Tag Archives: RCI

RCI Action Committee: What you can do

You’ll find e-mail and mailing addresses of all Members of Parliament here:

http://www.parl.gc.ca/MembersOfParliament/MainMPsCompleteList.aspx?TimePeriod=Current&Language=E

You’ll find e-mail and mailing addresses for all Senators here:

http://www.parl.gc.ca/SenatorsMembers/Senate/SenatorsBiography/ISenator.asp?Language=E

Spread the radio love

The Gazette: CBC cuts gut cherished international service

More attention to the cuts at RCI from The Gazette of Montreal. This article features quotes from my friend, Sheldon Harvey of the CIDX and the International Radio Report:

(Source: The Gazette)

MONTREAL – Lost amid the auditor-general’s report last week on the F-35 fighter planes and Canada raising the retirement age to 67, was news of the impending demise of Radio Canada International – the CBC’s international service, for many a lifeline to Canadian culture and politics, from as far away as Hanoi or Rio de Janeiro.

While CBC, like other crown corporations and government departments, has to cut 10 per cent of its overall budget as a result of federal cutbacks, RCI, which is administered by the CBC but has long been its poor cousin, was told more than 80 per cent of its budget would be slashed, or $10 million of $12.3 million.

[…]“Upsetting,” “absolutely dreadful,” “shocking.” Those were the words listeners from Bulgaria to Missouri used to describe the end of RCI’s shortwave broadcasts after more than six decades on the air.

[…]Sheldon Harvey, the president of the Canadian International DX Club, and a longtime shortwave enthusiast, said the international service, over the decades, has gained a stellar reputation, ranked just behind the BBC World Service – despite its relatively tiny budget – for its balanced, neutral perspective.

It was never a propaganda tool, like the Voice of America, he said.

“They have table scraps thrown at them, yet are able to put together such high-quality broadcasts for people around the world,” Harvey said. “To see that tossed aside is really sad.”

[T]he idea that listeners in other countries can all go online is farcical, Harvey said. Only 22 per cent of the population in the developing world has access to the Internet, whereas anyone with a wind-up or solar-powered radio can receive shortwave transmissions. What’s more, governments can block the Internet – as they have in Iran, China and parts of the Arab world – all part of today’s Iron Curtain. But as was seen during the Cold War, it’s almost impossible to block shortwave frequencies. If the Soviet Union jammed some frequencies, broadcasters could simply switch to others, Harvey said, and the cat and mouse game continued.

Up till now, RCI also has served to introduce people to Canada during peacetime, whether as potential visitors, trading partners or immigrants, Harvey said. Shutting down its broadcasts is like closing down embassies and trade missions. “It’s waiting for people to come to us, as opposed to knocking on their doors … I don’t think the government realizes how much of the world they are cutting off by doing this.”

[…]“CBC’s mandate is to inform Canadians. But it’s important to have a broader perspective here. … If you believe this country has something to say, you can’t support these cuts.”

Read the full article at The Gazette. We are actively posting news about the RCI cuts here on the SLWing Post and we also welcome your comments.

You will find the latest news by following our tag: RCI Cuts

Spread the radio love

The Gazette: Tributes to RCI pour in from around the world

CKUT’s International Radio Report sheds light on RCI cuts

1 Reply

The International Radio Report with Wojtek (left), Janice (center) and Sheldon (right). Photo: RCI Action

Sunday, concerned as I am about the deep cuts to RCI’s (Radio Canada International’s) vital radio programming, I listened to CKUT‘s International Radio Report with much interest. Hosts (and good friends) Sheldon and Janice were joined by Wojtek Gwiazda, RCI Action Committee spokesperson, as their on-air guest. RCI Action is a coalition that has worked to restore RCI funding since cuts in 1991; Wojtek explains some of their history in the interview.

