Tag Archives: VOA

VOA White House Correspondent Dan Robinson Retires

DanRobinson-WhiteHouse

Noted Voice of America reporter, Dan Robinson, retired on Friday, February 28, 2014 after 35 years of service to the international broadcaster and listeners around the world. Many of us are fortunate to know Dan: not only is he highly respected as a correspondent, but he is also an avid shortwave listener and DXer.

Dan Robinson with Aung San Suu Kyi.

Dan Robinson with Aung San Suu Kyi.

Amongst other news source, Dan’s early retirement was noted by BBG Watch and The Federalist. BBG Watch stated:

“[Dan Robinson], as other VOA reporters before him, apparently decided they could no longer tolerate mismanagement and poor work environment.”

Former members of the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), Ambassador Victor Ashe and Ms. Blanquita Cullum, noted his retirement as “a loss” to the agency.

I encourage you to read the full report on BBG Watch.

I’ve just learned that Dan Robinson will be the keynote speaker at the Winter SWL Fest this week.

Best wishes moving forward, Dan! I know you’ll continue to have meaningful impact through your future ventures.

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BBG seeks comments on relevancy of shortwave radio

The United States’ Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG)–the governing body responsible for all US international broadcasting–is asking for your comments on the relevancy of shortwave radio broadcasting today.

Teacher in rural South Sudan with an ETOW radio. (Project Education Sudan Journey of Hope 2010)

Teacher in rural South Sudan who relies on shortwave radio to learn about international and domestic news. (Photo: Ears To Our World and Project Education Sudan Journey of Hope 2010)

In short, simply send the BBG an email (limited to 1,200 words or less) with your comments by March 14th, 2014.

The BBG has set up the following email address: [email protected]

As a favor, I ask that every SWLing Post reader consider sending their comments in support of shortwave radio broadcasting, even if you argue in favor of reduced capacity.

There are still so many parts of the world–impoverished areas, and states with repressive regimes–that rely on shortwave radio for information access. Additionally, shortwave radio can serve as an information source, domestically, in times of large-scale disasters.

I’ve tagged dozens of posts here on the SWLing Post which reference the necessity of shortwave radio broadcasting. Click here to read these posts.

Read below for the full press BBG release:

(Source BBG)

Shortwave radio has been a mainstay of U.S. international media since the 1940s.  Over time, however, the number of countries in which shortwave is the medium of choice for audiences overseas has been shrinking.  In many places, people are increasingly turning to other means to get news and information – including but not limited to FM radio, satellite television, web sites, social media, and their mobile phones.

The Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), the independent federal government agency that oversees U.S. civilian international media, has been adjusting to these changes over the years and now delivers news and information programs on a wider variety of platforms in more languages than any other media organization.  To support its commitment of reaching audiences on their preferred media, the Board recently established a Special Committee on the Future of Shortwave Radio Broadcasting, which has been conducting a thorough review of the agency’s use of shortwave radio as a distribution platform, the associated costs, and the likely reliance on it by next-generation audiences.

This Committee is now seeking feedback from external experts and stakeholders on their perspectives on the role of shortwave radio broadcasting as a BBG distribution platform. We are particularly interested to hear views that consider the evolving media consumption of target audiences, changing access to shortwave and other platforms, and the need to prioritize in an austere federal budget environment.

The BBG is committed to sustaining shortwave broadcasting to regions where a critical need for the platform remains.

The Shortwave Committee has held two meetings focused on the shortwave audience’s listening experience, the BBG networks’ success in reaching target audiences, the role of shortwave in the networks’ engagement strategies in various markets, the cost of operating shortwave transmitting facilities, and the BBG’s research into how shortwave is being used and its impact on audiences.

Your input will better inform the Committee’s recommendations and could help shape its comprehensive report to the plenary Board.

Please contribute questions, comments or suggestions via e-mail to[email protected] by March 14, 2014.  To facilitate the review process, please limit your submission to 1200 words or fewer.  All comments may be reprinted as part of the Committee’s proceedings and may be made public.

The news and information provided by our networks helps bring the light of truth to some of the darkest corners of the world.  By supporting the free flow of news and information, including combatting Internet censorship and providing news and information tailored for specific audiences, developing local media, and creating access to global media, we purposefully support the freedom to speak, the freedom to listen, and the freedom of expression.

If you are aware of anyone with special interest in this topic, I encourage you to share this request with them.

Thank you for your interest in taking part in this process to help the BBG become more efficient and effective in supporting U.S. national security and foreign policy.

Sincerely,

Matthew C. Armstrong

Chairman
BBG Special Committee on the Future of Shortwave Broadcasting

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Shortwave Radio Recordings: Voice of America, circa 1968

Willis Conover, The Voice of America (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Many thanks to David Firth, who is kindly sharing shortwave radio recordings he made on reel-to-reel recording equipment in the late 1960s.

