by Jenine Stanley
Have you ever wondered if there might be a way to generate some renewed excitement about your local, state or special-interest affiliate of ACB? What if I told you that you could broadcast news, issues, articles, music and more on the Internet to an audience already hungry for programming by and for blind and visually impaired people? That facility is available to you and your affiliate through the most exciting thing to happen to blind people in the last several decades: ACB Radio!
ACB Radio is an Internet radio station that can be accessed with your computer and Internet connection. The station went on-line in December 1999 and has expanded its programming to include four distinct channels and an on-line news service. Accessed from the main ACB web page at http://www.acb.org or its own home page at http://www.acbradio.org, the station offers three primary streams of programming. The Cafe features music by blind and visually impaired artists. Treasure Trove offers a selection of old-time radio from around the world. On weekends, ACB Radio comes alive with nearly 80 hours of live music and DJs on hand to play your requests. The real excitement for affiliate leaders lies with ACB Radio’s Mainstream channel.
The Mainstream channel features talk shows on topics from technology to religion, humor to guide dogs and living with blindness. Such programs as Blind Line and Miller Time with Dennis Miller enable people to converse with the hosts via free web-based telephone services. Main menu, the technology show, offers interviews with leading manufacturers of adaptive and mainstream technology as well as personal reviews and mini tutorials on commonly used products. Blind Spot is the “low tech, no tech” show featuring interviews with blind people engaged in all sorts of fascinating life pursuits. These are just some of the programs airing weekly, monthly and quarterly from around the English-speaking world.
According to station manager Jonathan Mosen, the one thing ACB Radio needs is more ACB. ACB Radio offers affiliates a unique opportunity to publicize themselves as well as to highlight local issues or special concerns. Currently, programming is aired in 24-hour blocks to give the international audience ample opportunity to hear the shows. In other words, a show will air and be repeated approximately every two to four hours for a 24-hour period. Programs may be from 15 minutes to two hours in length.
ACB Radio has no commercials other than those from Live 365, the streaming service used to broadcast the audio on the Internet. These commercials do not interrupt the programming but only appear when one first logs on to the service.
What might your affiliate need to start its own ACB Radio show? Let’s take the example of Guide Dog Users, Inc. We decided to have a show about guide dogs on ACB Radio when ACB offered special training in the use of Sound Forge, an audio production software package, at the 2000 convention. After the excellent introductory training by Mosen and Brian Charlson, GDUI began to make plans for its show.
Things to consider when putting together your affiliate’s show include timing, issues and content. How often can the show air? According to Mosen, regular programming is needed rather than once a year programs. Weekly fare would be excellent but few affiliates have enough issues or substance to air weekly shows. GDUI chose to air its program, Canine Connections, at least quarterly, approximately one month after our audio magazine, “Pawtracks,” is published. This way we can feature selections from the magazine as part of the show.
What issues do you want to cover? Remember that the population listening to ACB Radio is global. This does not mean that they might not be interested in local issues, however. If your chapter or special-interest affiliate has accomplished something grand, or even small, to make your community more accessible to blind people, ACB Radio is the place to share. If there are issues specific to your special interest affiliate such as canine health, music and audio production software, veterans’ affairs or sports, you could build even a monthly 15- to 30-minute show around them.
What other content might your affiliate want to showcase? In the case of GDUI, we always include a segment on GDUI specifically. We featured an interview with Jane Sheehan about our 2001 product catalog. In upcoming shows, we will interview GDUI’s president and legislative committee chair and give information about the 2001 convention in Des Moines, Iowa. We also accept poems, music and stories from anyone with a guide dog. Canine Connections definitely has a sense of humor and dog jokes or pieces from the Internet are always welcome.
What will you need to begin producing your own radio show? The ACB Radio web site offers an excellent support section to answer many commonly asked questions about listening to and producing ACB Radio programs. Two e-mail lists also exist regarding ACB Radio. ACB Radio Announce gives program announcements and other information about ACB Radio. ACB Radio Friends allows you to discuss programming with the hosts of your favorite shows, ask questions about listening and pitch show ideas or ask for material. You can subscribe to these lists from the web site.
The most important components of any ACB Radio show are the host or hosts and production team. When planning such a show for your affiliate, be sure to have a reliable producer and host. The show’s producer will need a computer capable of running Windows 98 and a multi-channel sound card such as Sound Blaster Live. The producer will also need audio production software such as Sound Forge 4.5 XP. This is the scaled down or “light” version of a powerful sound editing package. It works well with the major screen reading packages and is relatively inexpensive. The package can be purchased through Sonic Foundry at http://www.sonicfoundry.com.
A good working knowledge of the Windows volume control, computer microphones and transferring information from audio tape to the computer enhances your show’s quality. I can safely wager that almost every affiliate has a member with some degree of talent in this area and you may be very pleasantly surprised at who comes forward to produce your programming.
Because of my past radio experience and love of guide dogs, I volunteered to serve as producer and host of GDUI’s Canine Connections. The excellent training and support offered by Jonathan Mosen have helped me significantly in putting together a quality program.
To begin your affiliate program, write up your idea, including time frame, issues to be covered and whether or not you might want a live call-in show. Next, e-mail this information to support@acbradio.org. Once the idea has been approved, set some production dates. Mosen will then give you a tentative schedule as to when your program will air.
All ACB affiliate programs will be archived on the ACB Radio web site in the On-Demand section so that web surfers can listen to all of the shows ever produced. Keeping this archived material pays off in many ways. Some people cannot directly access the shows when they air but will spend hours listening to the archived material. By publicizing your affiliate and its issues, you can generate new members or product sales. GDUI has already realized several new members through Canine Connections. Producing and hosting a radio show is fun and energizing for your affiliate, and even if you gain only one new member, it is all worthwhile.
If you would like more information or have material to contribute to Canine Connections, contact Jenine Stanley at 1815 Gardenstone Drive, Columbus, OH 43235-5901, or via e-mail, jeninems@columbus.rr.com.