BBC Internet blog: manifesto per il post-broadcasting

Dire che questo post di Steve Bowbrick, "blogger in residence" di BBC Future Media & Technology, su che cosa debba essere un broadcaster pubblico nell'era del post-broadcast, è ispirato è dire poco. Nel BBC Internet Blog, dopo aver certificato l'imminente morte del broadcasting, Steve si lascia andare al ritratto della fenice che emergerà dal rogo della "vecchia" Beeb: un non-broadcaster aperto, che non mette a disposizione contenuti ma spunti e strumenti per la condivisione/creazione di contenuti, una piattaforma ipertecnologica da lasciare in eredità alle nuove generazioni. In passato pagavamo il canone per guardare e ascoltare i contenuti prodotti. Oggi voglio pagare il canone perché la BBC possa rappresentare me e le mie aspirazioni attraverso il suo output. Solo sogni, risponderanno gli scettici. Ma perché, non sono proprio i sogni quelli che ci hanno portato via quei maledetti vampiri? Grazie, Steve.

Moving on from the broadcast era
from BBC Internet Blog by Steve Bowbrick

The broadcast era is coming to an end. The network era is well under way. Only openness can keep the BBC relevant through the transition.
Why do I want the BBC to be more open?
I want it to open up to the people who fund it and - more important - the people who underwrite its legitimacy (that's you and me). The closed, broadcast-era BBC sells me a licence to view the stuff it makes. In the open, network era it's the other way round - I licence the BBC to represent me and my aspirations in its output.
I want the BBC to set out its plans for the post-broadcast era (which is here now, in case you hadn't noticed). I want the clever people who work there to show us how they plan to replace old-man Reith's monolithic, centralised consent machine with something more distributed, more open - something adapted to the network era.
I want to hear how the BBC can adapt to the shift from the creation of linear content to the creation of a library of tools and resources, open source code and rich, reusable content (some of which will still feature Bruce Forsyth) that will make things possible and create real opportunities for generations of British people.
I want to learn how the BBC will adapt its magnificent, industrial-era guiding principles - Inform, Educate and Entertain - to the manufacture of tools that support learning (formal and informal), creation (for love, for fun, for profit), enterprise (encouraging entrepreneurship), participation (in the democratic process, in society and institutions) and community (linking people, finding common ground, social coherence).
I want to see evidence that the BBC can create content and processes in a web-like way, that loyalty to arbitrary broadcast-era concepts and structures - channels and series and genres and so on - won't hold back the transition to new forms and ways of working.
I want to see that the BBC believes in all this, that there's an acceptance that fortress BBC is indefensible and that a retreat to 'what we do best' (the defence of existing brands and practices) can only make things worse. This is not about change for its own sake or about imposing trendy Internet novelties: it's about the survival of the Corporation and about its continued relevance for Britain.
And finally I'd like the BBC to do all this with real confidence and optimism and with a sense that the benefits of getting this epic transition right are incalculable. If the Corporation can tackle two or three really big, really ambitious open projects - liberating the archive for the nation's benefit, creating an identity platform that gives ownership of user data back to the users or pulling off some kind of Wikipedia mind-meld to blend the BBC's awesome editorial resource with the net's fastest growing library, for instance - the support and enthusiasm of the licence fee-payers will be much easier to secure and the whole task will seem much less daunting.
Before I started here I wrote a handful of blog posts on this topic at my personal blog:

• Freeing content at the BBC
• The BBC Common Platform debate
• A common platform

In the last couple of months I've seen some evidence that the BBC is ready for this challenge and I've documented some of the important work that's already under way.
Picking a couple of examples:

• Mark Friend, Controller of A&Mi, told me about a fascinating plan to provide access to web site users' attention data and about his vision for an open speech radio archive.
• Tom Scott explained the explosion of links to external music resources taking place at /music.
• Rob Hardy (and Michael Sparks) told me about the huge amount of code already released under various open source licences by the BBC's developers.

But there are large parts of the Corporation (not least in the various management suites) where the old broadcast truths still hold and where the transition has hardly begun. At Common Platform I drew a picture of the barriers to openness I've learnt about since I arrived: daunting but not in any sense insurmountable!
The BBC's Building Public Value, written four years ago, offers an early blueprint for the transition to the network era. It's a sadly neglected document that could do with updating.
Here's a terrific blog post from Tom Scott who is a very important techie in BBC Audio & Music. His starting point is Building Public Value.
I'll keep you informed!

UK, epidemia di commentatori radiofonici sboccati

Tempi incredibilmente duri per i presentatori della radio in Gran Bretagna. Questa volta è capitata a Sam Mason, presentatrice di uno show pomeridiano a BBC Radio Bristol, emittente locale del circuito BBC e a Jon Gaunt, commentatore per il network sportivo TalkSport. Gaunt si sarebbe lasciato andare a commenti poco rispettosi nei confronti di un consigliere della giunta comunale londinese, discutendo con lui di un progetto di legge che punta a vietare alle coppie fumatrici di adottare un figlio. Gaunt ha definito "nazista" questo progetto e il suo programma è stato sospeso in attesa che si compia l'indagine interna.
La vicenda di Sam è ancora più strana perché la gaffe non è stata pronunciata in onda. Al punto che la drastica decisione presa dai dirigenti dell'emittente pubblica britannica farà sicuramente discutere. La Mason è stata "pizzicata" mentre, al telefono, ordinava un taxi che andasse a prendere la figlia a scuola. «Mi raccomando,» ha chiesto però al centralinista l'incauta anchor-woman, «non mandatemi uno di quegli indiani col turbante, mia figlia ne rimarrebbe choccata.» Per sua sfortuna era indiano anche il centralinista, che ha registrato la telefonata e mandato il nastro a un quotidiano. Dopo aver letto della sua annunciatrice razzista, la BBC l'ha subito dichiarata persona non grata e ha troncato tutti i rapporti.

BBC presenter dismissed for 'turban' remarks

London, Nov 11 (PTI) A BBC radio presenter has been sacked for allegedly making racist comments about Asian-origin taxi drivers during an off-air phone conversation in which she asked a cab operator not to send a "guy with a turban".
Sam Mason, who presents the BBC Radio Bristol's afternoon programme, was suspended on Friday. She was then informed by station officials on Saturday that she would no longer work for the BBC. Mason, 40, allegedly told a Bristol taxi firm "not to send an Asian driver to pick up her daughter".
She reportedly told a taxi operator: "A guy with a turban on is going to freak her out." When her request was refused, she is alleged to have said: "You've managed it before." The taxi worker was outraged and recorded the conversation, and passed a copy to The Sun newspaper.
A transcript of the conversation, published in The Sun, records how she ordered a taxi to take her 14-year-old from her Clifton house to her grandparents' home.
A BBC spokesman said: "Although Sam Mason's remarks were not made on-air, her comments were completely unacceptable and, for that reason, she has been informed that she will no longer be working for the BBC with immediate effect."

