I’m not kidding. You can be the media . . . radio, tv, blog . . . your choice!
It kind of sucks to have people running around filling the shoes of traditional media and not getting paid, but our democracy is better off for it! So, I’d encourage you, take on just a little piece of it. You don’t have to be an over achiever like me, but you could do a small part . . . and if everyone did their small part . . . well . . . much could be done!
WHY ARE YOU NEEDED?
Tonight, I’d like to be at the Housing Committee (affordable housing trust fund and showing ordinance), Parks Commission (Lisa Link rules), Dane County Public Hearing on Human Services and I have to be at Community Services Commission where they are making funding decisions. If a few people could coordinate and fan out, we could cover it all. No need to cover it as thoroughly as I do, but just a few paragraphs would suffice, or record it (audio or video).
Also, beyond reporting the news, I’m sure you have opinions. Opinions and ideas are important to having a great Madison, and you can help contribute. Maybe your idea or opinion isn’t perfect, but someone might find elements of it that are helpful and they might add to it and the idea can grow and sometimes we come up with something really great as a result. Other times, its an idea that got floated and is quickly forgotten, no harm done. What is important, is that ideas make people think about other ways things can be done.
RADIO
Interested in radio, give WORT (89.9 FM) a call, they always need volunteers. Get started, somewhere, anywhere and see where it leads! I have a show every other Tuesday hosting A Public Affair at noon. Archives can be found here.
TELEVISION
Interested in television, give WYOU a call. Take a camera class. Learn to edit video. Find out how a green screen works. Check it out, and soon, you could produce your own show! My show can be found here, or it airs on 95 and 991 Monday at 5pm. Tuesday at 6 am and 8:30pm. Wednesday at 10 am. Saturday at 5 pm. Sunday at 4 am. Podcasts are here.
BLOG
If you want to blog, but not start your own site, if you have something to say and can write it down, we can post it for you here, on Forward Lookout. Or, you can join the ranks of the bloggers here. That was the whole point of our little experiment. Could we amass more bloggers in one space so that you didn’t feel compelled to write regularly, but when you did, there would be a readership here because there was new content every day, by multiple bloggers. Seriously, if you are interested, just let us know!
INPUT
Ok, if you don’t want to do it yourself . . . tell me what I should do! That’s right, I’m starting to book my September shows, what would you like to see a show on? Let me know, I have tons of ideas floating around . . . but I’d like to hear your thoughts.
SUPPORT
If you don’t want to do any of the above, at least consider supporting the entities that make community radio and television work. Find the donate button and donate today! (Hint. Hint. Here it is! WORT and WYOU)
Questions, feel free to ask me . . . I’d love to see more people get involved! Especially for the county and schools. With blogging, you can give it a try, without a huge commitment . . . come on . . . you know you wanna . . . 🙂
You are amazing and your work and way give me hope.