Search Engine (radio show)
Encyclopedia
Search Engine was a weekly Canadian
radio show that aired on CBC Radio One
, then a dedicated podcast
available on CBC.ca, and now a podcast on TVOntario
's website, tvo.org. It is hosted by Jesse Brown, who also co-produces the show with Geoff Siskind and Andrew Parker. Cory Doctorow
, novelist and editor of Boing Boing
, is also a regular contributor. The program explores the effects of the Internet
on politics
and culture
. The show has focused on stories involving copyright
, video games, and China
, as well as the social impact and technology surrounding them.
phenomena. Unlike other shows, however, Search Engine concentrates on ways in which the Internet
influences other aspects of life and culture. Though much of the subject matter he deals with is serious, Brown generally takes a lighthearted, tongue-in-cheek approach to his material.
Every episode begins with a set of keywords
- teaser phrases that summarize the major stories for that episode. The term "keyword" ties into the name of the show as something a search engine uses to categorize things of importance. Other Internet
terms are regularly invoked and adapted to the purpose of attempting to describe unusual or unprecedented technology
-related cultural phenomena.
The program ran for one half hour. Usually there were three in-depth stories, each of which was separated by a clip of Creative Commons license
d music. Other, smaller topics were occasionally interspersed. Often these consisted of updates on past stories, or addresses to the listeners about the show itself.
In keeping with an open source
theme, the creators of Search Engine utilized the show's online blog
to communicate and collaborate with listeners. The radio stories feed off of opinions or information gleaned from listener commentary. Follow-up pieces are at times justified by direct listener response. Additionally, listeners are often openly encouraged on the air to contribute to the betterment of specific aspects of the show.
The show had several occasional features that are periodically played:
In June 2008, the series was canceled as a separate program on the schedule. In the 2008-2009 season, Brown contributed Search Engine type material as a feature supplement to other CBC programming while producing a weekly stand alone audio podcast of the series along with its blog
.
Shortly after the announcement some fans of the show created a Facebook Group, “Saving CBC's Search Engine” to protest the cancellation of the radio show and reformatting of the podcast. After only a few weeks this group had well over 700 members.
The Brown and the podcast's association with the CBC was terminated in the face of the corporation's budget cuts in the spring of 2009. As such, Jesse Brown announced on May 1, 2009 that his podcast would be hosted and supported by the Province of Ontario's public broadcasting network, TVOntario.
, Jesse Brown has focused on the issues surrounding Canadian copyright. Originally mentioning it on one show, he soon realized that many listeners were interested in the issue. He discussed Bill C-60
, which would supposedly bring down more draconian laws than the DMCA did in the United States. He has also spoken about the lack of a Fair Use
law in Canada and controversy surrounding the issue.
in China
, commented on the citizen journalism
efforts in that nation, and criticized the Chinese government
for the ways in which its policies restrict access to many Internet
venues.
In early 2008, it was reported by a number of Search Engine listeners in China
that the CBC
had been rendered unavailable. The show's crew kept in contact with these listeners through message boards and its Facebook
page, and confirmed that the blockage was limited to China
and was therefore not a technical problem. Brown broke the story on the air, which prompted the president of the CBC
to make an appeal to the Chinese Ambassador, calling for an end to the blockage. Soon after, the site was made available again in China.
group "Anonymous
" and the Church of Scientology
. Brown called Anonymous
"clowns," and invited them to call his bluff. He later had two members of the group on the show. After Anonymous
held a protest in front of Scientology
compounds around the world on February 10, 2008, Brown admitted that they had "proved me wrong."
The nature of the protest was unprecedented - picketers wore masks and refused to divulge names - and sparked a discussion on the show about the meaning of identity. Brown brought the issue to his own workplace, interviewing CBC
's president Hubert Lacroix
in reaction to a conflict between him and an anonymous critic who went by the handle "Ouimet."
, including print
, television
, and radio
. He has primarily categorized himself as a humorist.
Brown's first formal recognition as a producer of media came at the age of 18, when he received the Udo award from Ryerson University School of Journalism in Toronto
, Canada
for starting a successful underground student newspaper at the school. He has since written for The Globe and Mail
, the National Post
and Vice
.
In 2003, Brown launched a magazine called Stu under the pseudonym Stuart Neihardt. The magazine was billed as a reaction to the banality of "lad" magazines like Maxim
and FHM
; something geared toward the "regular guy" (which Neihardt claimed to be).
