3 posts tagged “podcast”
To anyone who is complaining about foul language in Leo Laporte's MacBreak Weekly Podcast: not to be rude, but get over it!
Leo is a respectable man, so he jumps the gun if even a little inappropriate content finds it's way into a podcast. He said MBW is PG-13, not R, so you don't have to wash your kids ears out after each show.
Also, words don't mean anything. Only thoughts do. If words really hurt you that much...than just don't listen. There are other podcasts out there (try hundreds of thousands). Anyway, get over it already...sorry.
It always scares me a bit when podcasts get sponsors. Sure, it "could" be fine. Many podcasters (ie. Leo Laporte) are very firm that sponsors don't have any editorial precedence on their shows. But some netcasts are either already halfway in someone's pocket, or are so mum on the issue that you don't know where they stand; something that really stains a show's credibility.
That's why I was very concerned when Kevin Rose (of Rev3 Studios and Diggnation fame) announced that his online TV and audio podcast: Diggnation, would be sponsored by Microsoft's Zune and HD-DVD! Now normally, a sponsorship announcement would be fine with me. You have to pay the bills somehow. But this situation is very different for three key reasons.
First, Diggnation is in many ways a tech show. A large portion of their weekly stories are technology related. Now it's not that I don't trust Kevin or his co-host Alex, but they've played things so casually on their show that I've never heard them mention their stance on sponsors in an editorial context. In-fact, a number of companies (like Apple and Falcon Northwest) have been largely featured on the show because they have either given in advance, or just plain given products to the dynamic hosting duo. For example, Alex needed a new laptop a number of months ago. A rep with Falcon Northwest contacted him and sent him a PC with "Diggnation" etched on the lid.
With Zune and HD-DVD sponsoring, this mix of tech sponsors with tech show content (much of which features the two products) makes me suspicious of how future shows will treat these sponsors on-air. Will stories involving Zune or HD-DVD always get a pro stance from Kevin and Alex, or will these stories just be avoided completely.
Second, Diggnation is so popular among the tech community that anything featured on the show is provided with a huge amount of grassroots publicity. This sponsorship is a somewhat divisive move by Microsoft and HD-DVD to play off of an audience that waits with open ears to hear what Kevin or Alex think of a product. I'm scared the show hosts have already been bought off.
Third and finally, Kevin Rose not only hosts Diggnation, but he is also the CTA and founder of Digg.com. The Revision3 studios that Diggnation is produced under is run by CEO Jay Adelson, who is also the CEO of Digg.com. Digg is a social news website with a large technologically literate audince and article base. Since the success of both Digg and Rev3 Studios is in the best interest for both Adelson and Rose, than what is to say that highly algorithmic story selection process on Digg won't be "aided" by the interests of Microsoft and HD-DVD?
Now I'm blowing much of this out of proportion. Kevin is a good guy and I doubt he'd let any of what I've proposed above actually happen. Still, it's a scary thought that could be mirrored in many other podcasts to come. As far as Diggnation goes, Kevin either needs to speak up about this issue, or face endless retribution from the devoted fan-base that put him where he is now. It just scares me a bit, that's all.
John Tylko of DifferentDistrict.com was getting ready to relaunch the site and had promised a podcast to go along with it. So far, though, he had only posted one episode and the feed had been dormant for four months. I found the site around the same time and was looking to get into the whole podcasting thing myself. I sent off an email and was extremely happy to be invited onto the staff to start a weekly Mac news program. John was my co-host for the first four months of production. He was a great boss (of sorts) and allowed me amazing flexibility in producing the show from content to site management. In those first four months, we pulled off twelve fantastic shows, one event coverage program, and one interview with tech giant John C. Dvorak.
After a while, John stopped being available as often, and we shifted the show to a panel format with multiple guests on each show. I thought it was a great format and we carried on with it for a number of months. I was forced to reconsider the entire show after a somewhat devastating and scathing email from a man who will remain nameless. Show production stopped at a critical point and planned coverage of WWDC 2006 was never recorded and never aired.
I took a break for a month or so and looked at everything I was doing. I had a number of other projects clouding me and I had lost sight of how to run a show and what works and what doesn't. I started to rebuild the show I loved and I'm happy to finally announce today that the show that started it all is back.
The Different District Podcast is now TechNight! Same egotistical host, but with a new co-host, look, and feel. We're not just about Macs anymore. We're doing all tech. Thanks for the support of everyone who's helped me throughout the past year with TechNight/DD including John Tylko, Dominic Serio (ummm), Tristan Mace, Chris Lee, Alex D, Paul Tevis, Ben May, Mike Beckam, Graham, Brad Mattison, and of course all of our listeners for the past of year. It has meant a lot and we hope you all stay subscribed for another great year of podcasting.
Check it out at http://www.differentdistrict.com/technight
