{"id":52107,"date":"2022-03-08T04:49:03","date_gmt":"2022-03-08T08:49:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=52107"},"modified":"2022-03-08T07:31:29","modified_gmt":"2022-03-08T11:31:29","slug":"shortwaves-for-freedom-campaign-is-funding-voa-and-rfe-rl-programming","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2022\/03\/shortwaves-for-freedom-campaign-is-funding-voa-and-rfe-rl-programming\/","title":{"rendered":"“Shortwaves for Freedom” campaign is funding VOA and RFE\/RL programming"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Many thanks to SWLing Post<\/em> contributor, Richard Langley, who brought the “Shortwaves for Freedom<\/a>” fundraising (crowdsource) campaign to my attention.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I’ve confirmed with WRMI that this campaign is legitimate and that they are purchasing time from WRMI to broadcast VOA and RFE\/RL into Russia and Ukraine.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Here’s the description of the mission behind their campaign:<\/strong><\/p>\n

The people in Russia, as well as those in Ukraine and other countries where Russian, Ukrainian and English are spoken in the imperiled region, need to hear the truth about the carnage President Putin has unleashed.<\/p>\n

With Moscow silencing foreign media in Russia, threatening to send reporters to jail and censoring all war information, objective outside information is critically needed not only for Russia, but also for Ukraine and surrounding countries.<\/p>\n

Such content, produced by the U.S. government-funded Voice of America and Radio Free Europe\/Radio Liberty is being disseminated on the internet and TV. But these Russian, Ukrainian and English language programs are not being distributed through the simplest technology that skirts censorship and internet shutdowns — shortwave (and medium wave) radio.<\/p>\n

The parent agency of VOA and RFE\/RL, the U.S. Agency for Global Media, apparently has decided not to air such transmissions (unlike the BBC). As these programs are in the public domain, we plan to air them live and on tape delay by purchasing air time on commercial shortwave stations in the United States and Europe. These powerful transmitters (with hundreds of thousands of watts and large antenna systems) can easily reach Russia, Ukraine and the rest of Eastern Europe where hundreds of millions of people still listen to radio. These potential listeners will be alerted through social media as to what frequencies and times to listen for these critical programs.<\/p>\n

We need your help to pay for the transmission costs until there comes a time when USAGM (like BBC) can be persuaded to utilize its own facilities (which are paid for by U.S. taxpayers).<\/p>\n

Even a small donation will make a difference as airtime can be obtained for as little as $50 for a 30-minute slice of airtime that can be potentially heard around the world. Of course, the more money we raise gives us access to more powerful transmitters and more airtime.<\/p>\n

This group has been started by members of the general public, policy professionals, academics, radio enthusiasts and others who feel this is a critical mission at a critical time. Help us be a part of world history. After all, jazz music aired by the VOA and the allure of blue jeans is credited with bringing down the Iron Curtain as much as anything else!<\/p>\n

You can play a crucial role in this exercise of soft power to counter the guns, rockets and missiles of the Russian army intent on exterminating the Ukrainian nation and possibly other freedom-loving sovereign states.<\/p>\n

Click here to check out this campaign.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

After confirming this campaign with Jeff, I contributed. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Although I’m fully aware that Russia’s younger citizens may have never even heard of shortwave, my guess is that some in the older generation have.\u00a0 According to a report I read recently, Russia’s older generation are the ones who tend to trust Russian state media and propaganda. <\/strong><\/p>\n

