West – East Entanglements During the Cold War: Shortwave Broadcasting and Propaganda from and to Portugal

Portugal became the centre of an entangled airwaves ensemble during the Cold War. In order to demonstrate this, the article develops along two lines. First, it details how the Portuguese dictatorship, with ideological connections to fascism, allowed the construction in its territory of one of the most powerful retransmitters of Radio Free Europe (RFE), responsible for airing anti-communist propaganda to Eastern Europe. The collaboration between the Portuguese dictator and the National Committee for Free Europe, mediated by US diplomatic officials, played an important role in the development of the operations of RFE in the country. Second, the article demonstrates how Portugal became the target of shortwave broadcasts operated from abroad, aimed at spreading pro-communist and anti-fascist sentiments in Portuguese society. Some of these stations were established by the political opposition that used the airwaves to undermine the dictatorship.     

The United Fruit Company and Early Radio Development

When General Electric formed the Radio Corporation of America with Marconi assets in 1919, conflicts over patents prompted a push for cross-licensing agreements with the other large electrical and telephone interests. In addition to RCA, General Electric, AT&T and Westinghouse, a fifth partner in the patents pool was the United Fruit Company whose primary business was banana production. How the fruit company became a player in the American radio cartel and the impact of its radio activities in the tropics are the focus of this article. The evolution of its subsidiary the Tropical Radio and Telegraph Company is also delineated.     

Development of Radio in Kazakhstan

This article discusses how radio in Kazakhstan changed after the Soviet Union collapsed and market-oriented independent countries emerged. Since independence in 1991, the media, including radio, developed partly as a private enterprise and partly as a government entity with government radio operations controlled by the State Television and Radio Broadcasting Corporation. State radio stations in Kazakhstan are subsidized and operations do not depend on popularity or successful competition for audiences. Commercial stations have found support in advertising and continue to be successful. Although Kazakhstan has been independent for about 20 years and Kazakh stations are successful, the radio market in Kazakhstan is dominated by Russian radio. This article highlights the significant challenge for Kazakh radio as it continues to develop a uniquely Kazakh character that can promote Kazakh language and culture, and successfully attract a Kazakh audience.     

Radio,Democracy and Development: Evolving Models of Community Radio

Although community radio has a long history in South and North America, new models are evolving in other parts of the world from South Africa to Central Eurasia. True to its community roots, stations reflect the unique history, culture, and political climate of each country. Radio is the most democratic of media both in providing easy access to citizen participation and in being widely available. In rural areas from subsistence farmers in Mozambique to nomadic herders in Mongolia, radio is the only medium. With limited resources in new democracies, it is the most cost-effective medium. The expressive human voice and natural sound engage the imagination through story telling. Radio stations are not simply passive transmitters of information or hit music; they are a catalyst for building community, for improving health and education, for fostering a civil society. These are no longer theoretical visions; many stations now demonstrate all of these goals.     

Understanding the Social Media Audiences of Radio Stations

This article investigates the online comments of news items posted on the Facebook pages of two popular Arabic-language radio channels: Radio Monte Carlo—France24 and Radio Netherlands Worldwide (RNW). This study examines over 184,000 comments with a special focus on the most liked posts in order to understand how audiences of regular radio interact on social media. The results indicate that audiences seem to be more engaged with posts that encourage participating in broad issues, interacting with clever quotes, and entering contests and less so with reading breaking news. With regards to news events and serious issues, this study also examined how social media users of these two Facebook “radio” sites responded to postings that differed from their own opinions, and seemingly actively engaged with contrasting or oppositional views or sentiments.     

Introduction

Between 1940–1947, the FCC's Radio Intelligence Division (RID) monitored clandestine radio transmissions in the United States. The RID was the FCC's “largest single activity” during the war years and helped military and government agencies locate the Axis enemy. Its creation set the precedent for FCC participation in national defense. Although its national defense activities supported President Roosevelt's New Deal goals, the RID eventually became the target of considerable conservative criticism. This essay broadens the understanding of the FCC beyond its broadcasting authority and further provides insight to the national defense contributions of a civilian agency.     