During 2003 and 2004, Brown wrote a humor column called "The Experiment" for Saturday Night
. Several of his articles won Honorable Mentions in the National Magazine Awards during those years."Stu Magazine" won the Silver spot in 2003.
In the summer of 2006, Brown hosted another CBC Radio
show called The Contrarians that investigated the potential virtues of unpopular ideas.
Brown is currently listed as part of the editorial staff on the website FordPoweredByYou.ca, a site created by Ford of Canada for bloggers to post their thoughts on the ways in which the automotive realm intersects with technology, the environment, and everyday life. However, Brown says that he "was going to contribute, but we didn't see eye to eye on editorial stuff and I've never contributed anything to the site." He adds that he's been trying to get them to take his face off the site ever since.
Geoff Siskind is one of the producers of Search Engine. He has produced a number of documentaries - some of which have aired on various programs on the CBC
. His work has been featured on Outfront
, Sounds Like Canada
, The Omnivore, and CBC Radio 3
.
Andrew Parker is one of the producers of Search Engine. He has worked as an editor and producer for the CBC
since 1998. He has also freelanced for Deutsche Welle
radio while living in Düsseldorf, Germany.
On May 7, 2008, Hannah Classen joined the team at Search Engine as the show's blog poster/moderator.
The audience also contributes to the makeup of the show. Collaborative efforts have been used in the past to rewrite the show's sign-off for grammar
concerns and to redesign its logo
. Story pitches are accepted through Search Engines website.
Search Engines theme song is called "Ethiopia Hagere." It was written and performed in a collaborative effort between Ethiopian saxophonist Getatchew Mekurya
and punk band The Ex. It first appeared on the 2007 album Moa Anbessa.
The show has been nominated for two awards by the New York Festival Radio Awards. The finalist entries are Brown's essay on Zeitgeist, the Movie
nominated in the editorial/viewpoint category and documentary on Shannen Rossmiller
, the housewife turned online terrorist hunter nominated in the community/portrait category.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
radio show that aired on CBC Radio One
CBC Radio One
CBC Radio One is the English language news and information radio network of the publicly-owned Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It is commercial free and offers both local and national programming...
, then a dedicated podcast
Podcast
A podcast is a series of digital media files that are released episodically and often downloaded through web syndication...
available on CBC.ca, and now a podcast on TVOntario
TVOntario
TVOntario, often referred to only as TVO , is a publicly funded, educational English-language television station and media organization in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is operated by the Ontario Educational Communications Authority, a Crown corporation owned by the Government of Ontario...
's website, tvo.org. It is hosted by Jesse Brown, who also co-produces the show with Geoff Siskind and Andrew Parker. Cory Doctorow
Cory Doctorow
Cory Efram Doctorow is a Canadian-British blogger, journalist, and science fiction author who serves as co-editor of the blog Boing Boing. He is an activist in favour of liberalising copyright laws and a proponent of the Creative Commons organization, using some of their licences for his books...
, novelist and editor of Boing Boing
Boing Boing
Boing Boing is a publishing entity, first established as a magazine, later becoming a group blog.-History:...
, is also a regular contributor. The program explores the effects of the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
on politics
Politics
Politics is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but also applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the...
and culture
Culture
Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...
. The show has focused on stories involving copyright
Copyright
Copyright is a legal concept, enacted by most governments, giving the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time...
, video games, and China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, as well as the social impact and technology surrounding them.
Overview
Search Engine first aired on September 6, 2007. It discusses InternetInternet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
phenomena. Unlike other shows, however, Search Engine concentrates on ways in which the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
influences other aspects of life and culture. Though much of the subject matter he deals with is serious, Brown generally takes a lighthearted, tongue-in-cheek approach to his material.
Every episode begins with a set of keywords
Keywords
Keywords are the words that are used to reveal the internal structure of an author's reasoning. While they are used primarily for rhetoric, they are also used in a strictly grammatical sense for structural composition, reasoning, and comprehension...
- teaser phrases that summarize the major stories for that episode. The term "keyword" ties into the name of the show as something a search engine uses to categorize things of importance. Other Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
terms are regularly invoked and adapted to the purpose of attempting to describe unusual or unprecedented technology
Technology
Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
-related cultural phenomena.
The program ran for one half hour. Usually there were three in-depth stories, each of which was separated by a clip of Creative Commons license
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons licenses are several copyright licenses that allow the distribution of copyrighted works. The licenses differ by several combinations that condition the terms of distribution. They were initially released on December 16, 2002 by Creative Commons, a U.S...
d music. Other, smaller topics were occasionally interspersed. Often these consisted of updates on past stories, or addresses to the listeners about the show itself.
