Pirate radio v2.0

“In a very broad sense, this would be my weak attempt at gonzo journalism,” says Andrew Franklin with a laugh. His website and subsequent bi-monthly podcast – whose logo features a red, clenched fist attached to the hilt of a sword, a la Thompson’s ‘gonzo’ emblem - is cheeky, attention-grabbing and, not least, completely local.

“I’d like to think that in the way we talk, we do an irreverent and interesting take on things,” continues Franklin.

Fear and Loathing in Ottawa discusses random cultural, underground and even mainstream events around town – anything from the latest criminal charges against municipal officials to decidedly lighter fare like “bullshitters”, the comings and goings of the infamous ‘Guerilla Gays’ group, and even “the meanest waiter in Ottawa” are all on the menu, he explains.

“I got into podcasting kind of by accident,” continues Franklin, the podcast’s founder and lead contributor. He’s a web designer for the federal government who answers to the moniker “A. Franklin” during his internet transmissions (his wife and podcasting partner, by the way, uses the nickname “Angry Dawn”).

After reading an article on another podcast in Washington State, he says he was hit with an inspiration of sorts. He wanted to “challenge the idea that Ottawa (and its surrounding suburbs) is little more than a stodgy government town,” he says, along with entertaining friends, family and anyone else who cared to listen.

“I found it quite easy to get into – all I needed was a microphone, a computer and software” to convert sound files, he explains. “The hardest part was figuring out what to talk about during the podcasts.

“I decided I’d stick to doing stuff about the city that I live in, because a lot of people say it’s a boring city,” he says. “And to a certain extent, I can understand why people would say that.

“But if you look around you can always find something interesting to do. So I decided to focus on that.”

Franklin works with a cast of pseudonym-clad characters including “the Rocket Man”, “Professor Stephen Hawkin”, and “Katherine Hepburn” – all from Orléans, he says.

Podcasting – whose name is a mish-mash of the words ‘iPod’ and ‘broadcast’, and is otherwise known as the distribution of media files over the internet – began earlier this decade. It’s a technology now incorporated by a host of organizations from bands to universities.

Franklin says his next podcast will be a review of various ‘zines and comics by local artists, as well as a special music-based podcast with tunes from various bands and acts across the city.

“If it’s happening locally, and it catches my attention, I’ll do it,” he says.