Importance of Shortwave | The SWLing Post

As World Radio Day approaches, writer Mehmet Burk (founder of ReliefAnalysis.com) considers the importance of shortwave radio, especially in terms of disaster relief.

Burke posted the article, Why The Humanitarian Community Should Shape The Future Of Shortwave on Interaction.org. Here’s a quote:

“In the 1980s and 1990s, shortwave radio was an audio version of today’s internet. Almost every nation on earth broadcast a shortwave signal and vital humanitarian news and local depictions of current events could literally be heard half a world away. The Internet did to shortwave broadcasting market much like what it did to print newspapers.[…]

But radio remains the most wide-reaching media platform in the world today. In areas like Africa and the Pacific, it is the dominant form of communication. Like no other form of media, radio can bridge the digital divide and literacy divide in regions across the globe. Radio receivers can be made to be inexpensive, ruggedized, and indispensable in a disaster or humanitarian situation. In the future, shortwave receivers may even simply be stand-alone microchips we can activate using our smartphones and tablets.”

I’m honored that Burk reached out and even quoted me in this article.

Click here to read: Why The Humanitarian Community Should Shape The Future Of Shortwave.

Many thanks to Mehmet Burk for considering radio’s importance in the wake of disaster and honoring World Radio Day 2014!

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I found this BBC profile on Somalia quite indicative of many countries in Africa. In light of cuts that the BBC World Service has been facing, this short article, about Somalia’s fragmented media landscape, admits that shortwave plays a vital roll in domestic news.

The TV and press sectors are weak and radio is the dominant medium. There are around 20 radio stations, but no national, domestic broadcaster. Many listeners tune to Somali-language media based abroad, in particular the BBC Somali service. The latter is available on shortwave, and via FM relays in Mogadishu (91.1), the Somaliland capital Hargeisa (89.0), and elsewhere.

They go on to say:

The Somali diaspora – in the West, the Gulf states and elsewhere – sustains a rich internet presence. But domestic web access is hampered by practicalities such as limited access to mains electricity. There were 102,000 internet users by September 2009 (Internetworldstats). In secessionist Somaliland and Puntland the authorities maintain a tight hold on broadcasting.

Shortwave listeners in Somalia, one should note, also listen to the likes of the Voice of America, Radio Netherlands Worldwide, Radio France International and many others. Most of whom are facing cuts right now as national budgets are being tightened in the economic recession. To those living in Somalia, where the media is fragmented and untrustworthy, shortwave radio represents a lifeline of information.

As we mentioned in this previous post, please consider speaking up on behalf of those without a voice. Let international broadcasters and their governing bodies know how crucial shortwave services are into impoverished regions of the world.

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