In keeping with an open source
Open source
The term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...
theme, the creators of Search Engine utilized the show's online blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
to communicate and collaborate with listeners. The radio stories feed off of opinions or information gleaned from listener commentary. Follow-up pieces are at times justified by direct listener response. Additionally, listeners are often openly encouraged on the air to contribute to the betterment of specific aspects of the show.
The show had several occasional features that are periodically played:
- The Best of Craigslist: Craigslist CEO Jim BuckmasterJim BuckmasterJim Buckmaster , a native of Ann Arbor, Michigan, is an American computer programmer who has been the CEO of Craigslist since 2000....
reads selected outlandish posts from his company's site.
- Copyfight: Digital rightsDigital rightsThe term digital rights describes the permissions of individuals legitimately to perform actions involving the use of a computer, any electronic device, or a communications network...
columnist Cory DoctorowCory DoctorowCory Efram Doctorow is a Canadian-British blogger, journalist, and science fiction author who serves as co-editor of the blog Boing Boing. He is an activist in favour of liberalising copyright laws and a proponent of the Creative Commons organization, using some of their licences for his books...
comments on controversies springing from issues with InternetInternetThe Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
copyright law.
- Flipback: A segment that showcases recordings resurrected from the Internet ArchiveInternet ArchiveThe Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...
.
- Another recurring topic investigated on Search Engine is the Internet Bill of Rights, a set of universal standards concerning online liberties drafted and spearheaded by the Internet Governance ForumInternet Governance ForumThe Internet Governance Forum is a multi-stakeholder forum for policy dialogue on issues of Internet governance. It brings together all stakeholders in the internet governance debate, whether they represent governments, the private sector or civil society, including the technical and academic...
.
Program History
The program aired on Thursdays at 11:30 a.m.(12:00 NT), and was repeated on Tuesdays at 3:30 p.m.(4:00 NT, select markets) on stations which did not air extended CBC Radio One local programs.In June 2008, the series was canceled as a separate program on the schedule. In the 2008-2009 season, Brown contributed Search Engine type material as a feature supplement to other CBC programming while producing a weekly stand alone audio podcast of the series along with its blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
.
Shortly after the announcement some fans of the show created a Facebook Group, “Saving CBC's Search Engine” to protest the cancellation of the radio show and reformatting of the podcast. After only a few weeks this group had well over 700 members.
The Brown and the podcast's association with the CBC was terminated in the face of the corporation's budget cuts in the spring of 2009. As such, Jesse Brown announced on May 1, 2009 that his podcast would be hosted and supported by the Province of Ontario's public broadcasting network, TVOntario.
Canadian Copyright
As well as in regular contributions from Cory DoctorowCory Doctorow
Cory Efram Doctorow is a Canadian-British blogger, journalist, and science fiction author who serves as co-editor of the blog Boing Boing. He is an activist in favour of liberalising copyright laws and a proponent of the Creative Commons organization, using some of their licences for his books...
, Jesse Brown has focused on the issues surrounding Canadian copyright. Originally mentioning it on one show, he soon realized that many listeners were interested in the issue. He discussed Bill C-60
Bill C-60
Bill C-60 was a proposed law to amend the Canadian Copyright Act initiated by the Government of Canada in the First Session of the Thirty-Eighth Parliament...
, which would supposedly bring down more draconian laws than the DMCA did in the United States. He has also spoken about the lack of a Fair Use
Fair use
Fair use is a limitation and exception to the exclusive right granted by copyright law to the author of a creative work. In United States copyright law, fair use is a doctrine that permits limited use of copyrighted material without acquiring permission from the rights holders...
law in Canada and controversy surrounding the issue.
China
Since its inception, Search Engine has broadcast stories pertaining to government control of the InternetInternet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
in China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, commented on the citizen journalism
Citizen journalism
Citizen journalism is the concept of members of the public "playing an active role in the process of collecting, reporting, analyzing and disseminating news and information," according to the seminal 2003 report We Media: How Audiences are Shaping the Future of News and Information...
efforts in that nation, and criticized the Chinese government
Government of the People's Republic of China
All power within the government of the People's Republic of China is divided among three bodies: the People's Republic of China, State Council, and the People's Liberation Army . This article is concerned with the formal structure of the state, its departments and their responsibilities...
for the ways in which its policies restrict access to many Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
venues.
