{"id":53999,"date":"2022-09-05T19:02:33","date_gmt":"2022-09-05T23:02:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=53999"},"modified":"2022-09-05T19:02:33","modified_gmt":"2022-09-05T23:02:33","slug":"jocks-op-ed-why-shortwave-and-an-idea-for-the-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2022\/09\/jocks-op-ed-why-shortwave-and-an-idea-for-the-future\/","title":{"rendered":"Jock’s Op Ed: Why shortwave? And an idea for the future."},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

By Jock Elliott, KB2GOM<\/strong><\/p>\n

The internet, I think, is darn near magic. A few keystrokes and you can find almost anything. And people use it all the time for all kinds of things. Hold that thought for a moment.<\/p>\n

At the same time, I am very nearly a free speech absolutist . . . you (or anyone) should be allowed to say anything you please so long as it is not illegal. Period.<\/p>\n

(An important aside: this post is NOT<\/u><\/strong> about left vs. right, up vs. down, etc. It\u2019s about principles, speech, and access to media. If the comments descend into political vituperation, I will ask Thomas (our Maximum Leader) to take the whole post down, comments and all.)<\/p>\n

Now, I know what you are thinking: what about mis-information, dis-information, hate speech, offensive speech, and so forth?<\/p>\n

Who gets to decide? And other issues.<\/h2>\n

Well, three things:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Who gets to decide? I don\u2019t know about you, but I don\u2019t want \u201cthe rules\u201d of free speech to be decided by individuals, companies, or governments that have reason to suppress or hide information. The road to the past is positively paved with examples of constricting speech<\/li>\n
  2. How \u2013 if you decide to suppress speech for whatever reason \u2013 do you know that you are absoflippinlutely correct in your assessment? It wasn\u2019t that long ago that \u201cthe experts\u201d were positively certain that continents did not move, and people were pilloried for suggesting that they did. And yet now continental drift is an accepted theory with a great deal of physical evidence to support it. Or how about this: in 2005, the Nobel Prize for Medicine was awarded to two Australian physicians who discovered ulcers are caused by a bacterium. For decades, <\/em>medical journals would not publish their experimental results because the “consensus” said stress caused ulcers. How many people died because of this suppression? Or how about this zinger from Einstein: \u201cNo amount of experimentation can ever prove me right; a single experiment can prove me wrong.\u201d Got it? Today\u2019s foolishness can be tomorrow\u2019s truth . . . and vice versa.<\/li>\n
  3. When it comes to offensive speech (and there is certainly enough out there), I\u2019ve discovered these amazing, state-of-the-art, high-tech tools: the OFF switch and the tuning knob. Use them; it\u2019s a liberating experience.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Okay, bear that in mind for a moment.<\/p>\n

    But what does that have to do with shortwave? I\u2019ll tell you in a second, but first, one teeny-weeny observation about the internet. Ready? Here it is: it can be switched off in an instant, and then your wonderful world of information simply isn\u2019t there.<\/em><\/p>\n

    Shortwave, however, is much harder (although not impossible) to switch off. It can get through often when nothing else can. It crosses borders, by passes those who control the switches, and even can be discerned many times when powers that be are trying to jam it.<\/p>\n

    My Wish<\/h2>\n

    I would like to see lots more shortwave stations, including privately owned shortwave stations, broadcasting a wide variety programming from lots of different perspectives. And because it is over the international airwaves, it would be a lot more difficult to suppress than the internet (or social media).<\/p>\n

    Wouldn\u2019t it be neat if it was relatively easy, especially in terms of government regulations to get low-power shortwave stations on the air? Imagine a plethora of viewpoints delivered through a medium that would be relatively difficult to curtail.<\/em> I think that would be a good idea. What do you think?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    By Jock Elliott, KB2GOM The internet, I think, is darn near magic. A few keystrokes and you can find almost anything. And people use it all the time for all kinds of things. Hold that thought for a moment. At the same time, I am very nearly a free speech absolutist . . . you […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":114,"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],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-53999","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-e2X","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":9685,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2014\/05\/numbers-station-presentation-by-peter-staal\/","url_meta":{"origin":53999,"position":0},"title":"Numbers station presentation by Peter Staal","author":"Thomas","date":"May 21, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to Jonathan Marks who discovered the following video--a lecture by Peter Staal at\u00a0TU Delft--on the topic of numbers stations: Note that they attempt to sort out a technical problem in the first three minutes of the lecture. Check out Jonathan's post on Critical Distance for his comments and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":27315,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2017\/07\/dw-south-sudan-blocks-access-to-independent-websites\/","url_meta":{"origin":53999,"position":1},"title":"DW: South Sudan blocks access to independent websites","author":"Thomas","date":"July 23, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"(Source:\u00a0Deutsche Welle) Internet and mobile phone users in South Sudan are not able to access the websites of at least four independent media outlets. The government has grown increasingly hostile to the media since civil war began in 2013. The South Sudanese government has blocked access to the websites of\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\/2017\/07\/SouthSudan-Block.jpeg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/SouthSudan-Block.jpeg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/SouthSudan-Block.jpeg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":39304,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2019\/08\/airspy-hf-discovery-first-impressions-on-medium-wave-vs-elad-fdm-duor\/","url_meta":{"origin":53999,"position":2},"title":"AirSpy HF+ Discovery: First Impressions on Medium Wave vs. Elad FDM-DUOr","author":"Guy Atkins","date":"August 25, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"The highly anticipated AirSpy HF+ Discovery SDR has been in the hands of early adopters for about two weeks--and I've seen nothing but positive comments! After a long run (2007-2013) with a Microtelecom Perseus, my SDR of choice became the Elad FDM-S2, and more recently an Elad FDM-DUOr \"hybrid\" SDR\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\/2019\/08\/hfplus_discovery.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1187,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2011\/06\/rnw-will-focus-on-free-speech-eliminate-most-other-broadcasting\/","url_meta":{"origin":53999,"position":3},"title":"RNW will focus on free speech, eliminate most other broadcasting","author":"Thomas","date":"June 17, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"(Source: Radio Netherlands Worldwide) The Dutch cabinet has announced plans to cut back the activities of Radio Netherlands Worldwide. The Dutch world service will no longer provide information for Dutch people living abroad, or provide the rest of the world with a realistic image of the Netherlands. Instead, Radio Netherlands\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\/06\/RNW-Hilver-300x152.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3832,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2012\/06\/video-of-marc-montgomerys-farewell-speech-to-the-link-listeners\/","url_meta":{"origin":53999,"position":4},"title":"Video of Marc Montgomery’s farewell speech to The Link listeners","author":"Thomas","date":"June 27, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"(Source: YouTube) Radio Canada International journalist Marc Montgomery broke down in tears during his farewell speech to listeners as RCI ended its 67-year history of shortwave broadcasts yesterday. 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