I've proposed this twice before, but each time it didn't get many views. I still think it is a great idea. This time I am going to ask that you recommend so it get seen because I want this to happen. It should happen, damn it.
It's very simple:
The president has a weekly radio address.
The democrats have a weekly radio address.
Many other groups have weekly radio addresses.
We should have a weekly radio address. I can put it together but I need your help. See below where I answer some questions:
Why do we need a weekly radio address?
The greatest service we provide is information. Often, it's information that you can't get elsewhere. Sometimes it does make it to the MSM, but it can take weeks, even months or years. However-
There is a lot of information to go through on the site. I'm lucky in that I have nothing better to do at the moment than sit on my ass all day, so I stay pretty well-informed, but most people have more important things to do and miss a lot of what gets put out there. A weekly 5, 15 or 30 minute broadcast (something we will need to work out) detailing the top stories, featuring various fighting dems, etc. will be perfect for people to listen to at work, on their commutes, etc. It can be packaged easily for networks like AAR, Jones and Pacifica or offered for free podcast download.
Why do you think you can do this?
I have been involved with radio for my entire adult life. I've worked on public radio programs (Hayward Sanitarium on NPR Playhouse, New Letters on the Air, All Things Considered) and commercial radio (for fans of the Bob and Tom Show, I produced a couple of long-forgotten sketches for them in the late 90s) on all sides. I've been in front of the microphone, in the control room, even manning the phone banks.
More importantly, I'm a professional audio engineer with my own (mobile) studio and, although I hope this will change, I've been unemployed for months so I have a ton of free time to work on this. I also am a voice-over actor so I can be pretty much a one-man operation as far as doing the bulk of the show. I do need help though.
What do you need?
First and foremost, I need a couple of dedicated Kossacks to work with me on deciding how the show will be laid out each week. We could do it via e-mail and IRC. We need to also figure out a basic structure for the show. My e-mail address can be found at the link in my sig. I don't want to put it on here since I'd like to avoid overtaxing gmail's spam filters.
Secondly, I need someone who is good with grantwriting and fundraising. I think that it would be excellent if we could either find commercial sponsorship or a grant to enable us to do things for the show like travel to New Orleans to interview people involved in rebuilding or to a Senator's home state to interview the campaign manager at HQ. I'd love to be able to afford to just hop on a plane and do it whenever I feel like it, but I'm not George Soros.
We could very easily offer this up for radio syndication, but it would certainly be easier if we had some proven financial backing. A lot of talk radio stations gladly take any short (i.e. 5-minute or less) program for free if they can use it as filler but if you offer it to them for free without anyone to sponsor you, you play a losing game.
Finally, I just need ideas and this community is great at coming up with those. What do you think a show should contain? Should it be a 5-minute clip that people would hear on drive-time commutes or a full half-hour show? Should it be lighthearted or deadly serious? Should we go for a 'wall of sound' style like This American Life or just do it like a regular AAR style talk show?
Finally, if you think this is a bad idea, please let me know why.