Host Lydon

Radio was arguably the first open-source media form with its reliance on talk radio and call-in programs, and now a radio program is extending the model of public participation to include the web - specifically, "unfiltered voices and opinions found on blogs," writes the New York Times. Moreover, the new Public Radio International program, "Open Source from PRI," uses its own blog (www.radioopensource.org) to gather program ideas and news sources from its listeners, who converse with the show's five producers online after the day's program goes off the air.

"Open Source was designed to be a conversation engaging the public in instant dialogue, unlike the transmission of information that news broadcasts and newspapers offer," writes the Times.

"Part of the goal here is to get off the island and burst out of the bubble of traditional media," says host Christopher Lydon, co-creator of the program, who adds that the idea is "both getting the signal out and harvesting the energy and insight that comes on the web."

The program is produced at Boston's WGBH-FM and broadcast on KUOW in Seattle and KCPW in Salt Lake City. It is available online as live stream audio and a podcast. PRI is negotiating to begin broadcasting Open Source on XM Satellite Radio on August 1.

Half of the $1 million budget is being put up by the University of Massachusetts at Lowell.