{"id":38786,"date":"2019-08-02T08:04:19","date_gmt":"2019-08-02T12:04:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=38786"},"modified":"2019-08-02T08:04:19","modified_gmt":"2019-08-02T12:04:19","slug":"radio-world-the-internets-impact-on-international-radio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2019\/08\/radio-world-the-internets-impact-on-international-radio\/","title":{"rendered":"Radio World: “The Internet\u2019s Impact on International Radio”"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

The Edward R. Murrow Transmitting Station Control Room<\/p><\/div>\n

Many thanks to SWLing Post<\/em> contributors, Dennis, Eric, and Michael who share the following story from Radio World<\/a>. Please note my comments below following a short excerpt from this piece:<\/p>\n

OTTAWA \u2014 During the height of the Cold War (1947\u20131991), the shortwave radio bands were alive with international state-run broadcasters; transmitting their respective views in multiple languages to listeners around the globe.<\/p>\n

The western bloc\u2019s advocates were led by the BBC World Service, and included Voice of America, Radio Liberty\/Radio Free Europe, Radio Canada International and a host of influential European broadcasters. The eastern bloc\u2019s de facto team captain was the USSR\u2019s Radio Moscow (with its unique hollow, echoing sound), supplemented by broadcasters in Soviet satellite countries (like East Germany\u2019s Radio Berlin International) and allies like Fidel Castro\u2019s Radio Havana Cuba.<\/p>\n

Then 1991 arrived, and the Cold War apparently ended with the fall of the Soviet Union and the destruction of the Berlin Wall.<\/p>\n

In the seeming peace that followed, many governments no longer saw the sense in spending millions on multi-megawatt transmitters and vast antenna farms to keep broadcasting their messages globally.<\/p>\n

The leader among them, the BBC World Service (BBCWS), trumpeted the web and webcasting as modern, cost-effective alternatives to expensive shortwave broadcasting (along with satellite radio and leasing local FM airtime in the countries they used to broadcast to). This is why the BBCWS ceased shortwave transmissions to North America and Australia in 2001 and Europe in 2008, while retaining SW broadcasts in less-developed parts of the globe.[…]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The full article is available here<\/a> and quite a good piece exploring how the Internet has had an impact on shortwave radio broadcasting.<\/p>\n

I, along with a number of fiends in the shortwave community–Bob Zanotti, Jeff White, Colin Newell, and Ian McFarland to name a few–we’re quoted in this piece.<\/p>\n

As with most any published piece, quotes and statements are trimmed and edited to fit the print space. If you read the full article, you will have noticed some quotes from me. Here’s a larger portion of my full statement for this piece:<\/p>\n

Most audience analysts agree that the number of shortwave listeners has been on the decline at the same time Internet access has been on the rise. Moreover, shortwave listener numbers are hard to quantify due to the very nature of anonymous listening; no one can truly “track” a shortwave radio listener. On the other hand, there is nothing anonymous about those who listen to or watch Internet content–not only can the audience be measured by numbers, but a much deeper and more invasive set of data can be gleaned from an online audience. Thus the decline in shortwave also denotes a loss of anonymity on the part of the listener.<\/p>\n

This is not to say there aren’t shortwave listeners. A significant number of listeners are radio enthusiasts\/DXers who appreciate the shortwave medium. But perhaps more meaningfully, shortwave listeners are those living in rural and remote parts of the world who benefit from the instant, free, and anonymous information shortwave provides.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/a>

At Ears To Our World, we received this photo from a school in rural Tanzania in June 2019. The teacher has been using one of our self-powered shortwave radios to listen to news and improve language skills.<\/p><\/div>\n

Some broadcasters effectively target both of these audiences. Large government broadcasters, however, have always tried to reach the “influencers” in a country–those who might eventually help guide a country’s policy and international relationships. And the great majority of these influencers, according to audience research, have moved to social media and the Internet as a source of information.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Note that I received the photo above in June. At Ears To Our World<\/a>, we still work with communities that appreciate the accessibility of radio. Perhaps our partners are more the exception than the rule, but there are still those who benefit from radio–especially those living in rural and remote areas. Where large government shortwave broadcasters are pulling out of the scene, often community-driven stations are taking their place. We’ve been working with Radio Taboo in Cameroon<\/a>, for example, and they are an amazing case in point.<\/p>\n

As a radio enthusiast, I’ll also add that I love the homegrown nature of shortwave broadcasting these days. As private broadcasters have a larger market share of the airwaves, individuals have an opportunity to buy their own broadcast time and produce amazing, unique shows like VORW<\/a>, Free Radio Skybird<\/a>, Encore<\/a>, From the Isle of Music and Uncle Bill’s Melting Pot<\/a>. These are just a few examples–if you’d like more, just check out the latest edition of Alan Roe’s guide to music over shortwave<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n

