Debra Latham of Radio for Peace International sends in this article about
the relevancy of shortwave radio in the age of the Internet. In short, it
still is how most of the people in the world get their news and learn
about developments going on. Information about how to find out more
information about RFPI is at the end of the message.
kelly
Shortwave Radio
Relevant in the New Millennium?
Many detractors of shortwave radio, as well as proponents of the
internet as the great uniter of the world have said that shortwave is
a thing of the past and should be relegated to history. The truth is
quite different. A report published in January 2001 by Groupe France
Telecom, the telecommunications arm of the French government states,
"An estimated 2.5 billion people tune into programs broadcast on
shortwave radio and about a billion receivers pick up shortwave
transmissions. At any given moment, over 200 million receivers are
tuned in to shortwave broadcasts. Shortwave remains the only means
of reaching a broad audience anywhere in the world."
These billion shortwave receivers cannot be turned off by
governments, as the internet can be. In times of crisis, power
outages, natural disasters, war or revolutionary situations all
technologically sophisticated telecommunications systems (television,
internet, telephone, satellite) can be blocked, cut or shutdown.
Shortwave radio is the only mass communication medium which remains
operational.
In May 1999 the Group of 77 (a coalition of 133 developing countries)
requested the United Nations to maintain radio, and other traditional
media outlets, as a means of disseminating information rather than
relying only on the internet. Ambassador Samuel Insanally of Guyana,
chairman of the Group of 77, said that "radio remains for most of our
countries, the major medium for the dissemination of information."
The introduction of modern information technology increasingly has
favored rich nations and is detrimental to the peoples of the
developing world "who are clearly disadvantaged by their lack of
access to such advanced technologies." As a result,
Secretary-General Kofi Annan assured the Group of 77 that the UN's
Department of Public Information will continue to maintain and expand
the use of traditional means of information - including radio and
printed material - because of the constraints faced by developing
countries in an age of computers and the global information
superhighway.
The equipment needed for shortwave reception is already widely
available to people in developing and developed countries alike
giving the medium a commonality across educational and economic
boundaries. As a cost-effective means of disseminating information,
shortwave radio provides a unique delivery system capable of bridging
the digital divide, lessening the North - South polarization and thus
bringing balance to the matter of access.
According to Kim Andrew Elliott, VOA Audience Researcher, writing in
World Radio and TV Handbook, the future of shortwave radio
broadcasting will be with stations such as Radio For Peace
International-non-governmental, efficiently run stations. We at
Radio For Peace International are ready to take the challenge to meet
the growing demands set out by the world citizens.
*****
For more information contact Gil Carmichael, tel. 011-506-205-9092.
--
Radio For Peace International
PO Box 88
Santa Ana, Costa Rica
Central America
[log in to unmask]
http://www.rfpi.org
On-demand RealAudio: http://www.rfpi.org/webcast.html
Live Webcast (MP3 format): http://www.boinklabs.com/ifpi.html
_______________________________________________
VICUG-L is the Visually Impaired Computer User Group List.
To join or leave the list, send a message to
[log in to unmask] In the body of the message, simply type
"subscribe vicug-l" or "unsubscribe vicug-l" without the quotations.
VICUG-L is archived on the World Wide Web at
http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/vicug-l.html
|
