JMS

Current covers the decloaking of Chicago’s secret radio project – :Vocalo (yes the : is there for a reason, clever one at that).

Also Torey Malatia lays out his thinking behind the service in a long piece here, with an even longer and more complete (with bibliography) verion as a PDF download here.

I get in a decent quote in the Current piece, and here’s the full q&a with Mike Janssen via email:

What role have you played in the planning and creation of Vocalo?

I’m a friend and fan of Torey and Chicago Public Radio and have had an occasional advisory role on the project from its early days.

What do you think of the service as it’s proposed? Is it worth doing? Why or why not?

I think it’s one of the most exciting things underway in public radio. It’s hugely ambitious and tackles a number of big important goals at once, like addressing a new audience, putting the web at the center of the service, incorporating “citizen media” in a substantial way, redefining a local presence. Most other attempts to approach these ideas have been taking place at the margins, squeezed into existing formats and shows. Vocalo starts with a clean slate and is forcing itself to write a new rule book for radio. It’s not just worth doing, it’s necessary and important and will teach everyone a lot as it unfolds.

What might the implications of Vocalo be for Chicago? For public radio?

Vocalo could become a new expression of Chicago that connects to life, sounds, ideas and people in a much more engaged and dynamic way than any other media source has done to date. If successful it could be a transformative presence in Chicago. Even in its conceptual phase Vocalo is already pushing the boundaries of what public radio should be striving for, and as it rolls out I think it will inspire others to take more risks and shake things up.

In your view, will Vocalo succeed? What does its success hinge on?

I think it will succeed but it’s going to be a messy adventure along the way to be sure. They are inventing new ways of doing just about everything, and it will take a while before it all starts clicking in. First and foremost it has to succeed as great radio, of course, something you tune into and want to keep tuning into. I think it also has to live up to its goals of incorporating a substantial amount of content from new sources and voices. It has to sound different than anything else out there. And success will also be measured in how much of an online community and destination the website becomes.

Go Vocalo!