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Kari Lake previews her plans for Voice of America in the next Administration.

Y2kTheNewOldies said:
thedesk.net

USAGM starts firing full-time Voice of America employees

The USAGM is sending termination notices to full-time employees at Voice of America, The Desk has learned.
thedesk.net thedesk.net

Here is more on the new cuts happening at the VOA.
Click to expand...
She is totally out of whack.

"“The Voice of America functional requirement and scope is duplicative with the activities of private United States broadcasters,” Lake’s memo read, presumably referring to OAN and Herring Networks"

The VOA was specifically chartered to serve audiences outside the United States. Except for a couple of private shortwave running Brother Stair and the like, no private U.S. broadcaster serves international audiences.

They need one of those white coats with belts around it for her!
 
See:

US scrambles to bring back VOA’s Persian service amid Iran-Israel conflict​


Employees of Voice of America’s Persian-language service who were sidelined by the Trump administration have been hastily called back to duty as Iran and Israel exchange missile strikes in a high-stakes Middle East conflict.

The U.S. Agency for Global Media told employees placed on administrative leave to immediately return to their roles providing counter-programming to Iranian state media as the conflict between the two nations escalated Friday, according to an email seen by POLITICO and three people familiar with the situation.

----------------

No mention about the transmitters which could reach the target area.
 
RadioFan2J3 said:
See:

US scrambles to bring back VOA’s Persian service amid Iran-Israel conflict​


Employees of Voice of America’s Persian-language service who were sidelined by the Trump administration have been hastily called back to duty as Iran and Israel exchange missile strikes in a high-stakes Middle East conflict.

The U.S. Agency for Global Media told employees placed on administrative leave to immediately return to their roles providing counter-programming to Iranian state media as the conflict between the two nations escalated Friday, according to an email seen by POLITICO and three people familiar with the situation.

----------------

No mention about the transmitters which could reach the target area.
Click to expand...

On the one hand, this shows the basic stupidity of this administration not only in radio but elsewhere; on the other hand, I'm willing to bet that the employees being called back will be told that whatever they do, they cannot criticize the U.S. or the current administration. And that last sentence might apply to the current Israeli leader as well.
 
RadioFan2J3 said:
See:

US scrambles to bring back VOA’s Persian service amid Iran-Israel conflict​


Employees of Voice of America’s Persian-language service who were sidelined by the Trump administration have been hastily called back to duty as Iran and Israel exchange missile strikes in a high-stakes Middle East conflict.

The U.S. Agency for Global Media told employees placed on administrative leave to immediately return to their roles providing counter-programming to Iranian state media as the conflict between the two nations escalated Friday, according to an email seen by POLITICO and three people familiar with the situation.

----------------

No mention about the transmitters which could reach the target area.
Click to expand...
You mean they finally woke up to the usefulness of VOA? It took a war for them to figure that one out? SMH.
 
boombox4 said:
You mean they finally woke up to the usefulness of VOA? It took a war for them to figure that one out? SMH.
Click to expand...
Wonder if they regret shutting down the USAGM Kuwait transmitter facility, which was actually in the midst of an expansion project when the plug was pulled.

Meanwhile news reports indicate Israel is about to target the headquarters of IRIB, the Iranian state broadcaster. Might be one less shortwave broadcaster in the next few hours.
 
boombox4 said:
You mean they finally woke up to the usefulness of VOA? It took a war for them to figure that one out? SMH.
Click to expand...
Does anyone seriously think anyone in Iran is digging out their old portable shortwave radios to listen to VOA? Or maybe they hurried up and ordered one with prime shipping from Amazon.
 
JJSPC said:
Does anyone seriously think anyone in Iran is digging out their old portable shortwave radios to listen to VOA? Or maybe they hurried up and ordered one with prime shipping from Amazon.
Click to expand...
Who knows.

However, barring any effort on the part of the government to block the signal, shortwave can get into places where all other infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed.

In this situation, it might be useful as an emergency source of information, seeing as it appears that Iran's telecom (and probably also power) infrastructure is being targeted.

But, as has been discussed ad nauseum on here, what good is a strong foreign SW signal if nobody can hear it?

c
 
JJSPC said:
Does anyone seriously think anyone in Iran is digging out their old portable shortwave radios to listen to VOA? Or maybe they hurried up and ordered one with prime shipping from Amazon.
Click to expand...
Radio Farda, under the auspices of RFE/RL, was the USAGM broadcaster to Iran. They used both mediumwave and shortwave to target the country.

