Chris Lydon's re-return

Christopher Lydon is back — again.

A couple of days ago I was checking my podcast subscriptions on iTunes when I saw that some new content had popped up in "Open Source," his late, lamented public radio program. I made a mental note to investigate. Then, yesterday, Lydon and his producer, Mary McGrath, sent out an e-mail announcement that began, "The summer is over, and so is our hiatus," and that explained the program has moved to Brown University.

It sounds as though Lydon has given up on radio: "Podcasting is the cheap, democratic, speedy, listener-friendly universal means of sharing and archiving original sound files of every kind." But that's fine with me. I'm not sure I ever listened to more than a few minutes of "Open Source" on the radio, but I frequently downloaded programs that sounded interesting. (They were.)

Looks like some good stuff is available. I'm going to start with Kanan Makiya — also the guest during a rip-roaring hour on Tom Ashbrook's "On Point" recently — and Oliver Sacks.

Photo of Lydon (cc) by Andy Carvin. Some rights reserved.

"Open Source," closed doors

Christopher Lydon and Mary McGrath have announced that this is the last week of "Open Source" for the summer — and, let's be honest, maybe ever. I hope it returns, but I'll miss it if it doesn't. (Via Adam Reilly.)

Hidden in plain sight

While we wait to hear whether Christopher Lydon's radio show, "Open Source," can survive being dropped by WGBH Radio (89.7 FM), have a look at Mark Glaser's MediaShift column on how "Open Source" uses its Web site to develop program ideas.

"Open Source" producer/co-creator Mary McGrath writes: "Alas, we never stopped running into people who didn't know we were on the air in Boston at all." I've heard the same thing, and I'm not sure why. "Open Source" has been on the air Monday through Thursday from 7 to 8 p.m. for about two years, and people still occasionally ask me if I know whether Lydon is up to anything these days. A shame.

Funding crisis hits MediaChannel

The MediaChannel, a nonprofit watchdog organization founded seven years ago, is in danger of going under by the end of June.

The organization was begun in 2000 by two former Boston journalists, Danny Schechter and Rory O'Connor. Schechter recently released a new documentary, "In Debt We Trust." O'Connor is a founder of NewsTrust, a social network that rates news stories and organizations.

Here's an excerpt from MediaChannel's fundraising appeal:

"It is sad to have to shut down an important service in the public interest because our not-for-profit site can't attract sufficient resources to support a very small staff or to pay necessary bills including rent, server fees and utilities," said Danny Schechter, co-founder of the international web platform that launched February 1, 2000. "The ultimate irony is that MediaChannel has never been better — its traffic is up and its impact strong, as is the quality of its timely and diverse offerings, which include original reports, blogs, videos, features and media news from across the world."

MediaChannel may not get as much attention as Media Matters for America, which also analyzes the media from a left-of-center point of view, but with a more partisan political edge. But it does good work, and it would be a shame if it disappeared.

Also banging the tin cup: Christopher Lydon's excellent public radio program, "Open Source," which lost its funding from UMass Lowell last year. Clea Simon has the update in Wednesday's Globe.