In early 2008, it was reported by a number of Search Engine listeners in China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
that the CBC
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...
had been rendered unavailable. The show's crew kept in contact with these listeners through message boards and its Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
page, and confirmed that the blockage was limited to China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
and was therefore not a technical problem. Brown broke the story on the air, which prompted the president of the CBC
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...
to make an appeal to the Chinese Ambassador, calling for an end to the blockage. Soon after, the site was made available again in China.
The Internet and Identity
In January 2008, Search Engine began reporting on the controversy between the InternetInternet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
group "Anonymous
Anonymous (group)
Anonymous is an international hacking group, spread through the Internet, initiating active civil disobedience, while attempting to maintain anonymity. Originating in 2003 on the imageboard 4chan, the term refers to the concept of many online community users simultaneously existing as an anarchic,...
" and the Church of Scientology
Church of Scientology
The Church of Scientology is an organization devoted to the practice and the promotion of the Scientology belief system. The Church of Scientology International is the Church of Scientology's parent organization, and is responsible for the overall ecclesiastical management, dissemination and...
. Brown called Anonymous
Anonymous (group)
Anonymous is an international hacking group, spread through the Internet, initiating active civil disobedience, while attempting to maintain anonymity. Originating in 2003 on the imageboard 4chan, the term refers to the concept of many online community users simultaneously existing as an anarchic,...
"clowns," and invited them to call his bluff. He later had two members of the group on the show. After Anonymous
Anonymous (group)
Anonymous is an international hacking group, spread through the Internet, initiating active civil disobedience, while attempting to maintain anonymity. Originating in 2003 on the imageboard 4chan, the term refers to the concept of many online community users simultaneously existing as an anarchic,...
held a protest in front of Scientology
Scientology
Scientology is a body of beliefs and related practices created by science fiction and fantasy author L. Ron Hubbard , starting in 1952, as a successor to his earlier self-help system, Dianetics...
compounds around the world on February 10, 2008, Brown admitted that they had "proved me wrong."
The nature of the protest was unprecedented - picketers wore masks and refused to divulge names - and sparked a discussion on the show about the meaning of identity. Brown brought the issue to his own workplace, interviewing CBC
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...
's president Hubert Lacroix
Hubert Lacroix
Hubert T. Lacroix is a Canadian lawyer and the President and CEO of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation , the national public radio and television broadcaster....
in reaction to a conflict between him and an anonymous critic who went by the handle "Ouimet."
Producers / Contributors
Jesse Brown is the host and one of the producers of Search Engine. He has worked in multiple forms of mediaMass media
Mass media refers collectively to all media technologies which are intended to reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit their information electronically and comprise of television, film and radio, movies, CDs, DVDs and some other gadgets like cameras or video consoles...
, including print
Printing
Printing is a process for reproducing text and image, typically with ink on paper using a printing press. It is often carried out as a large-scale industrial process, and is an essential part of publishing and transaction printing....
, television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
, and radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
. He has primarily categorized himself as a humorist.
Brown's first formal recognition as a producer of media came at the age of 18, when he received the Udo award from Ryerson University School of Journalism in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
for starting a successful underground student newspaper at the school. He has since written for The Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail is a nationally distributed Canadian newspaper, based in Toronto and printed in six cities across the country. With a weekly readership of approximately 1 million, it is Canada's largest-circulation national newspaper and second-largest daily newspaper after the Toronto Star...
, the National Post
National Post
The National Post is a Canadian English-language national newspaper based in Don Mills, a district of Toronto. The paper is owned by Postmedia Network Inc. and is published Mondays through Saturdays...
and Vice
Vice (magazine)
VICE is a free magazine and media conglomerate founded in Montreal, Quebec and currently based in New York City.Vice is available in 27 countries...
.
In 2003, Brown launched a magazine called Stu under the pseudonym Stuart Neihardt. The magazine was billed as a reaction to the banality of "lad" magazines like Maxim
Maxim (magazine)
Maxim is an international men's magazine based in the United Kingdom and known for its pictorials featuring popular actresses, singers, and female models, sometimes pictured dressed, often pictured scantily dressed but not fully nude....
and FHM
FHM
FHM, originally published as For Him Magazine, is an international monthly men's lifestyle magazine.- History :The magazine began publication in 1985 in the United Kingdom under the name For Him and changed its title to FHM in 1994 when Emap Consumer Media bought the magazine, although the full For...
; something geared toward the "regular guy" (which Neihardt claimed to be).
During 2003 and 2004, Brown wrote a humor column called "The Experiment" for Saturday Night
Saturday Night (magazine)
Saturday Night was a Canadian general interest magazine. It was founded in Toronto, Ontario in 1887.The publication was first established as a weekly broadsheet newspaper about public affairs and the arts, which was later expanded into a general interest magazine. The editor, Edmund E. Sheppard,...
