Tag Archives: VOA

Will Voice of Russia return to shortwave October 2014?

SWLing Post reader, Stephen Cooper, writes:

“Voice of Russia to return to shortwave October 1, 2014. A new schedule has been uploaded to HFCC from GFC for The Voice of Russia from 1st October including English to North America and Europe: http://hfcc.org/data/schedbyfmo.php?seas=A14&fmor=GFC“

I thought, perhaps, these were schedules posted prior to VOR leaving the air, but Stephen notes that VOR has posted and made constant changes to their B14 schedules as well. Stephen follows schedules closely as he has a website and app devoted to shortwave radio schedules.

This does seem like a lot of effort if VOR has no intention of returning to the shortwaves.

Stephen also points to this article which mentions that Russia may be bringing back shortwave and a new body might be in charge of operations.

I suspect if VOR is returning to shortwave, it is in reaction to the recent changes at the Voice of America/Radio Liberty and the promise that HR4490 might increase a pro-US presence on the air.

In the end, we might not know until VOR actually resumes shortwave broadcasts.

We will keep you posted! Follow the tag: VOR

Spread the radio love

Radio World: International Broadcasters Reconsider Shortwave

2 Replies

Check out this article from Radio World which addresses the state of shortwave radio broadcasting.

Jeff White of WRMI and Kim Elliott of the VOA are both interviewed. Elliott even speaks about the virtues of the VOA Radiogram experiments which have had success circumventing shortwave radio jamming (broadcasts which were completely omitted from the BBG Special Committee report on the efficacy of shortwave radio).

Click here to read the full article at Radio World.

Spread the radio love

VOA Greek language service to end Tuesday, August 12

End of an era: The Greek Service of the Voice of America ceases operations

The end of operation of the Greek Service of VOA (Voice of America) after 72 years was announced yesterday by the radio network. The decision was taken due to cuts in the budget allocated for the operation of the news organization, but also due to the effort to use the broadcaster for the diplomatic needs of the United States. The last show will be aired Tuesday morning via satellite and it will be relayed to Greece by Skai Radio and City 106,1 in Thessaloniki. The first broadcast of the Voice of America, the official foreign-language radio in the United States was the February 1, 1942 in German with the announcer WIlliam Harlan Hale. The Greek was one of the 25 languages of the first network and airs on November 1, 1942.

The history of the Greek service

The presence of the Voice of America was very evident in the Greek territory, as the giant of American propaganda during the Cold War had settled in Greece, two of the most powerful transmitters in order to broadcast to Eastern Europe.

The radio transmitters of the Voice of America settled in Greece after the civil war, as part of the implementation of the Truman Doctrine. Then, the American state sent to Greece a set of equipment, “to facilitate the Greek Institute of Radio”, but which was used extensively for broadcasts programs from Washington. The first equipment arrived in 1949, and included a medium wave transmitter WESTERN ELECTRIC 50 KW and four shortwave transmitters COLLINS 30 KW, placed by the Voice of America in Perea Thessaloniki, by providing facilities for radio broadcast abroad: ‘Voice of homeland “of E.I.R (later the 5th of ERA). Also, the Voice of America originally had a floating the radio station on the medium wave powered 150 KW, aboard a ship called Courier, which was anchored in Rhodes and had its antenna mounted on a balcony.

The almost arbitrary installations of radio transmitters legalized later by a series of agreements between the American and the Greek Government and the relocation of equipment in Rhodes (Koskinous, Sgouros, Afandou), Xanthi (Dasochori) and Kavala (Agiasma). The last two agreements in 1997 and 2002, under which the American service undertook the responsibility to provide technical assistance and equipment (transmitters medium and short) to the Greek Radio. The transmitters in the Greek area set off in 2006, as part of policy to reduce shortwave. Then it was considered that the Greek stops as well, but the reactions of Greek-American associations eventually blocked the decision and the Greek radio program continued to broadcast via satellite, internet and FM stations as relayed by the Sky and the City International.

In 2006, despite the fact that the Voice of America left behind two very powerful transmitters, which could be used by the Greek Radio, eventually due to high maintenance cost , the broadcasting sites remained inoperative. Indeed, a few months ago, the abandoned facilities of the Voice of America in Xanthi to contain dangerous materials for the environment.

Readers: please contact me if you are able to record this final broadcast as I would like to add it to the Shortwave Radio Audio Archive.

Again, our thanks to TheGreekRadio.com who publishes news about all aspects of Greek radio on their site. Please check it out!

Spread the radio love

BBG publishes report on the efficacy and future of shortwave radio

7 Replies

Many thanks to SWLing Post reader, Bennett Kobb, who shares this downloadable Report of the Special Committee on the Future of Shortwave Broadcasting. If you recall, this report was produced by a Broadcasting Board of Governors committee and chaired by Matt Armstrong.

Both Bennett and I believe it’s unfortunate that the committee failed to recognize one of VOA’s most innovative shortwave products: the VOA Radiogram.

Below you can read the full press release which accompanied the report:

(Source: BBG)

WASHINGTON (August 1, 2014) — The Broadcasting Board of Governors today released “To Be Where the Audience Is,” a report that found shortwave radio to be essential to listeners in target countries, but of marginal impact in most markets. The report’s recommendations came after a comprehensive review, grounded in audience-based research, of the efficacy of shortwave as a distribution platform for U.S. international media.