Do you enjoy the SWLing Post?<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n

Please consider supporting us via\u00a0Patreon<\/span><\/a>\u00a0or our\u00a0Coffee<\/span>\u00a0Fund<\/span><\/a>! <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Your support makes articles like this one possible. Thank you!<\/em><\/p>\n

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

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributors, Dennis, Eric, and Michael who share the following story from Radio World. Please note my comments below following a short excerpt from this piece: OTTAWA \u2014 During the height of the Cold War (1947\u20131991), the shortwave radio bands were alive with international state-run broadcasters; transmitting their respective views 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":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[960,3,43],"tags":[662,7930,634,4082,4655,84],"class_list":["post-38786","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-international-broadcasting","category-news","category-shortwave-radio","tag-internet","tag-james-careless","tag-radio-world","tag-shortwave-radio","tag-why-shortwave","tag-why-shortwave-radio"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-a5A","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":17990,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2016\/03\/radio-belarus-to-shut-down-shortwave-mediumwave-and-longwave\/","url_meta":{"origin":38786,"position":0},"title":"Radio Belarus to shut down shortwave, mediumwave and longwave?","author":"Thomas","date":"March 30, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to several SWLing Post readers who have shared this news from the Radio Belarus website. Since I rely on a machine translation of the news page via Google Translate, I'm not totally clear about the details, but it appears Radio Belarus is shutting down their longwave, mediumwave and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "AM"","block_context":{"text":"AM","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/am\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"SX-99-Dial-Nar","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/SX-99-Dial-Nar.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/SX-99-Dial-Nar.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/SX-99-Dial-Nar.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/SX-99-Dial-Nar.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":55618,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2023\/02\/usagm-congressional-budget-justification-for-2023\/","url_meta":{"origin":38786,"position":1},"title":"USAGM Congressional Budget Justification for 2023","author":"Thomas","date":"February 7, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Lin Robertson, who shares a link to the USAGM Congressional Budget Justification for Fiscal Year 2023. Click here to download the PDF. If you're interested in how shortwave services are being affected by the budget, you can do a simple search for the word\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "International Broadcasting"","block_context":{"text":"International Broadcasting","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/international-broadcasting\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/USAGM-Budget-Cover-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/USAGM-Budget-Cover-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/USAGM-Budget-Cover-1.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":16185,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2015\/12\/video-the-skelton-hf-transmitting-station\/","url_meta":{"origin":38786,"position":2},"title":"Video: The Skelton HF Transmitting Station","author":"Thomas Witherspoon","date":"December 14, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to Jonathan Marks, who shares\u00a0this short video about the history of the Skelton HF Transmitting Station: https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=zJ49Ru1uPKo","rel":"","context":"In "International Broadcasting"","block_context":{"text":"International Broadcasting","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/international-broadcasting\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/zJ49Ru1uPKo\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3445,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2012\/05\/the-toronto-star-publishes-my-thoughts-on-the-cuts-to-radio-canada-international\/","url_meta":{"origin":38786,"position":3},"title":"The Toronto Star publishes my thoughts on the cuts to Radio Canada International","author":"Thomas","date":"May 1, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"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\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Articles"","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/articles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/TheNetwork-TheTorontoStar.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":18535,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2016\/04\/curating-a-list-of-endangered-shortwave-stations\/","url_meta":{"origin":38786,"position":4},"title":"Curating a list of endangered shortwave stations","author":"Thomas","date":"April 26, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Recently, my friend and fellow archivist,\u00a0London Shortwave, and I engaged in a\u00a0discussion about creating a curated list of \"endangered\" shortwave radio stations. The idea being we could use such a list to focus our efforts and those of the archiving community on recording\u00a0broadcasters that were most likely to disappear in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Broadcasters"","block_context":{"text":"Broadcasters","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/broadcasters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"RCI-Sackville-2012","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/RCI-Sackville-2012-1024x683.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/RCI-Sackville-2012-1024x683.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/RCI-Sackville-2012-1024x683.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":24511,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2017\/03\/vorw-radio-international-expands-with-shortwave-broadcast-to-asia\/","url_meta":{"origin":38786,"position":5},"title":"VORW Radio International expands with shortwave broadcasts to Asia","author":"Thomas","date":"March 3, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, John from VORW Radio International, who writes: I am pleased to announce the further expansion of VORW Radio International, now transmitting to Asia! Each broadcast features a mixture of my commentary and listener requested music. You'll hear a great variety of music in this\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Radio-Dial-2-e1480988790507.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Radio-Dial-2-e1480988790507.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Radio-Dial-2-e1480988790507.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38786","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=38786"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38786\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38786"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38786"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38786"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}