional wrestling, where the hype exceeds the performances to a ridiculous (over the top to the point of being an absurd sideshow) degree.

      This won't change, as pre and post adolescent males are easily scammed into "xtreme!" stuff because of excess testosterone and the invulnerability phenomenon.

      I'd love to see more sports broadcas

    • That's because we don't have to listen to Chris Walby anymore.

  • Inept website (Score:5, Insightful)

    by OpenGLFan ( 56206 ) on Sunday August 28, 2005 @01:07PM (#13421553) Homepage
    They need to totally redo that website. Right now it's definitely got a "we're mad, and we're podcasting" feel to it. I thought, hey, let's see what the journalists are reporting about! Maybe they're some creative people who've been locked out! Let's listen to them. And the message I got was "We're mad, and we're podcasting."

    They've missed the important point: you have to podcast about something. You can't just podcast. Look at the links on the right -- do you see all the journalists? All listed right there. Hey! They're podcasting! Yes, but what the frack are you podcasting about? It's like looking at a TV guide that says:

    7pm: Richard Dean Anderson, Amanda Tapping
    8pm: Joe Flanigan, David Hewlett
    9pm: Edward James Olmos, Katee Sackhoff

    which, if you're not already fans of Stargate and Battlestar Galactica, gives you no information and doesn't compel you to watch the show.

    • you have to podcast about something. You can't just podcast.

      They could have avoided that difficulty by starting web logs instead.

      • These are the 'talking heads' not the writers and journalists.

        You know, the people who like listening to their own voices.

        I went to Tech School at an old-line trade school that also had a Broadcasting division. We techies considered the 'Broadcast' students to be out and out flakes. The impression I got was that to be a 'broadcaster' the resonant quality of your cranium was more important that whatever else might be in it.

    • Re:Inept website (Score:4, Insightful)

      by mcc ( 14761 ) <amcclure@purdue.edu> on Sunday August 28, 2005 @01:27PM (#13421627) Homepage
      They've missed the important point: you have to podcast about something. You can't just podcast.

      See, and that's where you're wrong. It's like "blogs". You'd think they'd have to "blog" about something? Nope, it turns out "I'm blogging!" and "blogs are important!" are both perfectly sufficient messages to sustain a blog.

      Your insistence that you need content to broadcast is outmoded thinking. Blogs and podcasts, and with them the internet, have moved beyond that. "New Journalism" doesn't need content, or quality, or accuracy, or informative value, or entertainment value; it just needs to be there. What we are observing here is a revolution, and its goal is to revolutionize. It's not revolutionizing anything in particular, mind you. It's just revolutionizing.
      • Sad but so very, very true !
      • I share your fury concerning blogs, podcasting and whatever today's new media technology is. However, I don't see any problem or anything new with this; the same thing happened with all of our existing communications tech when they were introduced.

        For example, about ten years ago in Finland cell phones began to be affordable for widespread consumer use. People got crazy about the new technology and started calling/texting each other from the most inappropriate places, often just because they could. They w

        • It's taken several years for cell phones to lose the gadget factor and become tools that are used when/where appropriate.

          You're lucky. People in the US still haven't gotten over it.

    • Ooh, it looks like MacGuyver's on! Who's the other one? :P

  • Three Cheers for Labor Strife! (Score:3, Funny)

    by dskoll ( 99328 ) on Sunday August 28, 2005 @02:39PM (#13421988) Homepage
    When the NHL players were locked out, we got to see decent movies every Saturday night.

    Now that the CBC reporters are locked out, the quality of CBC programming has improved immensely.

    I love it!

    • I love it!

      I do too. But admittedly I didn't even know they were on strike until it was slashdot'ed. And I live in Canada!

      Maybe if CBC closes down we will see some real investigative journalism and less liberal feel good. Bet the liberals increase CBC's budget before the next election.

      Maybe I should see what is on the new CBC tonight.

      • Close down the TV broadcasting, fine. But leave Radio 1 and 2 alone. I'd be pretty upset if Brave New Waves and Radio Overnight were cancelled, not to mention the commercial free classical music during the day.

        • Close down the TV broadcasting, fine. But leave Radio 1 and 2 alone.

          I agree. CBC-TV is basically worthless except for the kids' shows. My kids really like them, and they're actually pretty good.

          I listen to CBC radio a lot, and as long as you stay away from the occasional smug left-wing commentary, it's generally quite decent. On Radio 1, they're playing the "Best of..." past shows, and they're as good as new material.

  • It's good to see these former minions of the Mainstream Media cutting loose and popularizing freer forms of communication and reporting.

    However, they're probably cutting their own throats, since they're the folks benefiting most from the old way of doing things. They're propagating themselves out of jobs.

    Which is fine by some of us. Probably not their intent. Watch them all scurry right back to 'credible big broadcast' mediums as soon as they can.
  • The CBC seems to really enjoy making their stuff avaliable. I mean they have a bunch of shows on podcasts such as Quirks and Quarks. Heck they even have one of their comedy shows (royal canadian air farce) avaliable online a few days after it was aired so you can watch it online.

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