***

TalkSport suspends Jon Gaunt for 'Nazi' jibe

November 11 2008, The Guardian
TalkSport presenter Jon Gaunt has been suspended by the UTV-owned station after he called a London councillor a "Nazi" during a live debate. Sony award-winning Gaunt, who writes a column for the Sun, also called the councillor an "ignorant pig" during the discussion about a local authority plan to ban smokers from fostering children.
A TalkSport spokesman said the station had received a number of complaints about the broadcast and had "taken the decision to suspend Jon Gaunt whilst the matter is investigated". "When we have all the facts at our disposal, we will take whatever action, if any, that we deem appropriate," he said.
Gaunt made the comments in a debate with Redbridge councillor Michael Stark last Friday. He later issued an on-air apology for the remark. Gaunt's agent, Nick Canham of MPC Entertainment, said: "Jon welcomes the investigation. The very nature of his show is quite bombastic on a regular basis. "He apologised on air immediately. He regrets using the term but it was a slip of the tongue. He meant to say 'health Nazi' and he clarified it very quickly in the conversation.
(continua)

SiriusXM, la voragine finanziaria si allarga

Chi salverà la radio satellitare digitale americana? Si avvicina il punto di non ritorno per l'operatore SiriusXM, che nell'ultimo trimestre, scrive Business Week, registra 5 miliardi di perdite. E la celebre newsletter per investitori Motley Fool propone l'irriverente paragone tra la radio satellitare e il sistema bancario: il pezzo che segue in realtà mira a criticare l'interventismo del Parlamento, intenzionato a salvare con il denaro pubblico l'industria automobilistica in sofferenza. Una crisi che nuoce molto a Sirius: meno auto si vendono e meno apparecchi radio vengono installati. Vi verrebbe mai in mente di salvare con il denaro pubblico un'industria decotta come la radio via satellite, chiede Motley? Solo a un pazzo verrebbe in mente un'idea così balzana. Ecco, non fatelo nemmeno con l'automobile: merita di precipitare con tutti i suoi errori. E oggi un post in uno dei blog del Washington Post denuncia la delusione che il controverso merger tra quelli che erano due concorrenti in un unico operatore ha provocato tra gli abbonati, sempre più confusi da un'offerta ormai ridondante che non riesce a trovare un nuovo equilibrio.

Digital Entertainment November 11, 2008
Sirius-XM: A Long, Challenging Road Ahead
Subscribers are up, but the recently merged satellite radio provider lost nearly $5 billion last quarter and still faces a host of questions

By Olga Kharif

Mel Karmazin sounds an upbeat tone for a chief executive whose company, Sirius XM (SIRI), just announced an almost $5 billion loss.
During a Nov. 10 conference call discussing third-quarter results, Karmazin called the company's performance "impressive," considering the macroeconomic environment. Indeed, the troubled satellite radio provider showed some encouraging signs. The company ended the quarter with 18.92 million subscribers, up 17% from a year earlier. Sales also rose for the product of the July merger of XM Satellite Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio. Had the company been combined for the three months that ended in September, its revenue would have risen 16% to $613 million.
Karmazin also waxed optimistic about the company's ability to refinance some $210 million in debt due in February and other liabilities that add up to about $1 billion for the whole year. "The tone of the conference call seemed to provide some needed, if inconclusive, reassurance on the near-term debt refinancing," says Tuna Amobi, an analyst at Standard & Poor's.
Right Now, Any Growth Is Good
For some companies, growth of any kind is commendable when the economy is slumping into recession and customers are curtailing spending on everything but the essentials. "We are growing significantly, and companies larger than us and smaller than us are not," Karmazin said. The company ended the quarter with $359.6 million in cash, down from $438.8 million last December. Sirius XM shares rose 3.9% to 27¢ the day the earnings were announced.
Growth aside, some of the company's biggest challenges haven't subsided. Sirius suffered a third-quarter loss of more than $4.88 billion, reflecting the declining value of its merged assets. And investors are still awaiting details on debt refinancing (BusinessWeek, 10/22/08) from a company that's expressed confidence on the matter for months.
And results through September don't reflect more recent economic malaise, including further evidence of the collapse of the U.S. auto industry, a big source of sales of Sirius radio service. Shares of General Motors (GM) sank to a 62-year low Nov. 10 (BusinessWeek.com, 11/10/08) on concern over the automaker's prospects.

A Discretionary Expense

While Karmazin said the company's higher-end packages are selling well, subscribers may yet tighten their belts and cut back on satellite radio. "They are a very, very discretionary expense," says Larry Rosin, co-founder of consulting firm Edison Media Research about Sirius XM. "Families are cutting their expenses. It seems doubtless they'll lose some people that way." On Nov. 6, Sirius pared its subscriber numbers for 2009 to 20.6 million, from 21.5 million users it expected in September. "I wouldn't be surprised if they revised that guidance again," Amobi says.
The company's projections for earnings before certain expenses including taxes are holding steady vs. prior guidance. While many analysts still expect Sirius XM to lose money next year, the company is guiding for cash-flow break even.
To meet targets, the company is slashing costs—in part by eliminating 22% of its workforce. More drastic measures may be called for, Amobi says. "They are probably going to go deeper."

***

Satellite Radio: Too Big to Fail
By Tim Hanson
November 10, 2008

Congress is stupid. Really.
Amid all of the debate in Washington over what to do and whom to help to solve this financial crisis, our legislators are ignoring one critical and imperiled industry. It's piling up losses, overburdened by debt, and unable to attract consumers who have cut back on spending. And even a Hail Mary merger between its principal players will not save it.
Stock in its flagship company has dropped more than 90% this year, and something needs to be done. So listen up Obama, Reid, Pelosi, and all the rest: Forget about the auto industry. Now is the time to save Sirius XM Radio (Nasdaq: SIRI).

Yes, I'm kidding

In reality, there's no good reason for the government to step in and save satellite radio. It's a terrible business that's done nothing but pile up losses and disappoint shareholders. It can't compete with the Internet, podcasts, or MP3s. The business destroys value. If the government were to loan it money, it would never see that money again.
Bailing out satellite radio is a ridiculous notion. No one -- not even the politicians in Washington (let's hope) -- is considering it. Yet Washington is considering a hefty bailout for U.S. automakers -- an industry with much more in common with satellite radio than anyone would like to believe.

