{"id":3445,"date":"2012-05-01T09:24:15","date_gmt":"2012-05-01T13:24:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=3445"},"modified":"2012-05-04T15:38:40","modified_gmt":"2012-05-04T19:38:40","slug":"the-toronto-star-publishes-my-thoughts-on-the-cuts-to-radio-canada-international","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2012\/05\/the-toronto-star-publishes-my-thoughts-on-the-cuts-to-radio-canada-international\/","title":{"rendered":"The Toronto Star publishes my thoughts on the cuts to Radio Canada International"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>As many of you know, I find the downsizing of major shortwave broadcasters around the world deeply concerning, especially since so much of the world still relies on the medium as a source of news and information, and for some the only<\/em> source of potentially life-saving information.<\/p>\n

The recent cuts to RCI<\/a>, however, were\u00a0particularly\u00a0painful. In one stroke of a pen, many people lost their jobs, and RCI’s already-skimpy budget was reduced to virtually nil. What’s more, their only international transmitting station–in Sackville, New Brunswick–is slated to be shut down, meaning there is no intention to continue the service, ever.<\/p>\n

The Toronto Star has kindly published my thoughts on the matter. \u00a0You can read the full article here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As many of you know, I find the downsizing of major shortwave broadcasters around the world deeply concerning, especially since so much of the world still relies on the medium as a source of news and information, and for some the only source of potentially life-saving information. The recent cuts to RCI, however, were\u00a0particularly\u00a0painful. In […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[8,56,3,43],"tags":[1042,1041,631,1040,30,1039,1046,1044,1043,1045,4082,1107,317],"class_list":["post-3445","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles","category-broadcasters","category-news","category-shortwave-radio","tag-cbc-budget","tag-cbc-cuts","tag-radio-canada-international","tag-radio-canada-international-cuts","tag-rci","tag-rci-cuts","tag-rci-ends-shortwave","tag-sackville-closure","tag-sackville-new-brunswick","tag-sackville-transmitter-site-closure","tag-shortwave-radio","tag-the-toronto-star","tag-thomas-witherspoon"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-Tz","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3202,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2012\/04\/radio-canada-international-to-end-shortwave-broadcasts-sackville-to-be-closed\/","url_meta":{"origin":3445,"position":0},"title":"Oh, Canada: Radio Canada International to end shortwave broadcasts, Sackville to be closed","author":"Thomas","date":"April 4, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"This is another sad day for international broadcasting. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) has announced sweeping cuts that will eliminate 650 jobs over the course of 3 years. In a strategic plan called, Same Strategy, Different Path, they specifically outline their cuts of shortwave and satellite transmissions which will also\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Broadcasters"","block_context":{"text":"Broadcasters","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/broadcasters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/CBCbuilding-300x168.gif?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3335,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2012\/04\/rci-listener-comments-carry-common-theme\/","url_meta":{"origin":3445,"position":1},"title":"RCI listener comments carry common theme","author":"Thomas","date":"April 20, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"On RCI's Listener Letters and the RCI Action committee's website, you can read listener reactions to the looming RCI cuts. To their credit, I've noticed that RCI programs (like The Link\u00a0with Marc Montgomery) are continuing \"business as usual.\" I've noticed no degradation of their content or quality.","rel":"","context":"In "Broadcasters"","block_context":{"text":"Broadcasters","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/broadcasters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/TheLinkRCI.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3217,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2012\/04\/the-link-talks-about-the-cuts-at-rci\/","url_meta":{"origin":3445,"position":2},"title":"The Link talks about the cuts at RCI","author":"Thomas","date":"April 5, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"In this interview with Levon Sevunts, producer for RCI's The Link, we get a little more insight into the impact of these cuts at Radio Canada International. One notable quote from the audio interview:\u00a0Sevunts states rather bluntly, \"RCI is getting out of radio altogether.\" RCI's last day of broadcasting will\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Broadcasters"","block_context":{"text":"Broadcasters","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/broadcasters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/TheLinkRCI.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3214,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2012\/04\/helene-parent-two-out-of-three-rci-employees-will-lose-their-jobs-by-the-end-of-july\/","url_meta":{"origin":3445,"position":3},"title":"Helene Parent: “two out of three RCI employees will lose their jobs by the end of July”","author":"Thomas","date":"April 5, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"It appears that the cuts at Radio Canada International will be deep and swift (see below). (Source: RCInet.ca) Spending cuts announced last week in Canada's latest federal budget have reached Radio Canada International. Speaking to employees at RCI's headquarters in Montreal on Wednesday, RCI director Helene Parent declared that two\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Broadcasters"","block_context":{"text":"Broadcasters","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/broadcasters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/RCI-300x93.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3292,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2012\/04\/the-gazette-tributes-to-rci-pour-in-from-around-the-world\/","url_meta":{"origin":3445,"position":4},"title":"The Gazette: Tributes to RCI pour in from around the world","author":"Thomas","date":"April 12, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"A sampling of messages to The Gazette in response to the cuts to Radio Canada International (RCI): (Source: MontrealGazette.com) \u201cThis is absolutely dreadful. RCI has been one of the best shortwave radio stations and a much-needed voice of solid, objective reporting. I\u2019ve been a loyal listener from the mid-1990s and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Broadcasters"","block_context":{"text":"Broadcasters","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/broadcasters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/RCI-300x93.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3513,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2012\/05\/the-link-talks-about-the-politics-of-saving-rci\/","url_meta":{"origin":3445,"position":5},"title":"The Link talks about the politics of saving RCI","author":"Thomas","date":"May 13, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"On Friday's edition of The Link, Mark Montgomery spoke with Amanda Pfeffer about how international radio is being cut around the world and, more specifically, Canada. They discuss how this happened, who is aware of it and if there is any way to save the service. It's an informative segment\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Broadcasters"","block_context":{"text":"Broadcasters","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/broadcasters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/BBG-Organizational-Chart.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/BBG-Organizational-Chart.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/BBG-Organizational-Chart.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/BBG-Organizational-Chart.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3445","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3445"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3445\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3445"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3445"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3445"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}