{"id":8424,"date":"2013-12-29T10:56:44","date_gmt":"2013-12-29T14:56:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=8424"},"modified":"2013-12-29T10:56:44","modified_gmt":"2013-12-29T14:56:44","slug":"from-moscow-with-love-comments-on-the-future-of-vor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2013\/12\/from-moscow-with-love-comments-on-the-future-of-vor\/","title":{"rendered":"From Moscow With Love: Comments on the future of VOR"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"RIA<\/a>

RIA Novosti Newsroom, Moscow (Source: Wikipedia)<\/p><\/div>\n

SWLing Post reader, Richard, writes:<\/p>\n

This is apparently a transcript from Vasily Strelnikov’s\u00a0most recent “From Moscow With\u00a0Love<\/a>” that represents, probably as much as anything, the thinking\u00a0currently within the halls of VoR.<\/p>\n

Interesting reading & listening –<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Many thanks, Richard, for sharing. Note that you can read and listen to the full show on the Voice of Russia website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

From Moscow With Love<\/em>\u00a0is hosted by\u00a0Vasily Strelnikov<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Natalia Stefanova.<\/a>\u00a0I thank them both for their refreshingly frank view of the the future of their show and the Voice of Russia.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Click for direct links to their show audio for\u00a0part 1<\/a> and part 2<\/a>. I’ve also pasted the bulk of the transcript below for the convenience of email subscribers:<\/p>\n

(Source: Voice of Russia<\/a>)<\/p>\n

“This is our last show this year and, who knows, probably the last show on the VR.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s been a lot of talk on the internet all over the place about the end of shortwave broadcast from the Voice of Russia. Is it going to happen? I don\u2019t know. I haven\u2019t discussed it with anyone around here. Am I worried like some of you are? No. Am I losing sleep over it? No. Am I posting mindless crap about this all over the Internet? No. Do I care? Not really. Do I have a life? Yes, I\u2019d like to think so. So, many stations have already left the shortwave for the same reasons. Are we as shortwave listeners happy? No. But can we put all our emotions aside and deal with reality? You might be asking why there hasn\u2019t been on the air or on the website about this. Good question. I would probably guess it is because folks here don\u2019t make such a big deal out of it. The fact is most of the comrades here at the office will continue working just as they always did. The programs will be carried online, on satellite and on the many local stations around the world in cities like Washington DC, New York, Miami, Chicago. There are DAB broadcasts in the UK and other European cities. The list grows all the time. Yes shortwave listeners are disappointed, I can understand this. But the hobby doesn\u2019t end there. Get a grip.<\/p>\n

But what about the merging of the station with RIA or RIA News Agency?<\/p>\n

At the risk of sounding like the devil\u2019s advocate, let me say I am not an employee of this radio station for as long as I\u2019ve been a shortwave listener including the very early years as a kid in Maryland in the years I worked at radio Moscow World Service, I\u2019ve always felt there was so much room left for improvement at radio Moscow. Now if this merger with the other Russia news organizations leads to something good, I can only welcome this. It\u2019s been long overdue.<\/p>\n

But aren\u2019t you sad at all? This is bad news for the shortwave listeners around the world.<\/p>\n

What I am sad about is the yet unconfirmed information dealing with having to move out of this historic building into a new facility several miles away because, maybe it is because we worked here for a long time, our lives are connected with this building at Pyatnitsaya street.<\/p>\n

I suppose we feel like the BBC staff when they were forced to leave Bush House. It looks like most of the people are very worried about the future.<\/p>\n

And what\u2019s that got to do with leaving the building?
\nIt is everything.<\/p>\n

We are talking about our plans for New Year\u2019s holiday as it is a time when the whole country goes on vacation for 10 days and the consequences are felt for the rest of the year. As for yours truly, I\u2019ll probably spend a few days in the country in the fresh air, relaxing, playing with my new radio. But the atmosphere in Moscow if we talk about the first 10 days of January is very nice. It is very quiet during the holidays here. The city is empty, as all the oligarchs are out of here, off-shores. There is no traffic, the lighting is still there, it is magical. I also want to take a late night dinner cruise on the Moskva River aboard the Radisson fleet.<\/p>\n

That must be a fantastic experience now that Moscow is sparkling with thousands of lights.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s talk about traditions a bit more. You mentioned the one about throwing all the old stuff away. The one I never understood, I mean tradition speaking was how and why you are supposed to say farewell to the old year by having a drink a few minutes before midnight.<\/p>\n

That is very simple, mind you, it is an absolute must to say goodbye to the old year and thank it for all the good things it brought you. After that you must have a shot of vodka or a glass of wine or any other alcoholic beverage provided it is not Champaign. Champaign is something to see the new year in.
\nI think it is just another excuse to drink. What about all the mythical animals that are always associated with this holiday? It may sound dumb coming from me and it probably is, but I don\u2019t recall paying any attention to these things back in the US but here every year is assigned with an animal, like this time. It is the year of the horse.<\/p>\n

Right, blue horse.<\/p>\n

Are Russians really into that sort of thing?<\/p>\n

I think they are and I am very much into this. And I am ready to tell you all that I know about the year of the blue horse and the oriental and occidental horoscopes, and their influence on people. But let\u2019s do it next week because it is a very interesting topic and we simply have no time for it now.<\/p>\n

One New Year\u2019s tradition here is to have Santa Claus or Father Frost and his Snow Maiden visit kids from their parents workplace.<\/p>\n