Here's why

Ford (NYSE: F), General Motors (NYSE: GM), and Chrysler do not deserve taxpayer dollars. They are poorly run companies that have shown they cannot compete in the global economy. Like satellite radio, they've done nothing but pile up losses and disappoint shareholders for a decade. They're also overburdened by debt and hamstrung by labor relations.
Yet at the same time the financial bailout was being passed in September, Congress approved $25 billion in low-interest rate loans for the "Big 3" to retool their assembly lines to make more fuel-efficient cars. More recently, we're getting word out of Washington that the automakers are back lobbying Congress to get more money, more quickly. They even want access to the $700 billion previously approved for the financial sector. We're also hearing that Chrysler would like the government to subsidize a merger between it and one of its American peers.
Let's be clear: This would not create a healthy company. Instead, it would bail out a terrible investment decision by Cerberus Capital Management (apparently, John Snow wasn't just in over his head at the Treasury Department) and create an even bigger liability for the government down the line.

This is where we draw the line

When we bailed out the financial companies, we didn't like it, but we did it. And at The Motley Fool, we supported the move. In that case, the consequences of inaction would have been severe and far-reaching.
Had there been no rescue package for financial institutions, the credit markets would have frozen up. In turn, the housing market would have collapsed, and healthy businesses small and large would have been unable to meet payroll, finance inventory, or expand. Quickly, America's depression would have spread around the world, as demand for everything from gasoline to toys dried up, paralyzing manufacturing and service sectors. It would have been a global financial apocalypse.
But if Sirius XM or Ford or GM goes out of business, none of that will happen. Yes, a segment of Americans will lose their jobs. But that would not mean the end for auto manufacturing in America. After all, the leading U.S. auto manufacturer isn't Ford, GM or Chrysler. It's Toyota -- a Tokyo-based company that has opened plants in Kentucky, Indiana, California, and Texas.
But autoworker unions and the candidates they support are not keen on Toyota, because Toyota factories are not unionized. In other words, bailout funds would not help a vital part of our economy, but would instead preserve entrenched political interests.

Don't do it

While surviving financial firms such as AIG (NYSE: AIG), Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) and JPMorgan (NYSE: JPM) may have overreached, they can recover alongside our domestic economy. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for auto manufacturers, satellite radio, airlines, or any other industry with fundamentally poor economics. Bailing out the automakers would throw good money after bad, in the name of an outdated belief that companies like Ford, GM, and Chrysler are the backbone of the American economy.
This is not the first time our country has been confronted with this choice. At the time of the early-1980s government bailout of Chrysler, David Henderson of the Cato Institute wondered: "Should the U.S. government let Chrysler fail? Let's reword the question: Should the government force taxpayers to subsidize a company whose products do not meet the market test?"
Rather than spend billions to support companies that can't compete in the global economy, Congress should divert some of those funds to help retrain workers who need to find work with companies better suited for success. Call your representatives in Congress and tell them to oppose additional money for the automakers. Our economy needs to be healthy again -- not propped up in its sickbed by another dose of dumb money.

Ma sugli elettori democratici la talk radio ha pesato

Un altro contributo al dibattito sull'impatto che la talk radio ha avuto sul risultato elettorale negli Stati Uniti. La newsletter quotidiana TR-I, ospitata sul sito di Radio-Info, ospita il parere di Donna Halper, storica e sociologa della radio americana. Che sostiene che nel caso degli elettori democratici, la "nuova talk radio liberal ha avuto un notevole influsso e inaspettato. Se a destra i vari Savage, Limbaugh e Hannity hanno sostanzialmente fallito, a sinistra commentatori come Ed Schultz, Stephanie Miller (una sorta di Sabina Guzzanti a stelle e strisce) e Rachel Maddow (del rinato network democratico AirAmerica, qui mentre intervista il futuro President Elect), sono stati molto convincenti.

“Leftie talkers helped to get Obama elected.”

Donna Halper’s a Boston-based radio historian and assistant professor at Lesley University in Cambridge – and a T- R-I reader – and she leaps into the debate about whether radio had any effect on last week’s election. One reader thought conservative talkers like Rush and Hannity didn’t do much to sway opinion. But Halper says “I truly believe the results of the 2008 election proved that progressive talkers like Ed Schultz, Stephanie Miller and Rachel Maddow (along with TV progressives like Keith Olbermann) made a major difference. They put forth the liberal point of view in a way that was absent from 2000 and 2004…Despite predictions of the demise of progressive talk, and despite some of the well-documented problems, progressive talk is still around, and since 2004, a number of individual hosts have continued to build a name for themselves, turn a profit, and above all, give the progressive viewpoint a chance to be heard. While these progressive hosts may not be on as many stations as, let's say, Limbaugh or Hannity, their value was that they were able to operate on several levels - doing their radio show, but also being pundits on Larry King Live or on the late night shows like Letterman or Leno. With that increased exposure, they were able to refute conservative talking points on a regular basis. Thus, my belief is that leftie talkers helped to get Obama elected.”

Vendita di ricevitori, iniziativa anti-barriere

Giorgio Marsiglio, un giurista che da anni si occupa delle normative che regolano l'ascolto della radio e la vendita in Italia di apparati di ricezione (scrive su Radiorama dell'AIR e sulla testata telematica Filodiritto), mi ha inviato il comunicato stampa di una sua iniziativa presso le autorità europee, che hanno accolto la sua richiesta per una procedura di infrazione nei confronti dell'Italia per gli "ostacoli ingiustificati e sproporzionati alla libera circolazione dei ricevitori radio". Giorgio affronta in particolare la questione dei limiti che l'Italia pone all'importazione di ricevitori a copertura di frequenza continua. In pratica se in alcune nazioni europee è possibile acquistare radio che ricevono l'intera gamma delle onde corte, in Italia ci sono sempre state difficoltà e proibizioni legate a una normativa antiquata, che danneggiano soprattutto i radioamatori (i limiti imposti riguardano di solito le bande che non cadono nelle porzioni allocate alla radiodifussione nazionale o internazionale).