. Several of his articles won Honorable Mentions in the National Magazine Awards during those years."Stu Magazine" won the Silver spot in 2003.
In the summer of 2006, Brown hosted another CBC Radio
CBC Radio
CBC Radio generally refers to the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which are outlined below.-English:CBC Radio operates three English language...
show called The Contrarians that investigated the potential virtues of unpopular ideas.
Brown is currently listed as part of the editorial staff on the website FordPoweredByYou.ca, a site created by Ford of Canada for bloggers to post their thoughts on the ways in which the automotive realm intersects with technology, the environment, and everyday life. However, Brown says that he "was going to contribute, but we didn't see eye to eye on editorial stuff and I've never contributed anything to the site." He adds that he's been trying to get them to take his face off the site ever since.
Geoff Siskind is one of the producers of Search Engine. He has produced a number of documentaries - some of which have aired on various programs on the CBC
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...
. His work has been featured on Outfront
Outfront
Outfront was a Canadian radio program, which aired on CBC Radio One from 8:43 to 9 p.m. on Tuesday to Friday evenings, following the now defunct Nighttime Review....
, Sounds Like Canada
Sounds Like Canada
Sounds Like Canada was a Canadian radio program, which aired weekday mornings on CBC Radio One from 2002 to 2008. Until the end of May 2008, the program was hosted by the award-winning broadcaster Shelagh Rogers, and in the summers by a rotating series of guest hosts...
, The Omnivore, and CBC Radio 3
CBC Radio 3
CBC Radio 3 is a radio station that consists of two parts devoted to Canadian arts and music: a radio service which is available on Sirius Satellite Radio and streaming audio, and several daily and weekly podcasts from the CBC Radio 3 website...
.
Andrew Parker is one of the producers of Search Engine. He has worked as an editor and producer for the CBC
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...
since 1998. He has also freelanced for Deutsche Welle
Deutsche Welle
Deutsche Welle or DW, is Germany's international broadcaster. The service is aimed at the overseas market. It broadcasts news and information on shortwave, Internet and satellite radio on 98.7 DZFE in 30 languages . It has a satellite television service , that is available in four languages, and...
radio while living in Düsseldorf, Germany.
On May 7, 2008, Hannah Classen joined the team at Search Engine as the show's blog poster/moderator.
The audience also contributes to the makeup of the show. Collaborative efforts have been used in the past to rewrite the show's sign-off for grammar
Grammar
In linguistics, grammar is the set of structural rules that govern the composition of clauses, phrases, and words in any given natural language. The term refers also to the study of such rules, and this field includes morphology, syntax, and phonology, often complemented by phonetics, semantics,...
concerns and to redesign its logo
Logo
A logo is a graphic mark or emblem commonly used by commercial enterprises, organizations and even individuals to aid and promote instant public recognition...
. Story pitches are accepted through Search Engines website.
Search Engines theme song is called "Ethiopia Hagere." It was written and performed in a collaborative effort between Ethiopian saxophonist Getatchew Mekurya
Getatchew Mekurya
Getatchew Mekurya is an Ethiopian jazz saxophonist.-Early career:Mekurya began his musical studies on traditional Ethiopian instruments such as the krar and the masenqo, and later moved on to the saxophone and clarinet. Upon reaching adolescence, he began his professional career in 1949 as a part...
and punk band The Ex. It first appeared on the 2007 album Moa Anbessa.
Awards
Search Engine was listed in iTunes "Best of 2007" podcast list, under both Canadian and U.S. categories.The show has been nominated for two awards by the New York Festival Radio Awards. The finalist entries are Brown's essay on Zeitgeist, the Movie
Zeitgeist, the Movie
Zeitgeist: The Movie is a 2007 documentary film by Peter Joseph. It asserts a number of conspiracy theory-based ideas, including the Christ myth theory, alternative theories for the parties responsible for the September 11 attacks in 2001 and that bankers manipulate the international monetary...
nominated in the editorial/viewpoint category and documentary on Shannen Rossmiller
Shannen Rossmiller
Shannen Rossmiller, , is an American lecturer and instructor in cyber counter-intelligence forensics and a former Montana municipal court judge who has had a controversial role as a vigilante online terrorist-hunter, and who was once part of the 7Seas group.A former high school cheerleader,...
, the housewife turned online terrorist hunter nominated in the community/portrait category.