[cr-india] Running a radio station on free software

[George Lessard]

Running a radio station on free software

[excerpt]

http://www.mediahelpingmedia.org/content/view/112/96/

The newest tool to emerge from the Media Development Loan Fund's Campware
Initiative is a tool for managing radio broadcasts and archives called
Campcaster, which enables a PC running Linux to both play sound files
'live' from the studio as well as automatically at a set date and time.

At the same time, it also allows stations using Campcaster to easily
exchange program content, both over the Internet and offline.

Such software, referred to as a playout and automation system, used to
cost thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars, but Campcaster is
offered as free and open source.

Such software, referred to as a playout and automation system, used to
cost thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars, but Campcaster is
offered as free and open source.

And while that means stations can download and use Campcaster for free, in
the long run it also means they are also free to make their own
modifications to the software if they want – the only catch is that if a
station makes changes to the programming code, they must share those
changes with others.

MDLF has worked to implement Campcaster among radio stations in the Cornet
radio network in Sierra Leone. At present, four Sierra Leonian stations
are using Campcaster, as is West Africa Democracy Radio, a station
broadcasting across West Africa on shortwave on 17875 khz and in Dakar on
94.9 FM. A complete list of Campcaster users can be found here.