RNW Madagascar (Photo courtesy of RNW)
Yesterday, after posting the article about the new transmitter at the RNW Madagascar relay station, I decided to hunt for the station on the bands.
It wasn’t much of a hunt, as RNW’s Madagascar signal was booming into North America on 11,655 kHz.
Below, you’ll find a 1:11 recording of the broadcast I heard, starting at about 18:45 UTC. [Note that at the point of recording, the program “Earthbeat” had only just concluded.]
(Source: Media Network Newsletter)
Media Network Newsletter
By Andy Sennitt
22 December 2011
Several people asked us if we had any photos of the first ABB transmitter to go into service at our Madagascar relay station. The transmitter, formerly used by Radio Sweden at the Hörby transmitter site, is in regular service in place of an old Philips transmitter following successful tests a few weeks ago. I have published some photos in the Weblog.
http://blogs.rnw.nl/
These photos are all © Radio Netherlands Worldwide.
Jonathan Marks has re-released The Hitch-Hikers Guide to DXing. In his own words:
It is thirty years ago since I wrote a rather silly parody on both international radio broadcasting based on my favorite radio series at the time, the Hitch-Hikers Guide to the Galaxy. There seemed to be so much to make fun of at the time…the boring propaganda at the height of the Cold War, jamming, the waste of energy shouting from one country to another, and the variable quality of reaction from listeners. I don’t think it was the listeners’s fault that most of the feedback was very technical, to do with signal strength and QSL cards rather than comments on the programme. May be people were being too polite.
[…]There wasn’t much time to write radio drama on the second floor of the Radio Netherlands building. And there was no budget to hire actors. So I just rattled it off on a typewriter and asked colleagues to come and read their parts in a lunchtime recording session. This was all two track material, sliced together with a chinagraph pencil and a razor blade. In total we made 5 in 1981 to fit the 5th Thursday in the month, and then one more in 1982 as a Christmas special.
To listen to all five episodes, simply cruise to the Media Network Vintage Vault and start with Episode 1. It’s well worth a listen and a nice little piece of 1981 RNW ingenuity.
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.
Unfortunately, it appears the RNW budget cuts will take place–details will emerge in October.
The Dutch parliament has voted against two motions which might have blunted the effect of the budget cuts facing Radio Netherlands Worldwide.
One motion called for a separate debate devoted to the future of RNW. Previous debates tackled the cutbacks facing all public broadcasting. The other criticised the decision-making as hasty and called for a postponement.
Effectively, this vote means that the cabinet’s plans to move RNW from the education, media and culture ministry to the foreign ministry and cut the budget from 46.3 million euros to 14 million will definitely go ahead.
RNW’s management will now draw up a redundancy plan, which is expected to be completed in October.
Again, it’s still not too late to voice your opinion. As with the BBC WS cuts, perhaps there is still some hope.
(Source: RNW Media Network)
More than 11,000 people have signed a petition to preserve RNW’s Dutch-language broadcasts. Iede de Vries, Chairman of the Action Committee, says that in addition there are about 7000 signatures from listeners who depend on programmes in one of the other nine languages. There are also separate petitions from former ambassadors, business and journalisitic organizations. Mr De Vries will lead a delegation from RNW who will hand the petitions to the Dutch parliament on Monday, prior to the debate about the substantial cuts in public broadcasting, including RNW.
Read full article at RNW Media Network. You can join the thousands who support RNW here.
RNW headquarters in Hilversum, Netherlands (photo coutesty: RNW)
In the aftermath of RNW’s budget being cut by 70%, prominent world citizens have been voicing support for RNW:
“I will raise my voice and will do my utmost to convince the Dutch government of the powerful effect of Radio Netherlands Worldwide and the value of its work which mustn’t be lost.” –Nobel Peace Laureate, Adolfo Perez Esquivel (Argentina)
Would you like to add your voice? Go to this site and sign a petition in support of RNW.