Most importantly, the interview provides insight into the internal reaction to the program cuts and changes. Wojtek makes many excellent points, including the fact that since RCI’s English and French news rooms are being eliminated, Canada will effectively have no international voice, no means to offer their opinion of world events. He also notes that, even though the US has the VOA, and UK has the BBC World Service, these countries also have periodicals such as the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, so forth, all of which carry their voices abroad. Canada, sadly, has no such international news presence. Indeed, I’m aware that The Toronto Star, Canada’s largest newspaper, has very limited international exposure).

If, like me, you’re interested in the recent developments at RCI–or in reductions to radio’s international presence generally–this show is a must-listen.

Click here to download this episode of the International Radio Report. Click here for an audio archive of past shows.

Note that Wojtek Gwiazda, besides his role with RCI Action, also hosts a show on RCI called Masala Canada. On Saturday, he posted the following message “off mic” for his listeners:

Saturday, April 7, 2012 – 13:34

Why the silence? And a budget cut.

I wanted to take a moment to explain why I’ve been so silent on this site in the last few days.

Some of you may have heard by now that this past Wednesday, Canada’s national radio and television public broadcaster CBC/Radio-Canada announced the impact of federal government cutbacks to the financing of the broadcaster.

Many services will be affected, many people will lose their jobs.

At Radio Canada International – the effects are quite devastating.

Our budget of $12.3 million will be reduced to $2.3 million.

At least, two-thirds of our staff will be laid off.

We will no longer broadcast on shortwave. The only presence we’ll have is on the Internet, on our website.

The RCI newsroom will be closed, there will be no newscasts.

Our Russian service will be closed, the Brazilian program eliminated.

What will be left is a presence on our website in English, French, Arabic, Mandarin and Spanish. What kind of presence this will be, is yet to be determined.

And yes, that means, that as with everything else that’s being eliminated, the last edition of MASALA CANADA will be on June 23rd.

So far that is all that we know.

I can tell you that there is a union supported lobby group, the RCI Action Committee, which is actively lobbying to stop the cuts. Whether it will be successful, is unknown.

I’ll give you updates when I can.

All the best,

Wojtek

Spread the radio love

RCI’s Sackville towers to be featured in film

2 Replies

(Source: CBC)

A Moncton artist is now working against the clock to film the Radio-Canada International shortwave towers in her latest film project.

Budget cuts at CBC announced last week mean the towers, near Sackville, N.B., will soon be shut down, but it’s not known exactly what will happen to the towers themselves.

Amanda Dawn Christie said she remembers coming and going from Moncton and the towers signifying that she was almost home.

“Whenever I would drive in, I would just be filled with this exhilaration and I don’t know if it’s the high voltage. Like, some people get headaches and nauseous; I would get exhilarated,” she said. “So I don’t know if it was my interest or if it was the high voltage, but I definitely had this sense of ‘wow.'”

She said she’s heard similar stories as she’s started interviewing people for her feature film.

Christie’s been studying the towers for years.

She even created a sculpture on the marsh near the towers — a kitchen sink designed to catch radio waves — a phenomenon often reported by locals.

Now she’s collecting stories of people who call the towers their landmark, or a tightrope school because of the wires, or the connection to Africa or the Arctic.

Christie said she’s particularly fond of the sight at dawn and dusk.

“The sky’s kind of pink and blue, and the lights are on but you can still see all the towers and the wires. It’s very magical,” she said. “If you don’t know what it is, you’re filled with wonder. And the thing is, if you do know what it is, you’re still filled with wonder.”

Instead of the shortwave towers, RCI will broadcast internationally online.

In truth, even when RCI’s Sackville, NB site is decommissioned, I doubt the towers will be brought down immediately. It’s actually quite an engineering feat to dismantle these. I would hope RCI offers other broadcasters the opportunity to dismantle and use them. VOA (or the IBB) had success doing this at their Greenville, NC transmission site (Site A).

Spread the radio love

All In A Weekend: Bon voyage to David Bronstetter, from an unlikely listener

3 Replies

Dave Bronstetter hosting All In A Weekend at the CBC studio in Montreal. (photo: CBC)

I believe it was in the fall of 2007 that I first tuned to the enlightening CBC Montreal program, All In A Weekend, with host David Bronstetter. Unlike listeners in Montreal, or anywhere in the province of Quebec, for that matter, I didn’t hear the show on FM radio, nor streaming over the internet–it was on a shortwave radio.

