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

[davideduardo]

None of the local stores here have FM radios for sale either, but that doesn't keep a few million in my metro from listening to FM.

Bet almost 100% of the cars on dealer lots have radios. AM, too.

Radios have a fairly long lifespan. I have a 1967 multiband transistor that still works as well as it did a few decades ago.

But there has been no real attractive short-wave programming for three decades or more.

Also, rural Africa is not South America. Neither are places like Afghanistan and Iran.

In rural subsaharan Africa, the majority of the people speak vernaculars, not the languages, of more educated peoples of larger cities. And, among people who often have no formal education, what kind of international programming could reach them?

The most famous... and first... evangelical SW station, HCJB "The Voice of t he Andes", gave up about 20 years ago after more than a decade of downsizing.

 

[boombox4]

Bet almost 100% of the cars on dealer lots have radios. AM, too.

But there has been no real attractive short-wave programming for three decades or more.

In rural subsaharan Africa, the majority of the people speak vernaculars, not the languages, of more educated peoples of larger cities. And, among people who often have no formal education, what kind of international programming could reach them?

The most famous... and first... evangelical SW station, HCJB "The Voice of t he Andes", gave up about 20 years ago after more than a decade of downsizing.

VOA broadcast to Africa in vernaculars, as well as lingua francas like French and English. In Zimbabwe, for example, all students are taught English, although the majority languages are Ndebele and Mashona. It resembles India in that respect. The two majority language groups have English in common, in both government and commerce. VOA broadcast to Zimbabwe in all three.

In West Africa, French is used as a lingua franca by those whose home language may be a different vernacular.

 

[davideduardo]

VOA broadcast to Africa in vernaculars, as well as lingua francas like French and English. In Zimbabwe, for example, all students are taught English, although the majority languages are Ndebele and Mashona. It resembles India in that respect. The two majority language groups have English in common, in both government and commerce. VOA broadcast to Zimbabwe in all three.

You really think that rural folks in most of Sub-Saharan Africa go to school?

And the vernaculars change almost from village to village.

To come closer to home, Mexico has over 100 languages and dialects. There are quite a few parts of rural Mexico where most people don't even speak Spanish as a second language and the children work in farming and other "trades" from the time they are 6 or 7.

And that is just in Mexico. In Ecuador I had to learn the regional dialect of Quechua back in the 60's as the people who watched my transmitter sites would revert to that tongue if there was a lightening hit or sparks "in the box".

The understanding of the educational levels and language abilities of people in such areas is not very good here in the U.S.A.

In West Africa, French is used as a lingua franca by those whose home language may be a different vernacular.

If they are urban and somewhat educated.

And there are many other languages. My first hit on "languages of Sub-Saharan Africa got this from our friend, the renowned linguist, Mr. A. Intelligence:

Popular to the sub-Saharan region of Africa are languages such as Swahili, Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo, Wolof, Amharic, Shona, Oromo, Kongo, Lingala, Zulu, and so on. These languages are divided into major language families. These families are Bantu, Indo-European, Niger-Congo, and Austronesian
A deeper search reveals
At least 1.34 billion people inhabit Africa. Eighty-one percent, which is 1.09 billion, of this population, are inhabitants of Sub-Saharan Africa. There are no less than a thousand languages among countries that belong to this region. Given that the citizens of Nigeria alone (a country in Sub-Saharan Africa) speak over 500 languages, allocating just a thousand languages to the region is believed to be a gross devaluation.

So there you go... 500 languages just in Nigeria.

Before the pandemic, I was working on a project in Bolivia that mimicked some of the cellular phone "banking" developed in Africa. Using an app, people could even buy vegetables from street vendors or receive payment for random incidental jobs. Our idea was to create such a service in Bolivia but tie in over a dozen radio formats in at least 3 or 4 languages where advertisers would reach consumers directly on the radio "stations" and the consumers would seek out products anywhere and buy them using product codes for discounts run with the radio ads.

Our investigations in a variety of African nations showed that for most people Spanish was not the first language for effective messaging. But one side benefit is that the mobile devices could be used to translate dynamically for buyers and sellers of different cultural groups.

