Producing a punchy podcast: podcasting can be a creative, convenient way to get your message out.

• Author: Wyatt, William
• Position: TOOLS OF THE TRADE

In January 1998, a Hollywood gift shop manager with a computer and an Internet connection posted a story to his website that would turn the world upside down. Matt Drudge had broken the story of President Clinton's affair with a White House intern. So began the era of Internet journalism.

As technology has become more advanced and more widely available, Internet journalism has become mainstream. And it's not just the written word that is having an impact. Relatively inexpensive technology has turned anyone with a digital audio recorder into the next Paul Harvey.

A podcast is a digital audio file made available online for download to a personal audio device such as an iPod or MP3 player. You can take the file with you and listen to it at any time. Although podcasting technology has been around for a while, its popularity has exploded over the past two years.

Today, news organizations, businesses, think tanks and even state legislatures have discovered that podcasting is a creative, convenient and easy way to distribute their key messages to targeted audiences. Launching a podcast takes very little investment and makes an organization look like it is on the cutting edge of communications trends. Here's how to go about it.

1. BUY THE GOODS

   Fortunately, podcasting is relatively cheap. You probably already have the equipment you need to launch a high-quality podcast: a computer, soundcard, microphone and speakers or a headset. You'll also need a high-speed Internet connection and a website to host the audio files and RSS feed.

   For podcasting, it is important that your computer have plenty of RAM and space on the hard drive for storage. Audio files, depending on the file type and their compression, tend to take up a fair amount of space.

   Microphones are fairly inexpensive. Most computers that are shipped with a soundcard include a microphone. For podcasting purposes, these microphones will suffice. However, higher quality microphones are available online and at local electronics stores.

   Speakers or a set of headphones are necessary to listen to and edit your audio recordings. Most computers come with one or the other or both.

   Optional equipment that a podcaster may want to consider is a portable digital audio recorder. These allow you to take your podcast "on the road." Portable digital audio recorders allow a podcaster to conduct a show or interview from the field--at conferences, from the floor of a legislative chamber or at a remote location...