But as this CCN report points out<\/a>, Russian state media is showing a consistent false narrative to all of its citizens and are also making it nearly impossible for any other independent news sources to broadcast within or into Russia. Many international broadcasters have been pulling out of Russia for fear of being arrested. The penalties if you’re labeled as “fake news” or if you protest what the Kremlin is doing in Ukraine are stiff–many carry 15 year jail sentences.<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you’d like to support this effort, check out the Shortwaves for Freedom campaign on FundRazr.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Richard Langley, who brought the “Shortwaves for Freedom” fundraising (crowdsource) campaign to my attention. I’ve confirmed with WRMI that this campaign is legitimate and that they are purchasing time from WRMI to broadcast VOA and RFE\/RL into Russia and Ukraine. Here’s the description of the mission behind their campaign: […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","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":[3,43],"tags":[4082,9703,4655,61],"class_list":["post-52107","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-shortwave-radio","tag-shortwave-radio","tag-shortwaves-for-freedom","tag-why-shortwave","tag-wrmi"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-dyr","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":52196,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2022\/03\/cbs-miami-features-wrmi-and-the-shortwaves-for-freedom-campaign\/","url_meta":{"origin":52107,"position":0},"title":"CBS Miami features WRMI and the “Shortwaves for Freedom” campaign","author":"Thomas","date":"March 16, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dennis Dura, who shares the following article from CBS Miami: Shortwave Radio Signal From Florida Cow Pasture Reaches Russia Carrying Latest News (CBS Miami) https:\/\/youtu.be\/1pcb2YXzJLA Click here to view on YouTube. MIAMI (CBSMiami) \u2013 A massive shortwave radio antenna sits in a cow pasture\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\/2017\/03\/Kenwood-R-2000-Dial.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Kenwood-R-2000-Dial.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Kenwood-R-2000-Dial.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Kenwood-R-2000-Dial.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9192,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2014\/04\/russian-clamps-down-on-us-media-us-to-increase-funding-for-rfevoa\/","url_meta":{"origin":52107,"position":1},"title":"Russian “clamps down” on US media, US to increase funding for RFE\/VOA","author":"Thomas","date":"April 5, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"This morning, I noticed the following\u00a0press release from the US Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG): Russia Clamps Down Further On U.S. International Media The Broadcasting Board of Governors has condemned a recent decision by Russian authorities to cut off all remaining radio transmissions by U.S. international media in Russia. In\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Broadcasters"","block_context":{"text":"Broadcasters","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/broadcasters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Photo of Kremlin: ??????? ?. (Julmin) (retouched by Surendil) via Wikimedia Commons","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/800px-Moscow_Kremlin_from_Kamenny_bridge-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":52195,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2022\/03\/rfe-rl-opens-offices-in-latvia-lithuania\/","url_meta":{"origin":52107,"position":2},"title":"RFE\/RL Opens Offices In Latvia & Lithuania","author":"Thomas","date":"March 17, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Eric Jon Magnuson, who shares a link to the following press release from RFE\/RL: As War Transforms Media Landscape in Europe, RFE\/RL Opens Offices In Latvia, Lithuania WASHINGTON\u2014Following the forced suspension of RFE\/RL operations in Russia on March 6, RFE\/RL is pleased to announce\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\/2022\/03\/Latvia-Lithuania-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Latvia-Lithuania-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Latvia-Lithuania-1.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Latvia-Lithuania-1.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Latvia-Lithuania-1.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2891,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2012\/03\/voa-self-censors-in-russian-elections\/","url_meta":{"origin":52107,"position":3},"title":"VOA self-censors in Russian elections","author":"Thomas","date":"March 5, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"This interesting Op Ed piece\u00a0points out that VOA could be in violation of US Public Law 94-350 by adhering to Russian media law with VOA FM broadcasts in Moscow. Of course, shortwave broadcasts continue to report VOA un-censored news: (Source: Digital Journal) Voice of America and Radio Liberty, funded by\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\/2009\/11\/a999voalogo_2050081722-26491.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":55287,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2023\/01\/radio-waves-radio-marti-sdrs-for-ukraine-military-morse-code-innovation-and-rfe-rl-opens-riga-bureau\/","url_meta":{"origin":52107,"position":4},"title":"Radio Waves: Radio Mart\u00ed, SDRs for Ukraine, Military Morse Code Innovation, and RFE\/RL Opens Riga Bureau","author":"Thomas","date":"January 16, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Radio Waves:\u00a0 Stories Making Waves in the World of Radio Welcome to the\u00a0SWLing Post\u2019s Radio Waves, a collection of links to interesting stories making waves in the world of radio.\u00a0Enjoy! Radio Mart\u00ed news: Migrants land by Keys broadcasting tower promoting Cuban democracy (Miami Herald) Washington maintains a waterfront radio tower\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "AM"","block_context":{"text":"AM","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/am\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Spectrum-Display-Airspy-SDR-Sharp.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Spectrum-Display-Airspy-SDR-Sharp.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Spectrum-Display-Airspy-SDR-Sharp.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Spectrum-Display-Airspy-SDR-Sharp.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":63820,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2025\/08\/u-s-global-media-agency-to-lay-off-hundreds-at-voa-rfa-and-rfe-rl\/","url_meta":{"origin":52107,"position":5},"title":"U.S. Global Media Agency to Lay Off Hundreds at VOA, RFA, and RFE\/RL","author":"Thomas","date":"August 31, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"The Guardian is reporting that more than 500 full-time employees at Voice of America and other U.S. government-funded broadcasters will soon be laid off. The U.S. Agency for Global Media announced that 532 federal positions are being cut, part of a larger restructuring effort that\u2019s already stirred up legal challenges\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\/2013\/09\/K3VOA12.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/K3VOA12.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/K3VOA12.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/K3VOA12.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/K3VOA12.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52107","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=52107"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52107\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52107"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52107"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52107"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}