Pod gets the nod from politicians

Politicians are still more likely to knock on your door than your desktop but with an election looming, several are proving to be in touch with the times by getting in on internet podcasting.

Christchurch audio production company The Voice Booth has joined international media organisations (including Australia's ABC and Britain's BBC) in providing podcasts - recordings placed online for listeners to download.

These podcasts includes interviews with several party leaders, including National's Don Brash, Act's Rodney Hide, United Future's Peter Dunne and Greens co-leader Rod Donald.

Voice Booth co-founder Dave Dunlay says interviews are also planned for New Zealand First leader Winston Peters and Prime Minister Helen Clark.

Dunlay says that although some politicians he approached "couldn't really understand it" to begin with, they quickly grasped the potential.

"With podcasting, we've got that Don Brash interview on our website available to download by anybody anywhere in the world for the entire election campaign," he says.

"Kiwis anywhere around the globe can hear our political interviews."

The interviews last about 30 minutes and are broken down into shorter segments for downloading at the listener's leisure.

Dunlay is "blown away" by the interest in political podcasts and says the site has had more than 200,000 hits since August 12.

Listeners need to download the podcast to a computer or MP3 device for playback. They can also set their computers to automatically download whenever they are online.

For those who like the sound of their radio, a mini FM transmitter can broadcast from the MP3 device to a nearby radio, giving the podcast the "appearance" of a regular programme.

Dunlay says anyone can become a podcaster. Whereas airwave transmission is restricted by licensing and infrastructure costs, anyone can podcast for only "the hassle and time of setting up a website".

He likens the cost-effective simplicity of podcasting to blogging (online web-log diaries).

"The key with any publishing is quality and consistency, because ideally you want people to come back every single day."

Voice Booth started podcasting on August 1 with The WaterCooler: random discussions and interviews with whoever happened to be round, even a bicycle courier.

The podcasts, Dunlay says, are helping to give people round the world some local flavour.

"We got an email from this listener in Amsterdam. He wants to come out here for a holiday and found our podcast. He feels like he's getting a good slice of New Zealand life."

Dunlay plans to develop other podcasts, including a wine show, health and beauty programme, a music show for local unsigned bands and walking tours of Christchurch.

Voice Booth podcasts are free to download, but Dunlay says sponsored programmes such as those geared toward attracting tourists could generate revenue.

With the political podcasts, The Voice Booth says it has stolen a march on more heavyweight local media providers. It is a position Dunlay says he intends to hold on to, but only as long as it's fun.

"At this stage, because we're making up a lot of the rules as we go along, we feel like we are quite innovative and developing something brand new."