Category: higher education

What’s the value of a podcast?

Dan Karleen of Peterson’s higher ed blog ponders whether podcasts are passe — or worse, just a plain waste of time and resources. That is, for recruitment and admissions purposes.

Several commenters weigh in. From Morgan Davis of erelevant (who started the podcast discussion a week ago), suggests schools post audio along with news stories if it’s available. “If you have audio on hand, there’s no excuse not to make it into a podcast. I just don’t think there’s enough of an audience amidst college prospects to create new programs/staff positions/equipment around Admission-generated podcasts (audio campus tours, audio blogs, etc).”

The only thing we podcast on a regular basis is a monthly sci-tech radio program, TechnoFiles (now available on RSS). But that’s reusing existing material, and it’s for a broader audience.

Friday Five: snow day edition

OK, so it isn’t a snow day for everyone. Some of us had to stick around to alert the media and students, faculty and staff that classes were canceled for most of the morning. But because Thursday’s weather shut down much of the Missouri Ozarks, it seems like a snow day. At least it’s a slow day. Which means I can get caught up on some bloggables. Here are five for your Friday:

  1. After a full November of writing the Great American NaNoWriMo Novel, Morgan Davis returns to his blog, erelevant, without missing a beat. Welcome back!
  2. But enough about other economic news, let’s talk about us. Via Romenesko, a column by William Powers of the National Journal about how the news media’s narcissicistic reporting. “From Los Angeles to Philadelphia, newspapers are flailing — read all about it, in exquisite detail, in those papers themselves and everywhere else. … Of course, you’re reading one of the symptoms of this disorder — a regular column of media commentary, devoted today to questioning the idea of media narcissism. Next week we’ll discuss the media as simulacra of semiotic hyperstructuralism.” Paging Jacques Derrida.
  3. Speaking of media coverage of media: Bad news for old news — and seven more dire predictions for the media for 2007. Includes such shocking revelations as: “Technology will make it easier to find, access, and manage content.” Hat tip: I Want Media.
  4. Why didn’t my journalism profs tell me this? From Slate, by way of CyberJournalist: the newspaper industry knew it was doomed 30 years ago. Seems that in 1976, LA Times media reporter David Shaw wrote a page one feature that posed this question in its lead (lede): “Are you now holding an endangered species in your hands?” And then proposed some remedies, many of which the media have already tries. Interesting story for news junkies.
  5. Prospective college student Sam Jackson has narrowed his college choices to 15, and now he wants to know the dirt on them. ” I don’t want slurs, I don’t want attacks, but if you have a compelling reason for me to not go to one of the fifteen schools on my list, please tell me.”