 

[Mediafrog+]

RFE/RL funding latest: Judge orders Trump administration to restore $12 million for pro-democracy Radio Free Europe

 

[TheBigA]

RFE/RL funding latest:

I can't speak for the broadcasting part of RFE/RL but I can say both Twitter and Facebook feeds are current and updated.

 

[KeithE4]

I can't speak for the broadcasting part of RFE/RL but I can say both Twitter and Facebook feeds are current and updated.

The Android VOA app hasn't been updated since March 15.

 

[Mediafrog+]

I can't speak for the broadcasting part of RFE/RL but I can say both Twitter and Facebook feeds are current and updated.

The only shortwave listed for RFE/RL in the 2025 World Radio TV Handbook is a one hour transmission in Russian via WRMI along with a two hour broadcast in Turkmen transmitted from Kuwait and Germany. Everything else is a webcast or local FM in the target areas.

 

[boombox4]

You really think that rural folks in most of Sub-Saharan Africa go to school?

And the vernaculars change almost from village to village.

To come closer to home, Mexico has over 100 languages and dialects. There are quite a few parts of rural Mexico where most people don't even speak Spanish as a second language and the children work in farming and other "trades" from the time they are 6 or 7.

And that is just in Mexico. In Ecuador I had to learn the regional dialect of Quechua back in the 60's as the people who watched my transmitter sites would revert to that tongue if there was a lightening hit or sparks "in the box".

The understanding of the educational levels and language abilities of people in such areas is not very good here in the U.S.A.

If they are urban and somewhat educated.

And there are many other languages. My first hit on "languages of Sub-Saharan Africa got this from our friend, the renowned linguist, Mr. A. Intelligence:

Popular to the sub-Saharan region of Africa are languages such as Swahili, Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo, Wolof, Amharic, Shona, Oromo, Kongo, Lingala, Zulu, and so on. These languages are divided into major language families. These families are Bantu, Indo-European, Niger-Congo, and Austronesian
A deeper search reveals
At least 1.34 billion people inhabit Africa. Eighty-one percent, which is 1.09 billion, of this population, are inhabitants of Sub-Saharan Africa. There are no less than a thousand languages among countries that belong to this region. Given that the citizens of Nigeria alone (a country in Sub-Saharan Africa) speak over 500 languages, allocating just a thousand languages to the region is believed to be a gross devaluation.

So there you go... 500 languages just in Nigeria.

Before the pandemic, I was working on a project in Bolivia that mimicked some of the cellular phone "banking" developed in Africa. Using an app, people could even buy vegetables from street vendors or receive payment for random incidental jobs. Our idea was to create such a service in Bolivia but tie in over a dozen radio formats in at least 3 or 4 languages where advertisers would reach consumers directly on the radio "stations" and the consumers would seek out products anywhere and buy them using product codes for discounts run with the radio ads.

Our investigations in a variety of African nations showed that for most people Spanish was not the first language for effective messaging. But one side benefit is that the mobile devices could be used to translate dynamically for buyers and sellers of different cultural groups.

RE: Schools: According to UNESCO, approximately 4/5ths of kids in Sub-Saharan Africa do go to school. The drop-out rate for those 60% who are schooled increases when they hit the teenage years. So yes, there is an education problem, and probably a literacy problem there as well. None of which would affect radio listening.

RE: Cell banking: you seem to think that there is no dichotomy between using phones to bank and buy stuff (which requires some literacy) and your assertion that people in Sub-Saharan Africa outside the cities (where 55% of sub-Saharan Africans live, and where internet and cell coverage are spare at best) are all illiterate and uneducated.

As for the languages you listed in bold, many of them are lingua francas in their regions, and VOA broadcasted in at least half of them.

 

[davideduardo]

RE: Schools: According to UNESCO, approximately 4/5ths of kids in Sub-Saharan Africa do go to school. The drop-out rate for those 60% who are schooled increases when they hit the teenage years. So yes, there is an education problem, and probably a literacy problem there as well. None of which would affect radio listening.

But the rural population, just as in Latin America, is where you see the bulk of those who do not attend or who drop out after only a few years... generally when they are old enough to work with either of their parents.

