Media Hackers?

Steve Rubel reports that some people are yearning for some kind of "more authentic" ecology of podcasting - this is inspired by the news that Rush Limbaugh is now podcasting (although, I should note that it's a for pay service - you have to pay to access to the podcasts):

Dave Winer and Steve Gillmor have coined a new phrase - media hackers. I like it. Dave envisions a future where the biggest podcaster is not Rush Limbaugh, but media-hacker stars that have yet to come to the forefront.

Well, I have serious doubts about that happening (at least in large numbers). There's a reason that I go out of my way to listen to James Lileks, for instance - he spends time on his podcasts. Go over here and give on them a listen - you'll find an eclectic mix of pop culture references, Sci Fi riffs, and a variety of interesting (and often quite odd) music. There's only a new one once every few weeks, and part of that is likely due to the effort he's putting in.

Add to that something else - Lileks has a "radio voice" - he comes across very well. I've tried to listen to Winer's casts - they ramble, he moves away from the microphone (making it hard to hear him), and he's "all over the map" in terms of topics. In other words, there's no focus. It takes time to listen to an audio broadcast, whether it comes over the air or over the wire. If the speaker isn't focused and interesting, what's the point? Ultimately, if you expect to gain listeners, it's going to take actual effort. Rambling about whatever comes to mind just isn't going to cut it - for the same reason that it won't cut it in an editorial page writer.