NORMATIVA SULLE FREQUENZE UTILIZZABILI IN ITALIA DAI RICEVITORI BC:

Avviata la procedura di infrazione comunitaria

Ostacoli ingiustificati e sproporzionati alla libera circolazione dei ricevitori radio della radiodiffusione sonora: con questa motivazione il 16 ottobre 2008 la Commissione europea ha avviato nei confronti dell'Italia una procedura d'infrazione per violazione degli articoli 28-30 del Trattato dell'Unione europea, rubricata al numero 2007-4764.
La normativa statale italiana sottoposta ora all'esame degli organismi comunitari di Bruxelles è quella in materia di frequenze radio utilizzabili in Italia dagli apparecchi riceventi le trasmissioni della radiodiffusione sonora (in lingua inglese denominata broadcasting), dettata dai decreti dell'allora Ministro delle Poste e Telecomunicazioni datati 25 giugno 1985 e 27 agosto 1987. Decreti confermati e mantenuti sino ad oggi in vigore dal successivo decreto ministeriale 28 agosto 1995, n. 548.
Oggetto della normativa statale italiana assoggettata alla procedura d'infrazione sono i comunissimi ricevitori radio presenti in ogni famiglia, idonei all'ascolto dei servizi di radiodiffusione sonora trasmessi non solo localmente ma anche dall'estero nelle gamme delle onde medie e corte. In commercio vi sono però anche apparecchi ricevitori sintonizzabili su frequenze le quali - pur se adibite ai servizi broadcasting negli altri Stati in conformità ai trattati internazionali - sono poste al di fuori delle gamme d’onda indicate dai decreti ministeriali italiani. Trattasi di ricevitori radio regolarmente omologati con la marcatura CE e legittimamente venduti negli altri Stati dell'Unione europea, il cui uso è però vietato in Italia con conseguenti ostacoli ingiustificati e sproporzionati alla libera circolazione di tali ricevitori radio.
Il Governo italiano ha pertanto ricevuto in questi giorni una lettera di costituzione in mora, che lo invita ad eliminare immediatamente gli ostacoli all'uso ed all'importazione in Italia dei ricevitori radio.
E' stato dato così seguito alla denuncia presentata il 31 agosto 2007 dell'appassionato di radioascolto Giorgio Marsiglio il quale, dopo alcuni anni di studio e pubblicazioni sull'argomento ospitati dal mensile Radiorama (organo dell'A.I.R. - Associazione Italiana Radioascolto) e dal giornale telematico Filodiritto, ha inteso rendere concreti i propri dubbi sulla legittimità della normativa italiana chiedendo ed ottenendo l'intervento della Commissione europea.

LINK UTILI:

•per visualizzare lo stato della procedura presso il "Dipartimento per le Politiche comunitarie" della Presidenza del Consiglio dei Ministri digitando la parola chiave "ricevitori radio"
•per visualizzare il testo della denuncia:
http://web.tiscali.it/oscarito/denunciaUE.htm
•per visualizzare il sito “Il diritto al radioascolto”: http://web.tiscali.it/oscarito/
•per contatti con il denunciante: oscarito (at) omnimail (dot) sm

Sin qui il comunicato. Ho colto l'occasione per domandare al mio cortese e competente lettore un parere su un'altra questione: le recenti segnalazioni relative ai ricevitori a onde corte di fabbricazione cinese, respinti dalle autorità doganali per la mancanza di una marcatura CE. So che in questo caso le norme parlano chiaro, il marchio ci vuole. Ma ho chiesto a Giorgio se a suo parere esiste qualche margine di speranza per apparati tutto sommato " innocui" sul piano degli eventuali disturbi irradiati. Ecco la sua tempestiva risposta, che si aggiunge a un altrettanto autorevole parere espresso tempo fa da Massimo Lualdi.

Come è noto - risponde Giorgio Marsiglio - la marcatura CE che troviamo apposta sui radioricevitori BC attestano solamente la conformità alle due direttive LVD (bassa tensione) e EMC (compatibilità elettromagnetica), e nient'altro. Meno di così credo che l'Unione europea proprio non possa chiedere ai fabbricanti che intendano immettere nel mercato comunitario i propri apparecchi. Bisognerebbe - come tu giustamente suggerisci parlando di apparati così innocui come fonti di radiodisturbi - che gli stessi venissero per così dire "sclassificati" di categoria. A tale proposito, osservo che la nuova direttiva EMC (la 108 del 2004) all'art. 1, comma 3, precisa di non riguardare le apparecchiature "incapaci di generare o contribuire a generare emissioni elettromagnetiche che superano un livello compatibile con il regolare funzionamento delle apparecchiature radio e di telecomunicazione e di altre apparecchiature": forse si potrebbe lavorare su questo. Forse impossibile, invece, per quanto riguarda la "bassa tensione". Infatti, la nuova direttiva LVD (la 95 del 2006), all'articolo 1, dispone che "ai fini della presente direttiva per "materiale elettrico", si intende ogni materiale elettrico destinato ad essere adoperato ad una tensione nominale compresa fra 50 e 1000 V in corrente alternata e fra 75 e 1500 V in corrente continua, fatta eccezione per i materiali e per i fenomeni di cui all'allegato II." (attenzione, "materiali" e "fenomeni" ma non "apparecchiature". La decisione comunque spetta agli organismi comunitari, i quali difficilmente andranno a favorire prodotti extracomunitari. Ad ogni modo, per garantire il diritto al radioascolto si può certamente approfondire l'argomento.

Internet sul cavo elettrico, si muove anche IBM

Mi spiace molto dirlo, un po' perché la mia formazione in parte è proprio tecnico-scientifica, un po' per la vocazione di questo blog, ma sono arrivato alla conclusione che esiste una categoria di tecnologie "masochiste". Tecnologie che in altre parole godono come furetti nel farsi del male, nel perseguire obiettivi di mercato irrealistici, nello scontrarsi continuamente con un mare di problemi dove il salvataggio di una barca equivale all'affondamento dell'altra. Gli americani, più indulgenti, dicono che certe tecnologie sono soluzioni in attesa di problemi. Una di queste tecnologie - e so che molti di voi non sono d'accordo - è il sistema di radio digitale DRM. Un'altra, che con la radio c'entra in modo indiretto ma non per questo meno significativo, è la tecnologia Powerline, il sistema a onde convogliate che consentirebbe di distribuire l'accesso a Internet attraverso i fili della rete elettrica.
Le agenzie oggi rivelano che la larga banda sul cavo elettrico interessa da oggi anche il colosso Ibm, che riceverà quasi 10 milioni di dollari da International Broadband Electric Communications, una nuova azienda che vuole portare Internet nelle zone più rurali d'America, dove il doppino in rame è di cattiva qualità e i costi della fibra ottica sarebbero del tutto proibitivi.
Visto dal radioamatore e dall'appassionato di radioascolto, il Powerline è un vero spauracchio. Un sistema che garantisce un etere zeppo di rumore a larga banda intenso e quasi ineliminabile, che va a colpire proprio le bande di frequenza inferiore ai 30 MHz, le onde corte e medie. Contro l'adozione del Powerline si sono mosse in tutto il mondo le associazioni dei radioamatori, che negli Stati Uniti sono arrivate a denunciare la FCC per aver dato mano libera ai fornitori. Sull'altro piatto della bilancia dobbiamo tuttavia caricare ll fattore M. Il Powerline è una tecnologia masochista. Che nonostante gli sforzi di una quindicina d'anni di sperimentazioni non è riuscita a fugare i mille dubbi che ne hanno impedito, in larga misura, il previsto sviluppo. La larga banda del Poweline non è poi così larga, richiede una quantità di apparati intermedi per sostenere le onde convogliate nella "griglia" elettrica, trova complicate strozzature nei circuiti induttivi dei contatori... Un vero florilegio di lati negativi. Il commento che segue, apparso su Information Week, cita ampiamente la questione delle proteste dei radioamatori ed è in effetti molto scettico. Difficile che l'iniziativa di IBEC (strana assonanza con IBOC) vada in porto. Anche negli stati agricoli degli USA sono arrivate la copertura cellulare Edge, o il satellite. E presto arriverà WiMax. Per i radioamatori resta il problema di una soglia di rumore in perenne crescita anche nelle aree meno urbanizzate e di una forma "ristretta" ma non per questo meno devastante del Poweline: quei sistemi per rete domestica che permettono di far dialogare computer e elettrodomestici digitali attraverso il cablaggio elettrico della propria abitazione. Con questi diabolici apparecchietti non c'è molto da fare, se non vietarne il commercio. Ma l'economia, a volte così sadica, non può permettersi di essere altrettanto masochista.