The Future of Radio Revisited: Expert Perspectives and Future Scenarios for Radio Media in 2025

In 2005–2006 the research group DRACE (Digital Radio Cultures in Europe) performed a study on how 43 people in key positions related to the radio industry in 4 European countries and Canada viewed the future of radio and which delivery technologies they considered would be most successful. In addition, it analyzed the motives and reasons certain technologies were seen as more promising than others. Finally, it presented 4 different future scenarios for radio media. The study was published in the Journal of Radio and Audio Media, May 2008.

In 2005 the future of radio was considered much less obvious and clear than it appeared 10 years previously. Instead of a transition from analog to digital audio broad- casting (DAB), there was a selection of alternative technological options for digital audio delivery. When looking back from 2015 and considering the results of expert interviews, the project group about Public Service Media in the HERA project: Transnational Radio Encounters found interesting perspectives in replicating this study—now looking forward to 2025. By using the same questionnaire and interviewing the same experts (or new persons in the same positions) they could compare the predictions with the present situation, looking for technological, regulatory, policy based, and user-oriented contexts. Furthermore, they could ask the experts to look 10 years forward to 2025. Besides from the interviews, desk studies were performed in order to explore the national similarities and differences as background for the analysis of the scenarios for the 2015 and 2025 studies.

This comparative study involves Denmark, Finland, Germany, Ireland, and the UK.     

A Library and a Radio Show: The Story of a Successful Partnership at 10 Years and Counting

Your Health® Radio is a weekly one-hour radio show about consumer health produced by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Department of Family Medicine. It provides practical, health-related news and information to listeners in an easy to understand style. Hosted by a family medicine physician faculty member and co-hosted by other health professionals, it airs on a local radio station. Since 2009, Health Sciences librarians have collaborated on the show, bringing their expertise in information discovery and organization, consumer health, and health literacy to this consumer health endeavor. In the process, the librarians and libraries have also benefitted.     

Radio as an Instrument of Protest: The History of Bush Radio

This article provides a historical account of Bush Radio, the oldest community radio station in Africa, based in Cape Town, South Africa. The creation of Bush Radio's precursor, the Cassette Education Trust (CASET) was a pivotal moment for the emergence of community radio on the continent. This people's history of Bush Radio tells the full story through the voices of the founders and staff, together with other sources of historical data. The article argues that although the apartheid state constructed essentialist racial and ethnic categories, CASET and later Bush Radio constantly positioned themselves in a space of liminality to interrogate and redefine these categories. Privileging an instrumentalist approach, this article shows the connections between ideology, politics, and economics as they converge to form the industrial structure, the political environment, and the cultural product of broadcasting.     

Back to the Future: Allegheny Mountain Radio and Localism in West Virginia Community Radio

Community radio is a form of noncommercial broadcasting designed to serve audiences in a specific geographic area. In recent years, community radio has become a viable alternative to both commercial and public radio, which produce nationally oriented programming designed to attract mass audiences. The value and impact of community radio can be seen through the work of Allegheny Mountain Radio, a three-station network serving a rural and geographically isolated region of southern West Virginia and Virginia.     

Radio's Role During Hurricane Katrina: A Case Study of WWL Radio and the United Radio Broadcasters of New Orleans

This narrative case study examines the news and information role played by WWL Radio and the United Radio Broadcasters of New Orleans during the real life drama of Hurricane Katrina. The performance of United demonstrates that media consolidation, deregulation and the threat of emerging technologies do not justify abandoning the idea that broadcasters still have a moral and ethical responsibility to serve the public interests of audiences; that traditional radio should stop looking over its shoulder at threats posed by other media, and instead should make use of the medium's greatest strength—taking care of the communities it serves on the local level. This study provides further proof that traditional radio is still vital, especially in times of disaster and catastrophe; that radio's attention to the local community, and its ability to collaborate among other broadcast outlets in that community, may be two of many distinct factors that keep the public tuned in to the medium.     

