Does the mainstream media bore you? Do you have talent that is going to waste because publishers don't recognize your brilliance? Dissenting voices are being more marginalized by the media everyday. There is a solution: do it yourself. DIY media has always been on the cutting edge.

"Many traditional media can look stale in comparison, and one of the first changes I think is noticeable in society is how swiftly online trends are transformed and remanufactured for the mainstream," says Barbelith publisher Tom Coates.

Matt Drudge turned the journalism industry upside down with The Drudge Report and Harry Knowles has turned his self-published e-zine Ain't It Cool News into one of the most vital entertainment sites on the Web. You can do it too.

A Quick and Dirty Guide to DIY Media: Broadcasting

There's a certain romance about pirate broadcasting. Maybe it's the thrill of being a rebel and taking a stand against the Federal Communications Commission. Or maybe it's that Christian Slater movie. Either way broadcasting is fun and exciting and there are lots of ways to do it- most of them legal.

Pirate Radio and Television

Pirate radio (or micro radio) remains a popular past time. FM radio is the most popular for pirates. FM transmitters are cheap to build, can be portable, and have more open frequencies than AM. You can buy a short-wave FM transmitter kit from places like Panaxis Productions and Ramsey Electronics or you can learn to build one at The Media Pirates Network site. Despite the fact that most pirate broadcasters are non-commercial there have been several cases of the FCC fining broadcasters and confiscating their equipment, so beware.

AM broadcasts are appealing because they can be bounced all over the planet (probably why the FCC has restrictions about these short-wave signals). The large size of AM transmitters and the FCC's fanatical persecution of AM pirates make getting away with AM broadcasting tricky. Besides, most people in the US don't have short-wave receivers and finding pirate broadcasts can prove cumbersome.

Pirate television is mostly useful for broadcasting short clips and is safest when mobile. Using a television transmitter it's possible to replace commercials with your own broadcasts in your immediate vicinity. A guide to creating pirate television stations can be found at the Free Media Archive. It goes without saying that television is the most dangerous variety of pirate broadcasting.

Public Broadcasting

You can probably reach a wider audience by producing content for public broadcasting stations. If your local public broadcasting station is affiliated with NPR or PBS then your show has the potential to be nationally distributed. If you’re serious about producing your own television or radio show this is definitely worth checking into.

Streaming Media and Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Transfer

You can reach a larger audience than your local stations and stay out of trouble with the FCC by distributing your media online. Live365 offers free hosting of radio stations and Free Speech Internet Television hosts streaming video and audio for $15 a month. Check out our Quick and Dirty Guide to DIY Media: Online Publishing for more information on distributing video and audio on peer-to-peer networks.

So if you're looking to be the next Howard Stern, set-up shop and get your voice heard. Have fun and whatever you do watch your back.

The views expressed above represent the writer and not necessarily those of The Disinformation Company Ltd.