Firth is uncovering and digitizing these off air recordings as time allows and, thanks to his generosity, we will be posting these recordings on the Shortwave Radio Audio Archive.

The following is a recording of the Voice of America, which Firth recorded in 1968.

This seven minute recording will surely bring back memories with clips from VOA Jazz Hour (Willis Conover), the VOA Breakfast Show, and VOA Special English.

[Confession: the first time I heard this recording, the Willis Conover clip gave me chill bumps.]

Click here to download the recording as an MP3, or simply listen via the embedded player below:

Check out more recordings on the Shortwave Radio Audio Archive, also check out David Firth’s channel on YouTube.

Want to know more about Willis Conover? Check out David Goren’s podcast for Jazz At Lincoln Center.

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BBG changes: US shortwave broadcasts under microscope

voa logoIt appears the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG)–the bi-partisan board who oversees all international broadcasts generated by the US government–is making some changes to its structure.

One of those changes will be the formation of a special committee to examine “the efficacy of shortwave radio transmissions.”

See full press release with video of the meeting below:

Chairman Jeff Shell chairs the Oct 23 meeting of the Broadcasting Board of Governors (Photo: BBG)

Chairman Jeff Shell chairs the Oct 23 meeting of the Broadcasting Board of Governors (Photo: BBG)

(Source: BBG)

WASHINGTON, DC – As a new member joined its ranks, the Broadcasting Board of Governors today announced a series of restructuring efforts to improve the way the bipartisan board operates.

“The work this agency does is vital, and we must do everything in our power to make sure we as a Board are doing the best we can – not only for our employees, but for the millions of people who depend on the news and information our networks provide,” said the Board’s chair, Jeff Shell.

Shell introduced and welcomed to the Board Kenneth Weinstein, who was confirmed by the Senate in September and sworn in on October 18. He also welcomed Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs Douglas Frantz, who was designated by Secretary of State John Kerry – a BBG board member – to represent him at today’s meeting.

Among the changes that the Board adopted is a simplified structure that includes an Advisory Committee and special committees focused on specific strategic issues. Two such special committees were immediately established – one dedicated to defining the responsibilities of and initiating a search for a Chief Executive Officer of U.S. international broadcasting and another to examining the efficacy of shortwave radio transmissions. The Advisory Committee is made up of Governors Shell, Armstrong, Meehan and Weinstein. Governors Shell, Armstrong, McCue, and Weinstein will serve on the Special Committee on the Creation of a CEO, while Governors Armstrong, Crocker, Meehan, and Weinstein now constitute the Special Committee on Shortwave Broadcasting.

With this meeting, the Board began using a consent agenda to adopt items of business that are non-controversial or routine. From now on, Board members will consider and vote on items of business as a group, though any member can request that an agenda item be considered separately. The use of the consent agenda, as well as a revised Board travel policy that was also adopted, were among the recommendations of the Office of Inspector General in its January 2013 inspection report.

The Board also announced the selection of Paul Kollmer-Dorsey as the agency’s General Counsel. Kollmer-Dorsey joined the BBG as Deputy General Counsel and Acting General Counsel in June 2009. Prior to joining BBG, he served as Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of Global Relief Technologies and worked for a dozen years in the international satellite communications industry. He earned his law degree from the Stanford School of Law.

And after three years with the BBG and decades of distinguished public and private sector service, International Broadcasting Bureau Director Richard Lobo announced his retirement, effective on November 30. Board members expressed their gratitude for his service and leadership during a period of budgetary challenges.

“The agency and, in fact, the country owes Dick a debt of gratitude for what he did at the IBB,” Shell said. “Dick was instrumental in developing the proposal for establishing a CEO to streamline the agency as well as leadership of the IBB during a challenging period of uncertainty and tightening budgets.”

Lobo thanked Shell and the other Board members and read from the letter he had just sent to President Barack Obama: ”The proposed implementation of the plan, which I helped formulate, to create the position of CEO and to subsequently abolish the IBB Director’s position creates the ideal time for me to step aside. After more than five decades in broadcasting, I intend to retire and return to my native state of Florida.”

Turning to the latest events affecting U.S. international media, Shell acknowledged the hard work and sacrifice required of BBG employees during the partial government shutdown that ended on Oct. 17. Despite the furloughing of approximately 40 percent of the agency’s federal workforce, programs were produced and distributed around the world uninterrupted.

In addition to the administrative challenges of operating during the shutdown, Shell took time to acknowledge how in recent months, journalists across the BBG’s broadcast regions have been harassed, threatened, and wrongly detained as a result of their work.