"Short-Term Bursts of Inspiration": The Development of British Women's Alternative Radio

This paper begins with a review of literature and an historical account of the development of alternative women's community radio in the UK. It describes how UK women's radio stations were developed from feminist radio activity in the 70s and 80s. The two short case studies are based on qualitative research in women's community radio stations that have developed in the 90s: Fem FM in Bristol in the southwest and Radio Venus in Bradford in the north of England. Finally it develops a model of alternative women's radio for those who wish to forge a gendered space in a radio environment dominated by male broadcasters.     

Copyright,Community Radio,and Change: How the U.S. Community Radio Sector is Negotiating Changing Copyright Rules and the Rollout of Digital Distribution

Radio has been regulated in the United States by the Federal Communications Commission, and previously the Federal Radio Commission, since the 1920s. Now, community radio operators and producers find themselves operating within a range of regulatory frameworks, depending on the platforms (over-the-air or online) on which they place their content. This article reviews how the impact of copyright regulation on community radio is changing as that sector expands into internet distribution. The article draws on a number of case studies of U.S.-based community radio stations, and forms part of a larger study of the changing structure of that sector. A significant lesson from this case study is a better understanding of the manner in which community stations are not only negotiating the platforms on which they distribute their content, based in large part on regulatory constraints on different platforms, but also are often fringe actors in policy debates dominated by larger economic groupings, such as corporate broadcasters and recording industry lobby groups.     

When Everything Else Fails: Radio Journalism During Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico

ABSTRACT

In an era of over-reliance on online media technologies in disasters, this research examines the journalistic functions played by Puerto Rican AM radio workers during Hurricane Maria. Throughout the emergency there was total loss of electricity and communications, nonetheless local radio continued operations. This study is one of a few that explore journalistic practices during a disaster in the context of a Spanish-language media system. Through a qualitative analysis of in-depth interviews with radio workers, we found that in spite of having preparedness plans, the magnitude of the disaster led to improvization and the embracing of alternative journalistic roles. One of the main barriers was the inadequate technology for this particular context. Radio workers were also victims of the disaster and faced challenges in both their journalistic and first responder roles.     

融媒体背景下广播电台转型发展探索

融媒体时代到来,广播电台处于转型发展的关键时刻,如何找准转型方向和构建融媒体平台一直是传统媒体转型过程中遇到的难题.本文主要从内容、传播、产品和平台构建等方面阐述广播电台转型发展途径.提出了构建"电台+两微+APP+网络直播"的融媒体平台,拓宽多元化的融媒体传播渠道.打造以上游内容生产,中游用户社群聚集,下游广告、活动...     

Tripping Down the (Media) Rabbit Hole: Radio Alice and the Insurgent Socialization of Airwaves

This article illustrates the case Radio Alice, a “free radio” active in late 1970s Italy, which challenged traditional forms of thinking and doing broadcasting. The author discusses how the station utilized the airwaves first to constitute an alternative arena in which different voices, experiences, and social groups utilized radio as a 2-way communication device; second, to convey a new political sensibility and sense of sociability resembling a contemporary social network site. Ultimately, this case illustrates how radio can be understood as a modality of social interaction in its own right, rather than a mere distributor/amplifier of messages.     

Political News Use and Democratic Support: A Study of Uganda's Radio Impact

This study examines the role of radio during the democratization process in Uganda. It tests whether the use of political news and information on radio in Uganda leads to support for democracy, accounting for public interest in politics. Radio is the most accessed medium for current affairs in Africa, and remarkably so in Uganda. Public opinion survey data show considerable use of radio for political information, but no direct influence on support for democracy. Greater use of radio to get political news was strongly related to measures of political interest; which is also a moderating variable to democratic support. The utility of this study and its implications are discussed in detail.     

Radio access: The Danish approach

During the past two years “Danmarks Radio” has carried out the experiment of giving ordinary people access to the medium of radio. The venture has been named the “Tape Workshop.” In the following, the practical organizer of these experiments gives an explanation of the principles which have evolved in connection with making the production facilities available.