I suspect the IRIB shortwave transmitter sites may be targeted by Israel to remove that propaganda outlet.
 
cc333 said:
But, as has been discussed ad nauseum on here, what good is a strong foreign SW signal if nobody can hear it?
Click to expand...

According to Kari Lake, there is more than shortwave:

Now, with Iran on the brink and the world watching, VOA’s Persian division is back on the frontlines. Journalists say they are preparing to resume full satellite TV broadcasts in Iran, not just online updates.
Click to expand...

In fact, shortwave wasn't mentioned at all in her statement.
 
CTListener said:
Is Iran retaliating against this station?
Click to expand...
Kol Israel shut down what was left of its shortwave service around a dozen years ago. In its final few years the only broadcasts were in Farsi directed to Iran.

Kol Israel once a much more extensive international shortwave service in multiple languages that was easily heard around the world. There were also shortwave rebroadcasts of the domestic Israeli networks.
 
Mediafrog+ said:
Kol Israel shut down what was left of its shortwave service around a dozen years ago. In its final few years the only broadcasts were in Farsi directed to Iran.

Kol Israel once a much more extensive international shortwave service in multiple languages that was easily heard around the world. There were also shortwave rebroadcasts of the domestic Israeli networks.
Click to expand...
I knew they did Farsi to Iran, didn't know the final sign-off was so long ago.
 
CTListener said:
Is Iran retaliating against this station?
Click to expand...
Kol Israel is not "a station" but a network of stations covering all of Israel. It has an Arabic service, too.

There are 3 Hebrew networks, one in Arabic and one for the different languages of Jewish migrants to Israel who have not yet learned good Hebrew. There are also a bunch of online specialty formats and a variety of language service.

My understanding (I visited Kol Israel some years back) is that they have both a well-known studio location in Tel Aviv as well as "secret" backup facilities available.
 
Kol Israel was actually shut down in 2017 alongside its parent, the Israel Broadcasting Authority (IBA). The radio stations were then transferred to the new broadcaster known as the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation (IPBC) where they were rebranded under the IPBC's blanket branding of Kan (meaning "here" in Hebrew) or Makan (meaning "place" in Arabic). The international service is now known as Kan REKA.
 
blizzard59 said:
Kol Israel was actually shut down in 2017 alongside its parent, the Israel Broadcasting Authority (IBA). The radio stations were then transferred to the new broadcaster known as the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation (IPBC) where they were rebranded under the IPBC's blanket branding of Kan (meaning "here" in Hebrew) or Makan (meaning "place" in Arabic). The international service is now known as Kan REKA.
Click to expand...
Sorry, I know that and should have posted the clarification. But most of us still call it by its old name.
 
davideduardo said:
Kol Israel is not "a station" but a network of stations covering all of Israel. It has an Arabic service, too.

There are 3 Hebrew networks, one in Arabic and one for the different languages of Jewish migrants to Israel who have not yet learned good Hebrew. There are also a bunch of online specialty formats and a variety of language service.

My understanding (I visited Kol Israel some years back) is that they have both a well-known studio location in Tel Aviv as well as "secret" backup facilities available.
Click to expand...
When I started SWLing in the '60s, Kol Israel even had programs in Yiddish (a Hebrew/German/Russian hybrid) and Ladino (Hebrew/Spanish) for European Jews abroad. My paternal grandparents, who came over from Ukraine in the early '20s, spoke Yiddish at home and the English they had learned at night school in their dealings with the outside world.
 
davideduardo said:
Sorry, I know that and should have posted the clarification. But most of us still call it by its old name.
Click to expand...
Back in the stone age, Iran had a transmitter on 15084 that put a decent signal into midwest USA during the day. Before the Shah was toppled, it was basically Iranian music with commercials including a shouted "Pepsi".That changed with the students taking over the station with the hostage crisis. I couldn't understand a word, but I could hear the students on the air, sounding like they had no idea what they were doing.
Bringing things to today, an Isreali round hit an Iranian TV station during a broadcast. https://www.axios.com/2025/06/16/iran-state-tv-bombed-israel-strike
 
gr8oldies said:
Back in the stone age, Iran had a transmitter on 15084 that put a decent signal into midwest USA during the day. Before the Shah was toppled, it was basically Iranian music with commercials including a shouted "Pepsi".That changed with the students taking over the station with the hostage crisis. I couldn't understand a word, but I could hear the students on the air, sounding like they had no idea what they were doing.
Bringing things to today, an Isreali round hit an Iranian TV station during a broadcast. https://www.axios.com/2025/06/16/iran-state-tv-bombed-israel-strike
Click to expand...
15084 and 9009 (later 9109) were the oddball frequencies I used to hear Kol Israel on.
 


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