The simple act of reporting on public demonstrations or events has brought physical attacks on a Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) reporter and a Voice of America (VOA) reporter in Herat province of Afghanistan, the detainment and release of correspondents for RFE/RL in Astana and in Minsk, and the arrest and beating of a VOA correspondent in Angola.

In Iran, officials have continued harassment against VOA and Radio Farda journalists and their families, and in an attempt to intimidate the press and control coverage of elections, Azerbaijan’s ruling political party has targeted RFE/RL and VOA broadcasts with complaints of illegal electioneering.

The Board also called for the immediate release of Alhurra TV reporter Bashar Fahmi as well as other journalists being held incommunicado in Syria. Fahmi has not been seen or heard from since he went missing while reporting in Aleppo, Syria in August 2012.

“The people who make up this agency are some of the most dedicated, courageous and selfless people I have ever known,” Shell concluded. “No hardship, whether it is a partial government shutdown, or unjust incarceration can stop the good work of our workforce. And for that we thank you.”

The Board paused to pay tribute to two distinguished colleagues who recently passed away – Jack Payton, an esteemed and accomplished newsman and senior editor at VOA, and Dave Strawman, recently retired manager of the BBG transmitting station in Tinang, the Philippines.

Video of October 23, 2013 BBG board meeting:

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US international broadcasting: affected by the government shutdown?

View of the Capitol Building from the roof of VOA

View of the Capitol Building from the roof of VOA

At least for now, it would appear, “programming of the U.S. international media networks will continue for overseas audiences” according to the BBG website and CNN.

I expect many VOA listener entertainment programs (those focused on music, arts and culture) will play archived material during the furlough. News programs should continue to deliver up-to-date information.

However, the shutdown will unfortunately have some affect on VOA Radiograms, as producer/presenter Dr. Kim Elliott will be on furlough as of 15:00 UTC today. In an email to the VOA Radiogram community, Elliott states:

You probably have heard the news about the US government shutdown. Congress has not sent to the White House an appropriations resolution that would allow continued funding of US government operations.

While VOA will remain on the air to provide news in its 42 languages, I will be on furlough during the shutdown and may not be able to produce a new VOA Radiogram for the weekend of 5-6 October. If the shutdown continues through the weekend, the transmitters, if they are on the air during the four half-hours of VOA Radiogram, will probably broadcast last weekend’s program, number 28, again.

After about 1500 UTC today, 1 October 2013, I will not be able to use this email account to send or receive emails until the shutdown ends.

My personal website, www.kimandrewelliott.com, will continue to be updated during the shutdown, and you can correspond with me using the email address [posted on kimelliott.com].

The VOA Radiogram website, voaradiogram.net, will remain online during the shutdown, but I will not be able to update it after 1500 UTC today. I have already posted on that website some interesting results from the past weekend’s program.

Thanks to all of you who sent reception reports for VOA Radiogram during the weekend of 28-29 September. I will respond to all of your emails but will not be able to do so until after the shutdown.

The BBG website has detailed information for employees, including this BBG plan for operations in the event of appropriations lapse.

If the shutdown continues beyond a few weeks, then I imagine it could have broader implications for US international broadcasting. We’ll post updates with the tag “Shutdown.

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VOA Radiogram this weekend includes Greek and images in MFSK64 and 128

VOARadioGram(Source: VOA Radiogram)

VOA Radiogram for the weekend of 21-22 September 2013 is produced using Fldigi3.21.76AB. For best results, use this version, available from www.w1hkj.com/alpha/fldigi/v3.21/

One improvement in 3.21.76AB is that it can send images in MFSK64 and MFSK128. Previously, MFSK32 was the fastest MFSK mode for sending images without the pictures appearing skewed (off center). Images do not transmit more quickly in MFSK64 and MFSK128, but they do have higher resolution.

If your decoded MFSK64 and MFSK128 images are still slanted or skewed, calibration of the receive codec might be helpful. One such method for doing this is described here: www.w1hkj.com/FldigiHelp-3.21/DigiWWV.html.

Our non-Latin alphabet of the week is Greek. You will need the UTF-8 character set for the Greek and for some of the punctuation in the English items. I forgot to change some of the typographic apostrophes ’ to typewriter apostrophes ’ , so they will not display correctly if you do not have the UTF-8 character set. In Fldigi, that adjustment is made in Configure > Colors & Fonts.

This weekend’s program includes an English VOA News item in Flmsg format. When all the text is received, the story will render, or pop up, as a new web page on your browser, suitable for saving or forwarding. To make Flmsg work with Fldigi (both can be downloaded from w1hkj.com), in Fldigi: Configure > Misc > NBEMS — Under Reception of flmsg files, check both boxes, and under that indicate where your Flmsg.exe file is located.