IBM Plans Broadband Over Power Lines For Rural America

The technology allows residents of areas underserved by traditional ISPs to receive high-speed Internet access.

By Paul McDougall
Nov. 12, 2008

IBM said Wednesday that it has struck a $9.6 million deal with International Broadband Electric Communications under which it will deploy high-speed Internet service that runs over powerlines in rural U.S. markets underserved by traditional broadband technology.
IBM will use IBEC's broadband over powerline (BPL) equipment to roll out BPL service to customers of electrical cooperatives that provide electricity for much of rural America. "Americans in rural areas of the country trail their urban and suburban counterparts in broadband availability," IBEC CEO Scott Lee said in a statement. "This capability will play a crucial role in rural health, education, and economic development, while closing the digital divide that exists between well served and underserved America."
Raymond Blair, director of advanced networks at IBM, said, "High-speed Internet service is revolutionizing the way we do business, and access to this resource will generate great opportunities for rural America."
IBM estimates there are more than 900 electrical cooperatives in the United States, providing service that accounts for 45% of the country's total power grid. Officials at co-op industry groups said the plan would help boost the economies of less populated areas. "This is a key development in the growth and availability of high-speed broadband over power line Internet services and widespread availability of critical SmartGrid applications in the United States," said Bill Moroney, president and CEO of the Utilities Telecom Council.
With BPL, consumers can simply plug their computers into any electrical outlet to receive broadband service at speeds comparable to those offered by DSL and cable Internet service providers.
Despite its promise, BPL has received mixed reviews to date and as a result has largely failed to flourish. Among other things, critics charge that BPL interferes with short-wave radios signals used by ham radio operators and others.

Voci amiche per i creoli rifugiati in Florida

Molto interessante questo articolo del Sun Sentinel, un quotidiano della Florida meridionale che offre uno spaccato della programmazione radiofonica dedicata alle comunità caraibiche residenti in questo stato-simbolo del melting pot americano. Per una volta non si tratta della potente comunità cubana di Little Havana ma di haitiani e creoli che vivono spesso in condizioni di estrema indigenza e in stato di clandestinità, sempre con il timore di essere forzatamente rimpatriati in luoghi dove le prospettive di vita sono di gran lunga peggiori.

Ethnic radio is a lifeline for Caribbean expatriates in South Florida
S. Florida transplants rely on local stations for news of home

By Georgia East | South Florida Sun-Sentinel November 11, 2008

FORT LAUDERDALE - It was 6 a.m. on a Wednesday morning, and Paul Andre Mondesir was trying to save a life. The caller had given up hope. He had no job. He was sleeping on a friend's front porch, living with the fear that he could be deported to Haiti at any time because of his illegal immigration status. He heard Mondesir's radio program on 1320 AM while scanning the dial and felt the urge to call. Mondesir, whose listeners call him "Doc," told the caller that as long as there is a tomorrow there is hope. Then he swiftly ticked off a list of resources that could possibly offer him some temporary assistance. "I give them information with a little self-motivation," Mondesir said.
The incident points to the unique role radio plays in South Florida's Caribbean-American community. It goes beyond entertainment. For local transplants, ethnic radio serves as an information hotline, crisis lifeline and communication link to the islands they left behind. "It's like an umbilical cord to their cultural heritage," said Jean Jabouin, host of the morning show Good Morning Diaspora, which up until recently broadcasted on WSRF 1580 AM, a Haitian station.
Caribbean radio in South Florida can be heard on almost a dozen stations. The majority of the programs are on AM, and most are in Creole. But there are at least two English-language stations. WAVS 1170 AM, which serves the English-speaking Caribbean community, had 43,700 listeners when surveyed this past spring, according to media research firm Arbitron, and some say those estimates are low. There are about 500,000 Caribbean natives in South Florida.
Even with ethnic radio's reach, some within the medium say there's often an uphill battle to get major businesses to advertise with their station. In March, Mystik Radio, a Caribbean AM radio station, pulled the plug. Part of the problem, radio officials say, is that mainstream radio rating systems don't get an accurate count of their listeners.Arbitron sends out listening diaries to a sample of the community, spokeswoman Jessica Benbow said. But some within the Caribbean community say those diaries don't reach their listeners.
At WPBR 1340 AM in West Palm Beach, General Manager Markes Pierre-Louis refers to his station as the CNN of Haitian radio. "We have news live from Haiti every day," Pierre-Louis said. On Friday, when a school full of children collapsed in Petionville, Haiti, many of the Creole-language radio stations here launched into live reports on the victims and recovery efforts. "People want to know what's going on in Haiti because a lot of people want to see change there," said Rodrigue Sejour, a talk radio host on WPBR. On Monday evening, Sejour took questions from local listeners and fielded a debate about reports that the school was shoddily built. "I have a bunch of callers who can't wait to respond."
Fort Lauderdale taxi driver Miche Auguste counts on the radio to fill his cab with everything from compas music and political commentary to a roundup of news from Haiti. It was the first place he turned when friends and family called to say storms were battering his homeland last month."What they do is important," he said. "No matter what, home is home." While some advertisers are still slow to come on board with ethnic radio, politicians recognize itsreach. On the Duke of Earle's show on WAVS 1170 AM, for instance, candidates running for local offices made steady appearances to tap into the Caribbean base.
Last month, Patrick Gaspard, the national political director of Barack Obama's campaign, went on Jabouin's show to talk to Haitians about the campaign. Gaspard is Haitian-American. Most of the Caribbean-formatted stations in South Florida operate on a brokered system: Radio hosts essentially buy time on air and bring their own advertisers. "I don't think some of the larger advertisers understand the value of our community and the value of radio in our community," said Pat Montague, president of Princess PM Productions and a radio host on WAVS.
Just ask Hopeton Green. Before the Hollywood furniture refinisher grabs his drill or pounds any nails, he turns his radio to 1170 AM. It's as automatic as switching on the lights. This is where he can count on hearing a reggae classic. He's also an avid listener of Winston Barnes' Open Mic, a show where listeners talk about everything from politics to the economy, and he makes it a point to catch the Caribbean news roundups. "I have to know what's happening back home because I go home all the time," Green said.

