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What is internet radio? Internet, or streaming radio, is an audio file which is "broadcast" on the internet. The audio data is sent in compressed format so that it is accessible to pe ople in a range of connection types; it can either be played in real time (where the data is being sent to the transmitter/server at the same time as the listen ers are receiving the stream), or it can be saved to files which can be listened to anytime. This stream can also be picked up live via the internet by local/micro/community radio stations and broadcast in real time, or the broadcasts can be played from archived files. It quickly becomes apparent that this allows web and airwave radio stations arou nd the world to share content, as long as they have an internet connection. As a tool for civil society it is the ultimate global/local tool, the high-tech/low-tech way of speaking to each other. We want to explore this during the WSSD. We'd like to explore it together with others.
Diversity Radio in Johannesburg and beyond We seek to bring content-rich news and views from a range of perspectives and broadcast these to the internet, local and community radios. As well as providing real-time radio, we will provide archived material in digital format. As a final wish, we would, ideally, like to be able to provide some edited material on easily accessible media such as cassette tapes, especially for Southern audiences. During the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, South Africa (26 Aug - 4 Sept 2002) Diversity Radio disseminated the diverse views of participants and others, with viewpoints both within the conference centre and on the streets of Johannesburg. At this event our small team was made up of journalists and activists from Johannesburg; technical and logistical support from both US/NL and locally; and other support from people in the US, the UK and the Netherlands. As well as a daily two-hour live internet stream, we were rebroadcast on community radios in Europe and the United States. We are now building on this experience and wish to build into a more continuous presence, with continually updated archives and broadcasts on community radio stations. We will using conferences and summits as 'show-cases': both for the issues and the technology, to get more people involved, and active. We also want to raise the awareness of NGOs and civil society to the possibilities of : internet radio as a streaming medium; how internet radio can connect with community radio; and the use of digital audio files which can be made accessible via the internet.We intend to use only open source software for the creation of the audio data and the streaming (with the exception that we will use MP3 compression, which is not open source, but is, we feel, the most accessible format).The language will be predominantly English, but other languages will be frequently used where the necessary skills exist!
(bio)Diversity Radio Our previous, appetite-whetting project was (bio)Diversity Radio during the UN Sixth Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP6), The Hague. We gathered interviews, produced programmes and streamed them live on the internet. This was picked up and broadcast by various local radio stations in the Netherlands. (bio)Diversity Radio was created specifically for the CBD meeting by a group of individuals from an activist and NGO background. The content of programmes explained issues such as Genetic Engineering, Biowarfare, Access and Benefit Sharing, the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources, Indigenous People and Biodiversity. Material from interviews made with a broad spectrum of stakeholders such as: delegates, UN bureaucrats, NGOs, Indigenous Peoples, activists and youth. Throughout the two-week period 20 hours of interviews were made. We were inspired by the project - not least because of the enthusiasm and increasing number of people who participated in making this throughout the two weeks. We want to do a more extended version of the same during WSSD: in particular with more cooperation with other groups who will also be making audio/radio material. |
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