Ask The Audience.

One of the highlights of my week, is listening to the latest podcast from The Word Magazine A magazine which i can heartedly recommend to any serious music lover & a publication that i have probably mentioned before & will, quite possibly mention again at some time.
Podcasts, generally, are one of those things that the Internet was just made for. Especially when they are done well. Which is precisely the case here

But, this week the Word Podcast was even more special than usual, for me anyway. Because, in it they actually gave me a name check & answered a question which had i sent into them.
The podcast was mainly about recording studios & my question was along the lines of, "Does the use of Autotune mean the end of "real" vocalists". (By the way, my question is about 10 minutes before the end)

I actually intend to write another blog post around aspects of the podcast discussion about recording studios & the question that i asked.

But, the other aspect i wanted to mention, was the way that everybody these days seems to be after our opinion. Whether it be a radio show, a tv programme, or in this case, a monthly magazine. They all want input from their readers, viewers & listeners.

In the case of The Word, they use their Twitter feed to ask for questions, as do many others. Usually just before they are about to record the podcast.
But, i've lost count of the amount of times i've been asked, as a viewer or listener, to contact somebody to give my opinion about something they are discussing, or to vote on a hot topic.
I suppose this is just a natural progression from the old fashioned way of contacting a studio, by telephone?

Maybe it's just a case of the media, in its many forms, getting to grips with social media & the Internet generally? After all, it must be a great deal easier getting an email, or a text message, than having to actually answer a phone call. And the ways that people can contact, or get involved these days are growing in number all the time.

I know that many tv programmes, radio shows, magazines, newspapers & even the presenters themselves, have their own Facebook pages, Twitter feeds etc.

So, i guess the question is, does this really matter?

Some might see this as lazy journalism, or cheap programming. After all, these people are getting the general public to provide some of their content for them & at no real cost.
But, there again, it can also be seen as true public service broadcasting. Getting the public involved is exactly what some people like to see.
Also, getting your audience involved in the show, or programme, will probably make that audience more loyal. It almost becomes "their programme. They are far more likely to watch, listen, or read & be enthusiastic about your product, if they feel involved in some way.

Personally, i see no real problem with this & i can actually envisage this public involvement becoming more widespread. In fact i've already seen examples & ideas for this.
Maybe that's the topic for another day?

There is nothing quite like having your name & question being used on your favourite podcast.
As long as that potential thrill remains, people will always want to get involved.

BBC & BNP, IMHO.

“If we don’t believe in freedom of expression for those we despise. We don’t believe in it at all”

Unless you’re not British, or have been living under a rock for the past few days, you can’t have escaped the impassioned debate that has been going on regarding the appearance of the leader of the British National Party, Nick Griffin, on the BBC’s “Question Time” programme.
Just about anybody with an opinion on this has been wheeled out to express it.
So, why should i be any different?

As you can see by the quote that I opened this blog with, which is from Noam Chomsky by the way, i, somewhat reluctantly, believe that it was right for Nick Griffin to be asked to appear on the BBC's Question Time.

I’ll state straight away though, that I find the views of the BNP to be, at best, misinformed & misguided & at worst, to be basically Fascist in nature. I abhor their attempts to stir up ethnic tension & racial hatred in Britain. They certainly don’t do so in my name.

But, as the quote suggests, just because you don’t agree with the views of the BNP, or their methods, doesn’t mean that they should not be heard. After all, the reason that Nick Griffin was invited onto Question Time in the first place, is because he is a democratically elected member of the European Parliament.
Therefore, he is entitled to air his views in public & who are the BBC, or anyone else for that matter, to deny him that right?
One of the great things about living in a democracy is the right to freedom of speech. If that is stopped, where does it end? You cannot pick & choose who has the right to freedom of speech, however unpalatable that may feel. Especially if they are an elected politician.

The people who should be blamed for this, are the people who voted for Nick Griffin & his BNP party in those elections. I suspect that many of those votes were cast as some kind of protest vote against all the other political parties.
I wonder what those people are thinking now & whether they will be voting BNP next time around?
Remember, be careful who you vote for, they might just get in.

I’ll admit that i didn’t watch Question Time myself. But, having heard the news & read the quotes, it appears that Mr Griffin didn’t exactly shine on the programme. Which, to me at least, is a big relief.
One of the good reasons for inviting him, or any other politician, onto a programme like Question Time, is to try & force them to say what they really think, to put them on the spot & to expose their shortcomings.

I’ll end this post by mentioning one of Nick Griffin’s quotes, which was about the “indigenous” people of Britain. Presumably Nick Griffin is one of those people who feel that only “true” British people should be allowed to live in the UK?
I find this very amusing, as it reminds me of my recent blog post “You’re not from around here are you?” which talked about exactly that point.
I wonder if Mr Griffin would subject himself to a DNA test? So that we can all see exactly where his ancestors come from.

Now, that would be worth televising.