“Shortwave radio continues to be an important means for large numbers of people in some countries to receive news and information,” said Matt Armstrong, who chaired the BBG’s Special Committee on the Future of Shortwave Broadcasting, which issued the report. “However, many of our networks’ target audiences have moved to newer platforms including TV, FM and digital media. This report maps a way forward for U.S. international media to remain accessible for all our audiences.”

Research-based evidence of media trends suggests that the increased availability and affordability of television, mobile devices and Internet access has led to the declining use of shortwave around the world. Still, the report finds that substantial audiences embrace shortwave in Nigeria, Burma, North Korea, Afghanistan, Somalia, Zimbabwe, Cuba and other target markets for the BBG.

At the same time, the committee’s recommendations make clear that the BBG will need to continue to reduce or eliminate shortwave broadcasts where there is either minimal audience or that audience is not a U.S. foreign policy priority. It also ratifies reductions that were made in redundant signals in 2013 and further cuts in transmissions that were made in 2014.

Even with these recent reductions, the BBG makes programs in 35 of its 61 broadcast languages available on shortwave where there is a strategic reason to do so.

The report notes there is no evidence that shortwave usage increases during crises. At such times, audiences continue to use their preferred platforms or seek out anti-censorship tools to help them navigate to the news online, including firewall circumvention tools or offline media including thumb drives and DVDs.

The Shortwave Committee report will be discussed at the August 13 public meeting of the Broadcasting Board of Governors. The report can be found here.

Spread the radio love

BBG Watch: VOA coverage of H.R.4490 “lacks balance”

1 Reply

(Source: BBG Watch)

“It took Voice of America a few hours to post a report, which includes quotes by two outside opponents of the bill: former VOA deputy director Alan Heil and Reporters Without Borders Secretary-General Christophe Deloire, but has no quotes from any outside supporters of the bill, including human rights NGOs, U.S. community leaders, and former Voice of America journalists who wrote a letter to President Obama in support of the legislation.

So much for balance in Voice of America news reporting as required by the VOA Charter.

For an alternative view, see BBG Watch report and commentary on the House passage of H.R. 4490, called the U.S. International Communications Reform Act of 2014.

If VOA English News quotes non-congressional critics of the bipartisan bill — there was no criticism of the bipartisan bill voiced today in Congress since it is widely supported as essential for saving Voice of America from mismanagement — VOA English News should have also quoted non-congressional supporters of the bill.”

Continue reading…

Hat tip to SWLing Post reader, Dan for sharing this post.

Spread the radio love

US House passes H.R. 4490

2 Replies

View of the Capitol Building from the roof of the Voice of America on 330 Independence Ave., S.W.

The United States International Communications Reform Act of 2014 (H.R. 4490) has just passed the the House today, next it will go before the US Senate.

This bill proposes major changes to the overall structure of US international broadcasting. Click here to read previous posts about the bill and read the press release below for more information.

We will update the SWLing Post with news about H.R.4490 as it is presented before the Senate–follow the tag HR4490.

(Source: House Committee On Foreign Affairs)

Washington, D.C. – Today, Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA), Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, applauded House passage of bipartisan reform legislation to improve the missions, objectives, and effectiveness of U.S. international broadcasters, such as the Voice of America (VOA), Radio Free Europe-Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), Radio Free Asia (RFA), and the Middle East Broadcasting Network (MBN). The legislation, the United States International Communications Reform Act of 2014 (H.R. 4490) was unanimously passed by the Foreign Affairs Committee in April. Chairman Royce and Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY), the Committee’s Ranking Memberintroduced the legislation in April.

On House passage of H.R. 4490, Chairman Royce said: “For many years, our international broadcasting has been broken and ineffective. While strongmen, despots, and terrorists are working overtime on their public disinformation campaigns, the U.S. Broadcasting Board of Governors, which oversees our international broadcast efforts, meets once a month. The status quo is a recipe for failure on the critical information front. The legislation the House passed today provides serious reforms to U.S. international broadcasting, allowing for a strong, effective tool in the fight against censorship and harmful misinformation.”

H.R. 4490 reforms U.S. international broadcasting, including in the following ways:

Fixes Well-documented Management Problems — Currently, five U.S. international broadcasting entities report to the Broadcasting Board of Governors (“BBG”), a group of 9 part-time individuals, who meet once a month to make management decisions. Important decisions can languish if the Board does not have a quorum, which is often the case. This legislation would establish a full-time, day-to-day agency head and reduce the role of the Board to a more appropriate advisory capacity. These changes have been recommended by the State Department’s Office of the Inspector General and are widely recognized as needed reforms.

Clarifies the Mission of the Voice of America (VOA) — The VOA charter states that VOA will provide a “clear and effective presentation of the policies of the United States.” Over time, VOA has abandoned this mission and adopted a mission of the so-called “surrogates” to provide uncensored local news and information to people in closed societies. This legislation makes clear that the Voice of America mission is to support U.S. public diplomacy efforts.

Consolidates “the Freedom Broadcasters” — Radio Free Europe-Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), Radio Free Asia (RFA), and the Middle East Broadcasting Network (MBN) have the same mission – to provide uncensored local news and information to people in closed societies – with different geographic reach. Consolidating these organizations into a single, non-federal organization will achieve cost savings, allow for closer collaboration, and improve responsiveness. While the consolidation would mean shared administrative staff and other economies of scale, they would retain their distinct “brand names.”

For information of Chairman Royce’s efforts to reform international broadcasting, visit www.foreignaffairs.house.gov/broadcasting.