Jan
11
Vocalo: Public Radio For The Region
Filed Under Chicago Public Radio, Northwest Indiana, Vocalo, WBEW | 9 Comments
Chicago Public Radio (WBEZ-FM 91.5 MHz) has been around for a long time, including a presence in Chesterton with sister frequency WBEW-FM (89.5 MHz) for a couple of years. I always thought of the 89.5 MHz frequency as a translator to help push WBEZ’s signal further into Northwest Indiana, but it turns out that there is more. This shows that I’ve been spending too much time in the satellite radio world and have been neglecting some of Northwest Indiana’s local radio offerings.
This summer, WBEW began a service — Vocalo.org — that allows web users to generate on-air content for broadcast on the radio station.
According to Vocalo’s “about” page:
Vocalo.org is a content sharing, social networking site with a BIG twist!
We broadcast the stuff you make on 89.5 FM in Northwest Indiana and Chicago on our live webstream. We take music, stories, commentary, news, and anything else you can dream up.
Whether you make Vocalo.org your home blog (we’re all set up for that) or want to bring your content from other sites, we hope you’ll share your stories, photos, video and audio right here.
I’m going to have to start tuning in to hear some local radio with a NPR-style flavor, but one that is aiming for a different audience than the traditional public radio station, including WBEZ.
Writes Current.org:
Chicago Public Radio’s :Vocalo attempts an ambitious fusion of talk radio with an extensive website where users can network and share their own writings, recordings and videos, some of which will be curated for broadcast by an eclectic team of host-producers.
CPR execs hope this cross-pollination between web and broadcast and within a diverse audience will create a unique, listener-driven sound that draws in Chicagoans disenchanted by the usual pubradio fare on CPR’s existing news-talk service, WBEZ.
Here’s how The Infinite Dial describes Vocalo:
In intent, it’s a next-generation NPR and there’s no shortage of agreement on the need for such a thing. In practice, Vocalo alternately recalls a lot of things–the college radio of 30 years ago, the earliest days of progressive radio, and the almost-completely-lost-to-history black progressive radio of the ’70s. It is also very reminiscent of the “Open Source Radio” experiment on CBS’ KYOU San Francisco.
Don’t worry if 89.5 MHz doesn’t come in where you are, the station provides an internet stream and there are plans to upgrade the station’s wattage.
