The Voice of America gets cut
Almost 1,300 journalists, producers and assistants are no longer working at Voice of America, and for the first time in 83 years, the broadcaster has been silenced.
I went to the Voice of America in 2009 and did a talk there about radio’s future. Look at the marble! Look at the bad shirt collar!
I’ve just found my blog post from the time and restored it to my website. It reminded me of my visit - I found it a little old-fashioned and “government-y”, but also genuine and sincere about its commitment to its listeners.
The White House suggests that it is “radical propaganda”, and alleges that it is left-biased. Much of everything appears to skew to the left if you believe that FOX News is fair and balanced, I suppose, but - along with the closure of USAID - what an astonishing loss of soft power around the world.
The BBC World Service is currently arguing about the sources of its funding as part of wider BBC funding talks due to complete in 2027. About two-thirds of the cost of the BBC World Service comes from the UK licence fee, in a rushed deal originally done by Mark Thompson in Oct 2010. The considerable benefit that the BBC World Service delivers around the world is immeasurable to Great Britain; but yet, successive UK governments haven’t seem to have considered that.
I know, from my own travels, how important the BBC World Service is to the standing of the UK; and, while Voice of America may not be in the same league, it still really benefits the perception of the United States of America.
It’s a massive mistake to close it.
I am co-hosting the Infinite Dial 2025 in a live webinar this Thursday, March 20. Podcasting! In-car audio! Social media! And more! Lots of consumption data, all for your delight - please join me.
Restoring the post about VoA has also meant I found and restored a ton of other posts from that time. Please enjoy a gushing piece about NPR; things I learnt from TOKYO FM in Japan; a trip to CBC Radio 3 in Vancouver; the strangeness of radio in Bangkok; and a look round Austereo in Melbourne. A lovely trip down memory lane - I might have been unemployed at the time after my time at the BBC, but what an enjoyable travel journey.
Emboldened by blogs, I wrote a new piece about why it was time for ABC local radio to be on FM in the capital cities. For them not to be seems short-sighted from the ABC, but also short-sighted from the government, who, after all, funds the ABC to exist. The amount of hatred I’ve had in Facebook groups for making this suggestion has been interesting, to say the least. One reason the Facebook commenters give is that “it’s illegal to simulcast AM and FM”. There is, however, no such law, as far as I can discover - not least, many ABC local radio services do exactly that.
I recorded an interview for J-WAVE 81.3FM about the 100th anniversary of radio starting in Japan. I’ll be on JK Radio Tokyo United (with Jon Kabira) between 06:00 and 11:30 on Mar 28. Radio in Japan started after the government was concerned about misinformation, and wished to give a sense of unity to the nation. It’s never been as popular as in the US or Europe, and reaches about 40% of people in Japan every week, as opposed to around 90% in many other countries. It is, still, a vibrant medium; and Jon told me during the interview that younger audiences are rediscovering “this machine called radio”.
Smooth Radio in North Wales has closed its AM transmitters. AM continues to be slowly turned-off in the UK, especially by the commercial sector.
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Where I am speaking next
- Radio Days Ireland, Dublin, Ireland (Mar 27-28)
- Evolutions, Chicago IL, USA (Mar 31-Apr 3)
- Radiodays North America, Toronto ON, Canada (May 7-8)
- The Podcast Show, London, UK (May 20-21)
- Podcast Movement, Dallas TX, USA (Aug 18-21)
- Radiodays Asia tbc (Sep 1-3)
- Pennine Radio’s 50th birthday! In Bradford! Yes, I’ll be there, somehow.
- PodSummit YYC, Calgary, Canada (Sep 19-20)
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