Euranet, la radio europea senza l'Italia

E' partita con un certo slancio l'iniziativa di Euranet, il consorzio di emittenti europee (no, l'Italia non c'è) pubbliche, private e universitarie, che con i fondi UE sta realizzando una sorta di canale radiofonico multilingue e distribuito. E' ormai entrato a regime, come racconta questa corrispondenza dell'agenzia spagnola EFE, un portale Web inaugurato nell'aprile scorso, che permette di accedere ai contenuti emessi via etere. Sono andato a visitarlo, il portale, e non mi sembra che l'interfaccia sia particolarmente riuscita. Ho trovato però una dettagliata brochure con le frequenze utilizzate per le trasmissioni on air, dove compaiono anche parecchi canali sulle onde corte. Al progetto partecipano 16 catene radiofoniche e alcune emittenti universitarie che insieme trasmettono in diverse lingue. Il budget destinato alle operazioni e alla produzione di contenuti è di 5 milioni di euro all'anno per cinque anni. Nel 2013 l'iniziativa dovrebbe essere estesa a 27 nazioni. Nel 2009 dovrebbe anche partire un analogo progetto di rete televisiva continentale. L'Italia non è ancora rappresentata nel canale multilingue ma ascoltando un notiziario inglese di Euranet ho imparato che a Palazzo Vecchio, a Firenze, da novembre si possono visitare (la prima domenica del mese, a gruppi di 50 persone per volta) parte degli scavi archeologici del teatro romano su cui insistevano le fondamenta dell'edificio. Chissà, forse a Firenze ci sarà qualche turista in più,senza che RAI International abbia dovuto sforzarsi troppo.

Red de radios europeas lanza su plataforma en internet

EFE -

Euranet, el consorcio de 16 radios europeas que coproduce programas sobre la actualidad de la UE, presentó hoy su plataforma por internet, que combina las emisiones europeas de todas ellas y se puede consultar en nueve lenguas.
La plataforma, en la dirección www.euranet.eu, ofrece a los internautas la posibilidad de escuchar los programas que realiza cada una de las cadenas de radio, así como acceder a noticias europeas. Euranet comenzó sus emisiones en abril pasado y actualmente tiene una audiencia semanal de 19 millones de personas en la Unión Europea y de 30 millones en países extracomunitarios, ya que Radio Netherlands, Radio France Internationale (RFI) y la Radio Polaca emiten por sus sistemas de difusión internacional fuera del territorio comunitario.
"Nuestro objetivo es ofrecer una cobertura específica de los asuntos e instituciones de la UE", señaló en una conferencia de prensa Erlends Calabuig, director delegado de RFI y uno de los dos consejeros delegados de Euranet.
Calabuig destacó la importancia de que los usuarios puedan elegir entre una variedad de lenguas, cuyo número aumentará progresivamente hasta las 23 oficiales en la UE. Esa configuración multilingüe demuestra que "estamos trabajando juntos en Europa. Somos de verdad una red", afirmó. El portal de internet permitirá al público interactuar con las emisoras de radio y enviar sus puntos de vista, así como participar en debates sobre las cuestiones europeas.
La otra consejera delegada del consorcio, Petra Kohnen, de DW, señaló que debido al éxito inicial "muchas emisoras de radio quieren unirse a nosotros" y además ya hay en marcha un mecanismo de colaboración con estaciones de radio de campus universitarios.
Euranet está formada por 16 cadenas de radio y otras 8 emisoras universitarias asociadas de 15 países de la UE que emiten en diez lenguas comunitarias, y el proyecto de expansión prevé incorporar anualmente al menos una cadena radiofónica por cada país comunitario hasta 2013.
La financiación comunitaria al proyecto Euranet es de 5,8 millones de euros anuales entre 2008-2013. La Comisión Europea prevé lanzar un consorcio similar en el medio televisivo durante 2009.

Broadcaster africani a convegno a Lagos

Il Nigeria Guardian si è occupato della conferenza Africasta 2008, che ha riunito a Lagos i rappresentanti dei broadcaster africani. Parte della conferenza era focalizzata sulle problematiche della digitalizzazione della tv, tema che comincia a fare capolino nelle agende dei regolatori africani, ma il grosso della corrispondenza verte su una sezione dedicata alle radio comunitarie che in Africa, paradossalmente (o forse no), stentano a decollare. Tra gli altri sono intervenuti i rappresentanti dell'AMARC, l'associazione mondiale delle radio comunitarie che festeggia quest'anno il suo 25esimo anniversario (proprio in questi giorni a Montreal). Molto interessante il discorso sui rischi di una digitalizzazione troppo affrettata di un mezzo che continua, malgrado tutto, a funzionare in analogico e la cui modernizzazione rischierebbe solo di innalzarne la soglia di accesso in una geografia come quella afrincana. Molte delle cose che leggo nell'articolo sembrano copiate da qui, non se questo significa che io e l'AMARC siamo solo dei beceri ludditi.