In USSR another New Year\u2019s tradition which I hated was watching TV till the early hours of morning. There was nothing to watch but a lame soviet produced New Year\u2019s special called Blue Light made up of ideologically safe jokes and unbearable Soviet singers. And later that night it would be followed by an east German production featuring dancers from the Friedrichstadt-Palast Cancan troop.”<\/p>\n

Read more: http:\/\/voiceofrussia.com\/radio_broadcast\/36578738\/256786661\/<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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

SWLing Post reader, Richard, writes: This is apparently a transcript from Vasily Strelnikov’s\u00a0most recent “From Moscow With\u00a0Love” that represents, probably as much as anything, the thinking\u00a0currently within the halls of VoR. Interesting reading & listening – Many thanks, Richard, for sharing. Note that you can read and listen to the full show on the Voice […]<\/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":[56,3,43],"tags":[2400,408,2444,2092,2443,409,2094],"class_list":["post-8424","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-broadcasters","category-news","category-shortwave-radio","tag-rossia-segodnya-newswire","tag-voice-of-russia","tag-voice-of-russia-2014","tag-voice-of-russia-cuts","tag-voice-of-russia-on-the-air","tag-vor","tag-vor-cuts"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-2bS","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":7088,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2013\/08\/voice-of-russia-to-cease-shortwave-radio-service\/","url_meta":{"origin":8424,"position":0},"title":"Voice of Russia to cease shortwave radio service","author":"Thomas","date":"August 21, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"It appears the Voice of Russia will cease shortwave radio service on January 1st, 2014. According to this article on RiaNovosti, the shortwave service is closing due to \"funding \u00a0cuts.\" I have listened to the Voice of Russia since they were known as Radio Moscow in the Cold War era.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Broadcasters"","block_context":{"text":"Broadcasters","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/broadcasters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Voice of Russia Antenna site in Wachenbrunn, Germany (Source: Wikimedia Commons)","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/800px-Quadratantenne_Wachenbrunn-300x199.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":8397,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2013\/12\/voice-of-russia-to-remain-on-the-air-in-2014\/","url_meta":{"origin":8424,"position":1},"title":"Voice of Russia to remain on the air in 2014","author":"Thomas","date":"December 23, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"This year has been a confusing one for Voice of Russia listeners. \u00a0At least two separate news sources--in August and December--announced that VOR would be leaving the shortwaves effective Jan 1, 2014, but\u00a0VOR couldn't confirmed or denied the news. Then, only two weeks ago, Russian President Vladimir Putin surprised us\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Broadcasters"","block_context":{"text":"Broadcasters","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/broadcasters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"RIA Novosti Newsroom, Moscow (Source: Wikipedia)","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/800px-Newsroom_RIA_Novosti_Moscow_2-300x199.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":8550,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2014\/01\/russia-ends-long-wave-services\/","url_meta":{"origin":8424,"position":2},"title":"Russia “quietly” ends longwave services","author":"Thomas","date":"January 11, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"The BBC reports that Russia has \"quietly switched off nearly all of its long-wave transmitters, ending almost nine decades of broadcasting - as cost finally catches up on the medium.\" Read the full story on the\u00a0BBC News. Not a huge surprise as many countries are pulling the plug on longwave,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Broadcasters"","block_context":{"text":"Broadcasters","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/broadcasters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Zenith Transoceanic tuned to shortwave","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/photo-2-1-225x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":7134,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2013\/08\/voice-of-russia-poll\/","url_meta":{"origin":8424,"position":3},"title":"Voice of Russia poll","author":"Thomas","date":"August 29, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Troy wites: ...I received [an email] from the Voice of Russia. \u00a0It parallels what you have reported on your blog, however in her reply\u00a0Elena Osipova also sent me an attachment in the form of a \"poll\" or survey. \u00a0It seems she may be collecting data re: listenership habits. \u00a0I would\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Broadcasters"","block_context":{"text":"Broadcasters","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/broadcasters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"VoiceOfRussia","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/VoiceOfRussia-300x207.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":8131,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2013\/12\/n-news-agency-voice-of-russia-shortwave-service-to-close-jan-1-2013\/","url_meta":{"origin":8424,"position":4},"title":"N News Agency: Voice of Russia shortwave service to close by Jan 1, 2014","author":"Thomas","date":"December 4, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"The Russian language N News Agency reports: \"The Russian government\u2019s international radio broadcasting service Golos Rossii (Voice of Russia) will stop its shortwave broadcasts from January 1st next year. The shortwave service is closing due to funding cuts.\u00a0 Voice of Russia is to broadcast several programs in foreign languages including\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Broadcasters"","block_context":{"text":"Broadcasters","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/broadcasters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"VoiceOfRussia","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/VoiceOfRussia-300x207.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":7129,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2013\/08\/no-news-is-no-news-a-response-from-the-voice-of-russia\/","url_meta":{"origin":8424,"position":5},"title":"No news is no news: a response from the Voice of Russia","author":"Thomas","date":"August 28, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"I wrote the Voice of Russia following the suggestion that their broadcasting on shortwave radio\u00a0may soon end. A response has now arrived from the Letters Department of the VOR's World Service. \u00a0And the current word? \u00a0Very similar to that of my previous post, though VOR confesses that the topic is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Broadcasters"","block_context":{"text":"Broadcasters","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/broadcasters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"(Source: Wikimedia Commons)","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Moscow_Kremlin-300x196.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8424","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=8424"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8424\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8424"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8424"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8424"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}