A new way to reach rural communities
Editor
Podcasting has been around since 2004 but it is still very much at the experimental stage when it comes to applying it to development efforts. In this issue we highlight some early initiatives from organizations currently testing the technology, and so far their results are all very positive. By using audio – speech and music – there is no need for expensive printing or distribution costs since the podcast can be downloaded from a single, central site on the web. In fact, the term podcasting is now commonly used to include the general distribution of audio files over the Internet, but it is this fact that podcasting uses audio that makes it so interesting. Like radio, it can overcome problems of literacy, but a radio programme is transient – if you miss the programme you miss the information. Podcasting makes it possible to listen to a programme at the time of your choosing.
Having important information available that can be played, and even replayed, at any time means there is less chance of the message becoming confused or misinterpreted, making it ideal for agricultural extension work. Podcast updates can be automatically downloaded if the user subscribes to the podcasting service, giving them the most up-to-date information available. Previous podcasts can also be archived on the provider’s website allowing users to download only the information they need, when they need it. Although a computer or media player, an mp3 player or an iPod is needed to listen to a podcast, the prices of these devices are falling sharply while their storage memories, ease of use and battery life are all rapidly improving.
To date, however, there are very few podcasting projects related specifically to development. But on our website we feature an interesting initiative from the Cajamarca region of Peru. There, the UK organization, Practical Action, is working with several local partners to distribute targeted messages to farmers. Local information centres automatically download the programmes which are then put onto audio CD or rebroadcast by local radio stations. Research done in these early stages suggests that this pilot project has been a success, due largely to this mix of old and new technologies.
What is a podcast?
A podcast is a radio-style programme that can be downloaded from the internet and listened to on a computer or an mp3 player or burned onto a CD. Users can subscribe to a podcast, often for free, and have new episodes of their favourite programmes automatically downloaded to their computer. Portable media players mean that podcasts can be listened to at any time, anywhere, and many times. Podcasts already cover a huge range of topics, including music, news, travel information, lectures, language courses, story telling, stock exchange reports, weather, travel, and anything else you can think of. Some podcast providers may offer access to downloadable or streaming audio and video files. However, a genuine podcast is distinguished from other media formats in that its content can be syndicated via rss or newsfeeds – once users subscribe to such feeds, they will automatically receive regular updates. Read about what it takes to make a podcast in the TechTip section.
Using a variety of platforms is also how UNICEF ensures that people can still find their information when they want it. Even an organization as large as UNICEF risks losing its stories among the millions of websites, radio and TV broadcasts. Stephen Cassidy, chief of Internet, television, radio and image section, explains how podcasting is helping to keep audiences informed, and how its archives extend the ‘life’ of their radio programmes.
Podcasting provides an outlet for the hugely popular pan-African news service, Pambazuka News, published by Fahamu (Networks for Social Justice). It started off as a weekly email containing web links for social justice activists with slow or limited Internet access, but has now expanded to offer professional sounding podcasts on a range of subjects. Firoze Manji, director of Fahamu and editor of Pambazuka News, describes the potential for podcasting in Africa and the learning process Fahamu has gone through.
Producing podcasts is getting easier and cheaper too. At the moment most podcasts originate in Western countries but, as Susie Emmett, a communications specialist with WRENmedia, tells us in our Q&A section, it will soon be cost effective for rural communities to produce their own podcasts. These can be in the appropriate local language and used to provide information relevant to local problems, increasing the chance that the right information gets to the right people.
All the contributors to this issue reinforce the importance of speech as a communication tool, using radio as an example and pointing to the spread of mobile phones, even among poorer communities in very remote areas. Podcasting, and the general distribution of audio files on small, portable media players, provides another method of disseminating information to rural and farming areas. The technology is still relatively new so it remains to be seen exactly how it will be used for development. But as the technology gets easier to use and becomes more affordable, it is likely that we will see much more podcasting in the coming years. It will become another useful addition to the whole ICT package.