Monday, November 10, 2008
At Africast, echo of Community Radio keeps pulsating
By Kabir Alabi Garba

THE aggregate of views on the recently held International Conference of African Broadcasters tagged Africast 2008 acknowledges the marked improvement that has attained the organisation of one-in-two-year event. Participants praised the facilitator, the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) for the 2008 edition which, they declared, was rich in content, better in coordination, robust in intellectual offering, and receptive in accommodating variety of issues germane to the growth of the broadcast industry.
In line with the theme of the three-day conference (October 21-23, 2008), Digitisation and the Challenges of Broadcasting, there was high concentration of attention on the transition from analogue television broadcasting to digital, a phenomenon that is dictating the pace of broadcasting in the world today.
But the focus was not at the expense of other critical issues in the industry. In fact, a whole session on Thursday, October 23 was dedicated to community broadcasting where advocates in that special segment of the industry were invited to update participants on the progress made so far in the campaign to bringing broadcasting to the grassroots. Amplifying the People's Voices - Community Broadcasting in a Digital Era: Dialectics of mascots and jinxes was the subject of discussion and three speakers treated it satisfactorily. They were Steve Buckley, President, World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC); Dr. Tunde Adegbola of African Languages Technology Initiative in Ibadan; and Mrs. Jummai Umar Ajijola, who was represented by her husband, Hakeem. They are members of the Community Radio Coalition (CRC), an advocacy group rooting for the establishment of community radio in Nigeria and other African countries.
Other members of the coalition that participated in Africast are Pauline Bend, Programme Director, Panos Institute West Africa; Franklin Huizies, Board Member, AMARC-Africa and CEO, National Community Radio Forum of South Africa; Friday Aizeboje of Sound Broadcast Communication; Idayat Alimi, Department of Communication and Languages Arts, University of Ibadan; and Akin Akingbulu of Institute for Media and Society (IMESO), Lagos.
In his submission, Buckley appreciated the invitation to him to participate in the conference for the second time. He was around during the 2004 edition when he had expressed the hope of having hundreds of community broadcasters established in Nigeria soonest. "Somewhat optimistically, and no doubt infected by the enthusiasm of those present, I suggested this could happen as early as 2006."
Since his expectation is yet to materialise, he said, "Well here we are again. Some important, though tentative, steps have been taken. And may I especially congratulate, for their excellent work, Professor Alfred Opubor and the diligent members of his Drafting Committee for a Community Radio Policy. But community broadcasting, as internationally understood, is still yet to achieve a solid presence on Nigeria's airwaves. I trust its presence as a topic on this week's agenda is an indication that, behind the scenes, there is a seriousness of intent and that, long before Africast 2010, Nigeria will have moved from policy to implementation," Buckley envisaged.
He described the rider of the topic of discussion: 'dialectics of mascots and jinxes' as curious subtitle, while noting the universal profile of his association. "AMARC is an international membership organisation that groups together community radio stations, production groups and their federations in 113 countries worldwide. This year we are celebrating 25 years since our foundation, in Montreal, in 1983, by a group of Canadian community radio activists. But community broadcasting has been around a lot longer than that. It is more than 60 years since its early origins in the Americas - in Bolivia, Colombia and the United States."
But on the African continent, community broadcasting, according to him, "is a relative youngster" Buckley traced its emergence to "a wave of democratic reform and political change."
In 1991, he said, Mali became the first country to end the state broadcasting monopoly inherited from colonial times and to open its airwaves to private and community broadcasters. Benin followed in 1992 and then South Africa, following the end of the apartheid era. "The majority of countries in sub-Saharan Africa today have at least some community broadcasting services. More often than not, their emergence has been associated with broader political developments - strengthened democracy, greater civic participation, increased social accountability."
AMARC boss reiterated the fact that community broadcasting has secured its status in Africa is not in doubt. "Indeed, the Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression in Africa, adopted by the African Commission on Human and People's Rights, calls on African governments to ensure 'an equitable allocation of frequencies between private broadcast uses, both commercial and community' and states 'community broadcasting shall be encouraged given its potential to broaden access by poor and rural communities to the airwaves.'
"So what then of its prospects in the digital era? Is digitalization an opportunity or is it, perhaps, a jinx? Let me tell you a story that might lead us to suspect it is the latter.
"Three years ago I was in another African country working on an advisory report to its government on strategies for media reform. Shortly before my arrival, the national regulatory agency that allocates broadcast frequencies had taken out an advert in the national press. The advert announced a moratorium on the licensing of FM spectrum for private and community radio services. The reason given: digital switchover. This, despite the fact not a single digital sound broadcasting service had been licensed. Fortunately, in this case, the regulator came to see the error of its ways and the moratorium was withdrawn. But this is not the only occasion that digital switchover has provided a pretext for the premature announcement of the death of FM radio.
"Now, behind this announcement, there exists a state of some confusion which has become rather widespread. It is one that, some suggest, has even been deliberately encouraged. The confusion is to use the term 'broadcasting' when what is really meant is 'television'. Because, as you all know, radio and television are two different things. "What is true of television is not necessarily true of radio. And the strategy for digital switchover that is being adopted for television most certainly can not be easily applied to sound broadcasting nor is there even any need to so do."
He enumerated three wishes that are widely held for a successful digital broadcasting technology. First, that it should lead to more efficient use of available spectrum. Second, that it should improve the quality of the signal. And third, that it should lead to more choice for the listener and viewer. He explained further: "It would be fair to say that current plans for digital terrestrial television are well placed to achieve all of these things. They will free up a substantial part of the broadcast spectrum for other uses. They will enable improved quality including high definition services and there should be space for more television channels, if not more diversity.
"On the other hand, the first generation of digital sound broadcasting systems provides none of these things. The European model, known as DAB, is no more spectrum efficient than FM for local radio, the sound quality improvements are marginal and where DAB has been introduced it has mainly duplicated the existing services.
"The US model is no better and in certain respects it is significantly worse. Germany and France have now abandoned their commitment to these first generation technologies. In Europe, only the UK and Denmark are committed to DAB, and the UK position is looking increasingly fragile. Last year, the largest UK commercial radio group, GCap, withdrew from the DAB platform, and only last week, the much heralded new national UK DAB service plunged into crisis when its main backer, Channel 4, pulled out.
"Most European countries are now considering choosing from a second generation of digital sound broadcasting technologies, with names like DAB+, DMB and DRM, which means listeners who have bought first generation DAB receivers have spent a lot of money on an item that will be obsolete before their FM wireless goes silent."
So what does this mean for community broadcasters? Buckley provided the answer: "Well, if it's community radio that we would like to develop, then analogue broadcasting, on FM and AM, remains the only game in town. It is on the FM platform, in particular, that community radio must establish its presence and demonstrate its sustainability if it is to find a future on whichever digital platform finally prevails. So any suggestion that FM should be faced with a switch-off time table should be vigorously opposed.
"On the other hand, for local and community television services, the switch to digital may indeed be an opportunity. More channels should become available and if governments are to respect the call for an equitable allocation of frequencies, set out in the Declaration of Principles for Freedom of Expression in Africa, then that commitment must apply in the digital environment as it does in the analogue."
He was emphatic that there should be no switch off timetable for FM or AM sound broadcasting services until there is a proven and viable digital replacement technology. "At least, part of the FM band should be retained for local and community radio for the foreseeable future.
In countries where community radio has not yet developed to the point of being near universal availability, Buckley canvassed that priority should be given to ensuring this is enabled to happen including reservation of a substantial part of the remaining FM and AM spectrum.
He would also want an equitable allocation of the spectrum freed up by the switch from analogue to digital television be reserved for the future development of digital community broadcasting - radio and television - using whichever technologies prove suitable. These three points are important, according to him, "because community broadcasting, and community radio in particular, reaches out to and engages some of the poorest and most marginalized communities - amplifying people's voices, improving access to information and contributing to a more equitable and sustainable development. We can not wait for technologies of tomorrow when appropriate tools are available to us today."
Dr. Tunde Adegbola, in his presentation, also linked developments that have made broadcasting possible at the community level to advancements in digital technology. He went down the memory lane: "In the early days of radio broadcasting, radio studios utilised expensive analog sound production and reproduction equipment which had to be operated by specially trained engineers. In addition, the transmitter, which is the core equipment in radio broadcasting, depended on a specially and precisely cut crystal which controlled the frequency at which the transmitter radiates the electromagnetic energy that propels the sounds to be communicated.
"Such transmitters which incorporated large coils and condensers were expensive and so were beyond the economic reach of the average small community that would have wished to use radio to extend its voice. Today, however, with digital technology, and particularly the development of the simple phase locked loop (PLL) circuit, it is now possible to determine and control the frequency of a transmitter by the simple throw of a set of DIP switches. This and many other advantages of digital technology have made radio broadcasting much cheaper and hence democratised access to one of the most popular means of mass communication. Due to these developments, it is now possible to purchase a complete radio station in a suit case for under about N750,000."
This digital technology, Adegbola argued, has not only widened access to radio broadcasting "by making it feasible to set up a relatively cheap radio production and transmission chain in a local community," it has also engendered high efficiency in the utilisation of the radio spectrum by the use of broadcasting techniques based on digital radio transmission. Besides, it has the overall effect of expanding the existing radio spectrum by accommodating each radio station in much smaller slices of the radio spectrum. But to take full advantage of this level of use of digital technology however, Adegbola said, "there is a need for some major changes in the equipment used by every radio listener. It is the need to mediate this change process in order to make it easy for the average loyal radio listeners to handle that has attracted so much attention to the conversion of analog to digital broadcasting."
He canvassed the need to develop effective strategies for the digitisation process in ways that the rural communities can accommodate the change without any unnecessary strain. While acknowledging the availability of various practical models for the analog/digital transition, one model, that particularly addresses the needs of rural West African communities, according to him, is the West Africa Democracy Radio (WADR) model. With its headquarters in Dakar, Senegal, WADR is a network of community, public service and commercial radio stations in West Africa initiated by the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA). Its objectives include: promoting peace and reconciliation within a more open, tolerant and democratic society in West Africa; creating a channel that enables people to voice their opinions on issues affecting them; as well as facilitating information exchange, especially among the people in rural West Africa, encouraging them to enter into dialogue at a regional level and thereby capacitate them to appropriate the processes of globalization. WADR also provides a platform for an alternative to the 'bad news is good news material' approach of foreign press in reporting on Africa.
"Africast 2008 was eventful" was the verdict of Akin Akingbulu, CEO of Institute for Media and Society as he reviewed the three-day outing. "In addition to participating in the conference and its allied activities, our members present also undertook advocacy meetings within and outside the programme vicinity, Akingbulu submitted, adding that "from the morning of Day 1 (October 21) when the programme was declared open by Senator Ayogu Eze on behalf of Senate President David Mark, events moved smoothly through to the finale in the evening of October 23."
What gladdened the hearts of Akingbulu and his colleagues in the CRC most was the advocacy meeting the coalition held with the Director-General of the NBC, Engineer Yomi Bolarinwa, who, according to Akingbulu, reiterated the commitment of the NBC to the development of community radio in the country. The NBC boss was quoted saying that the regulatory body was awaiting go- ahead from higher quarters, just as he wished the coalition well in the advocacy.
They also met Senator Ayogu Eze, Chairman, Senate Committee on Media and Information, in the company of his colleagues in the Committee: Senators Saminu Turaki and Kamorudeen Adedibu. "They all expressed positive disposition towards CR development and requested follow- up written briefs with which they would engage the process," recalled Akingbulu.