Much of the show this weekend is in the MFSK64 mode, which might be a bit optimistic if reception conditions are less than ideal.

Here is the lineup of modes for VOA Radiogram, 21-22 September 2013:

2:53 MFSK16: Program preview
2:40 MFSK32: Sample of Greek text
:49 MFSK32 image: VOA Greek Service logo
3:01 MFSK32: “Need to Protect the Internet”
1:45 MFSK64: Radio Free Sarawak/Discovery Channel
2:23 MFSK64 image: “Duck Commander”
:27 MFSK128: CNBC Saracens deal
:48 MFSK128 image: CNBC logo
:45 MFSK32: E-mail address
4:40 MFSK64: BBC Worldwide, Giglio TV, Voice of Greece, All India Radio
2:55 MFSK64/Flmsg: VOA News re Voyager Golden Record
2:17 MFSK32 image: Voyager Golden Record
:33 MFSK32: Closing announcements

VOA Radiogram transmission schedule
(all days and times UTC)
Sat 1600-1630 17860 kHz
Sun 0230-0300 5745 kHz
Sun 1300-1330 6095 kHz
Sun 1930-2000 15670 kHz
All via the Edward R. Murrow transmitting station in North Carolina.

Please send reception reports to [email protected]

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VOA Radiogram, 7-8 September 2013: Fldigi, Flmsg, Flamp, RSIDs, MFSK

VOARadioGram(Source: VOA Radiogram)

VOA Radiogram for the weekend of 7-8 September 2013 will include more experiments with RSIDs, the brief signals that automatically switch your decoding software to the correct mode.

For best results, please install Fldigi 3.21.75 from w1hkj.com. When you have 3.21.75 installed, go to Configure > ID > RsID, and adjust Errors to 0 (zero). This will prevent Fldigi from flipping to another mode while decoding our MFSK transmissions. For more information about this, seewww.w1hkj.com/FldigiHelp-3.21/ConfigID.html

Please also download the latest versions of Flmsg and Flamp (2.1.00) from w1hkj.com.

This weekend’s VOA Radiogram will include another transmission in MFSK128. This will be done mainly to see if the RSID works. However, to improve the chances for a successful decode of the very fast MFSK128, it will be in Flamp format. A paragraph will be divided into seven blocks of 64 characters each. And it will be transmitted three times, with the second and third passes filling in any blocks with incorrect checksums. Make sure Flamp is running before the MFSK128 transmission begins; it does not turn on automatically like Flmsg.

The foreign language for the weekend will be Spanish, with brief VOA news items in both plain text and Flmsg formatted. Please turn off and restart Fldigi before each of this weekend’s VOA Radiogram broadcasts to ensure the accented Spanish letters display correctly. You will need the UTF-8 character set. The adjustment can be found via Configure > Colors & Fonts.

In the Flmsg-formatted Spanish news story, you will see several html codes such as í for the accented characters. They might look like decoding errors, but the story should look OK when the web page renders.

To make Flmsg work with Fldigi, in Fldigi: Configure > Misc > NBEMS — Under Reception of flmsg files, check both boxes, and under that indicate where your Flmsg.exe file is located.

Here is the lineup for VOA Radiogram, 7-8 September 2013:

3:55  MFSK16: Program preview

2:09  MFSK32: VOA Spanish news re old iPhones

3:41  MFSK32/Flmsg: VOA Spanish news re new iPhone model

2:29  MFSK64: VOA News re Al Jazeera in Egypt

2:48  MFSK32: YouTube screen capture of Al Jazeera

:50  MFSK32: Introduction to MFSK128 item

1:30  MFSK128/Flamp: Brief description of VOA

:45  MFSK32: Introduction to MFSK64

2:55  MFSK64: VOA News re LADEE moon mission

2:56  MFSK32: Artist’s rendition of LADEE spacecraft

1:11  MFSK16: Closing announcements

:41  MFSK32: VOA Radiogram logo

:20  Surprise mode of the week

Please send reception reports to [email protected].

VOA Radiogram transmission schedule

(all days and times UTC)

Sat 1600-1630 17860 kHz

Sun 0230-0300 5745 kHz

Sun 1300-1330 6095 kHz

Sun 1930-2000 15670 kHz

All via the Edward R. Murrow transmitting station in North Carolina.

There will also be a minute of MFSK32 on The Mighty KBC, via Germany, Saturday at approximately 1130 UTC on 6095 kHz, and Sunday at approximately 0130 UTC on 7375 kHz (Saturday evening 9:30 pm EDT).

Also check out their post:  Base64 VOA logo via MFSK128: a few unexpected successes. Fascinating!

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