![]() Murrow Transmitting Station near Greenville, North Carolina. ![]() The broadcaster was no longer seen as relevant, and there was a real effort to reduce subsidies from conservative or even more right-wing politicians … So we were cut off and had to go off the air.” “The Dutch government had decided to cut the subsidy to Radio Nederland Wereldomroep by 70%. “In 2012, public international radio in The Netherlands had to stop broadcasting, said Jennifer Bushee, RNW Media’s communication and stakeholder manager. But it wasn’t the only factor populism also played a part. Money was a major factor in the death of Radio Netherlands (in Dutch: Radio Nederland Wereldomroep), which was succeeded in other media (including the web) by RNW Media. “The power requirements of shortwave transmitters pumping out 50, 250, or 500 kW is substantial, and the infrastructure - the large antennas, feedlines, transmitters, power supplies - all require regular maintenance from expert technicians.” “Shortwave broadcasting is expensive when compared with streaming or ‘broadcasting’ online,” Witherspoon said. The unofficial reason for so many governments leaving shortwave was to save money. There was logic to this argument: “Large government broadcasters, have always tried to reach the ‘influencers’ in a country those who might eventually help guide a country’s policy and international relationships,” said Thomas Witherspoon, editor of the shortwave listener website “And the great majority of these influencers, according to audience research, have moved to social media and the internet as a source of information.”Ī 1960s’ vintage National Panasonic multiband shortwave radio receiver. The BBC World Service’s web-first focus was subsequently adopted by many state-run broadcasters, who also cut back on their shortwave broadcasts (or left the band entirely) in favor of the web. You can have your say to a global audience.” “You can listen to a program when you want. “For media users, the internet unlocks a whole new world of information tailored to you as an individual,” Byford continued. SW broadcasters like the Voice of America would send souvenir cards to listeners who reported when they heard identified transmissions, on what frequency, and at what signal strength and quality. “The clever Chinese strategy seems to have been to wait for all the major western shortwave players to leave the scene, and then move in to fill the vacuum, making China Radio International virtually the only shortwave show in town.” Classic information and entertainment are also practically nonexistent,” he added. “Today, there is very little uncensored information available on shortwave. However, events since then have proved that to have been a false (and even foolish) notion.” “It was based on what many believed to be the end of the Cold War. “In my opinion, the abandonment of shortwave for international broadcasting was a mistake,” said Zanotti. But this time, many of the powerful international voices that brought Western news and views to nondemocratic countries are now only found on the web - where adversarial governments can easily block them. ![]() Now it is 2019, and another Cold War has resumed with the West on one side and Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea on the other. Renamed Voice of Russia in 1993 (and Radio Sputnik in 2014), this Eastern European powerhouse left the shortwave bands for good on April 1, 2014. Later, others like Radio Netherlands, Radio Sweden, Deutsche Welle and Austrian Radio followed suit.” So did Radio Canada International, Radio Australia, Radio Budapest, Radio Portugal, Radio Finland, Radio Denmark and even Radio Moscow. “Swiss Radio International accepted this uncritically and was the first to announce the complete closure of its shortwave operations. Radio Moscow 50th anniversary commemorative stamp. Digital radio is now currently making strong inroads in many countries where key analog AM and FM services are closing down.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |