The BBC is conducting an experiment using blogs to decide the content of the PM radio programme. They call it iPM.

I checked out the details with Chris Vallance of the BBC today what they are doing with it.  

The idea is to add real interactivity to the programme. As one of the team, Rubert Allman says,

iPM is a weekly programme as well as a podcast. The “i” stands for interactive and “i” as in something personal. You can discuss ideas with the production team on this blog and during the course of the week you can view and comment on stories that are being lined up for Saturday's programme.

Chris explains that the ideas for content comes from two sources – conversations on the blogosphere (which the team is tracking and monitoring for potential news stories) and listeners suggestions. Comments on the blog influence the content of the programme although the ‘editorial’ team do the final selection.

At the moment there are no plans to engage ‘citizen journalists’.

There is no set end date for the experiment (although Chris mentioned the end of December) and no pre-agreed measure of what ‘success’ will look like. It will be up to us as listeners to influence the programme and ensure the experiment is continued.

The 10^th of November at 5.30pm is the date of the first programme.

If you have an idea for an item drop the team a comment on their blog.

There is also a Facebook group page.