Diventare autori per la radio, in Austria

Non so come Radio Rai gestisca il rectruitment di nuovo personale creativo. Per la verità ho un sospetto, come tutti voi. Ma voglio essere buono perché conosco anche parecchi casi di autori che riescono a lavorare per la Rai semplicemente sottoponendo una buona idea. Il sito Web dell'ufficio personale Rai è meno invitante di quello della radio del Turkmenistan e non permette di andare oltre l'invio di un curriculum. Alla sezione "opportunità" si trova una bella, eloquentissima pagina vuota.
Oggi mi sono per caso imbattuto nel modo in cui l'ente pubblico austriaco, Oesterreicher Rundfunk, cerca di raccogliere nuovi contributi per un suo programma mattutino del terzo canale radiofonico, ÖR3 Wecker (quasi 3 milioni di ascoltatori, non male per una nazione di otto milioni di persone). ll bando consiste in un cinque prove di esame che i candidati possono scaricare in pdf dal sito. Rivolto a chi sente di saper scrivere bene e in maniera arguta, il concorso è fatto di illustrazioni divertente da completare, frasi da completare, prime pagine di quotidiano da inventare, assomiglia davvero a un articolato gioco di parole piuttosto che a una prova d'esame. Bellissima per esempio la prova che prevede di riempire i fumetti di un fotogramma del Dr. House. Davvero un metodo divertente per selezionare redattori radiofonici.
Il messaggio è che se ti sembra di avere qualche buono spunto e uno stile spiritoso con la penna, potresti anche lavorare per la radio. Cosa che del resto la Oesterreiches Rundfunk propone anche ai giovani in cerca di occupazione estiva, con dei contratti temporanei validi da luglio a settembre durante i quali il collaboratore può imparare un sacco di cose utili di un mestiere che conserva tutto il suo fascino. Anche, o forse soprattutto, nell'era della multimedialità.
E' meglio questo o le code delle settentaquattromila aspiranti veline che ogni tanto oscurano come una piaga biblica l'orizzonte di Cologno? Non saprei, sui gusti non si discute, c'è chi potrà sostenere che un lavoro alla radio austriaca sia terribilmente noioso. Ma messi insieme, tutti questi piccoli segni, certo non vistosi come l'elezione di Obama, contibuiscono a tracciare il quadro sempre più deprimente di una realtà vecchia e calcificata.