You see, each Saturday and Sunday morning at 7:00 EST (12:00 UTC) Radio Canada International turns on a shortwave transmitter at their Sackville, New Brunswick site, and broadcasts CBC Radio One Montreal programming on 9,625 kHz for North Quebec. They’ve done this for years. That means that many of us south of the Canadian border can catch the “back side” of this broad signal quite easily.

When I first heard All in A Weekend, I was favorably impressed by the program’s host, Dave Bronstetter. When I landed on his voice the first time, he was in the middle of an interview, and even in that brief interval of tuning I could tell that this was an insightful interviewer. Returning to hear the following half-hour segments of the show, I learned that his keen intelligence was manifest not only in intimate, articulate, and adaptive interviews with his guests, but also in an absurd wit.

In short, I was hooked.

From that day forward, I joined thousands of Quebec listeners, right here from my home in the southern US, as we tuned in All In A Weekend. Dave and his Montreal crew became my weekend morning coffee companions.

Dave chats with host Sonali Karnick, Elias Abboud, and Nancy Wood. (source: CBC Radio One)

In my many years of listening to radio, I’ve heard hundreds of hosts from around the world, but this guy stood apart. Dave Bronstetter’s hosting was fueled by a quick wit, which he wove into his interviews with an eloquence that would make any comic green with envy. Moreover, this fun, catch-’em off-guard approach resulted in better interviews with his diverse guests, all excellent listening, such as with famous jazz photographer Herman Leonard, singer Emilie-Claire Barlow (and many other Canadian artists like her, whom I’ve since learned to appreciate), and a stand-out interview with a Palestinian that I haven’t forgotten, nor am likely to.

And more than once, while reporting weather, in the midst of listing all the towns and cities across the vast province of Quebec, Dave slyly inserted the tiny town where I then lived. This always made me start, and brought a chuckle. Of course, I couldn’t help thinking that this caught the attention of many other listeners, too, but leaving them scratching their noggins–Sylva, Quebec? Where on earth’s that–?

Radio Canada International's Sackville, New Brunswick shortwave transmitter site. (photo: Wikimedia Commons)

How could Dave have known about Sylva? Well, he interacted with his listeners, and I was no exception. It didn’t matter if listeners were sending him a compliment or complaining about the fact that he was reading off the wind speed in Baie-Comeau and Kuujjuaq, he paid attention. I would dash off an email to request songs, play along with his contests, or brag about our lovely Southern-states weather when Montreal was having a brutally chilly day. Many of my emails were sarcastic, and Dave’s rebuttals, two-fold.

Once, Dave actually made a call to my home in Sylva and interviewed me on the air. A couple of days prior to the interview, he called to ask my permission and to, well, just chat. We probably talked for an hour–even in that casual conversation, I noted his interviewing talent: I felt like I was talking with an old friend, one who understood me and appreciated my offbeat sense of humor.

Many times while listening to All in a Weekend, I reflected, this is what I love about radio. The footprint is vast–it jumps national borders with ease, and offers an instant level of interaction that’s hard to replicate even in our internet-driven age.

To my dismay, Dave recently announced that he was retiring after 33 years with the CBC. Last Saturday’s show was his last.

At least, so he says.

Regardless, I can tell you this: I will miss my buddy, Dave Bronstetter, on the air. I know of no replacement, and I can only imagine how difficult it may be for the charming Sonali Karnick to follow his tough act. I hope it will be by carving her own unique personality into the show. That’s what gave the unassuming All In A Weekend its moxie in the first place, and drew me in regularly to listen.

My hat’s off to you, Dave; may you enjoy whatever you do going forward. You are unquestionably one of a kind. And please–keep in touch!

Want to hear what the send-off broadcast All In A Weekend sounded like on shortwave radio? Try this:

Spread the radio love