RE: Cell banking: you seem to think that there is no dichotomy between using phones to bank and buy stuff (which requires some literacy) and your assertion that people in Sub-Saharan Africa outside the cities (where 55% of sub-Saharan Africans live, and where internet and cell coverage are spare at best) are all illiterate and uneducated.

The cell based phone services are primarily used in urban areas, not rural ones. But the system employed is highly pictorial and visual. The ones we examined for adaptation to Bolivia used about 3rd grade language and lots of icons and illustrations.

There is a lot of differentiation that has to be made as to what is totally rural and what is a city or a "populated area". Those places, whether in Burkina Faso or Bolivia, have cellular services. You are applying American visions of cities and towns and rural areas to places that are enormously different.

As for the languages you listed in bold, many of them are lingua francas in their regions, and VOA broadcasted in at least half of them.

500 of them?

This is the issue that Mexico has confronted with indigenous people's services: while it may seem that there are two million Nahuatl speakers in the country, one radio service can not be used for all of them because there are quite a number of regional "versions" of the language that members of any other Nahuatl group can't understand easily.

We see that in Bolivia, where there are variants of Aymara that are different enough to merit separate audio services.

These are the official languages of Bolivia, protected in the constitution (you will see, as we did, that the African celluolar based services have the same issues):

The following languages are listed as official languages in the Constitution of Bolivia.[1]

• Castilian (Spanish)
• Araona
• Aymara
• Baure
• Bésiro (Chiquitano)
• Canichana
• Cavineño
• Cayubaba
• Chácobo
• Chimán
• Ese Ejja
• Guaraní
• Guarasu'we
• Guarayu
• Itonama
• Leco
• Machajuyai-Kallawaya
• Machineri
• Maropa
• Mojeño-Ignaciano
• Mojeño-Trinitario
• Moré
• Mosetén
• Movima
• Pacawara
• Puquina
• Quechua
• Sirionó

 

[TheBigA]

You guys are WAY overthinking this thing. Nobody in the government is thinking about languages or delivery systems. None of that is a factor. In fact, nobody in Project 2025 considered languages. That wasn't in their report. They don't care about providing services for other countries. They're planning on closing embassies in Europe and Africa, so they don't care about any of that. Decisions are being made by people who hate government and want to shut it down. If it's not directly related to anything specifically required by the constitution, it's gone. Period. It also doesn't matter what the courts say. The USAGM is gone, it's people fired, and its budget is overseen by a former local news anchor who is committed to shutting down VOA.

 

[davideduardo]

You guys are WAY overthinking this thing. Nobody in the government is thinking about languages or delivery systems.

Where does anything or anyone say that? The point in disbanding the VOA and its associated "stations" is that such services are technologically outdated or unable to penetrate more totalitarian nations.

None of that is a factor. In fact, nobody in Project 2025 considered languages. That wasn't in their report. They don't care about providing services for other countries. They're planning on closing embassies in Europe and Africa,

If you look at the nations where they plan to do that, it is obvious why. Does Andorra or Luxembourg really need an embassy?

so they don't care about any of that. Decisions are being made by people who hate government and want to shut it down.

This is becoming a political subject, so suffice it to say that many Americans believe government is too large and needs to be scaled down by eliminating unneeded services such as the VOA and moving others back to the state level.

If it's not directly related to anything specifically required by the constitution, it's gone. Period. It also doesn't matter what the courts say. The USAGM is gone, it's people fired, and its budget is overseen by a former local news anchor who is committed to shutting down VOA.

And that, in the opinion of everyone I know with international broadcasting experience or in electronic media outside the U.S. is something that should have been done several decades ago.

 

[JJSPC]

Haven't we beaten this topic to death enough already? Bottom line is there are some folks on this board who think these arguably ancient programs should be funded and some folks don't. There's really nothing left to be said.

 

[TheBigA]

Where does anything or anyone say that? The point in disbanding the VOA and its associated "stations" is that such services are technologically outdated or unable to penetrate more totalitarian nations.

That's not what the government is saying. Their point for shutting down VOA was because it was broadcasting leftist propaganda. Nowhere do they ever say anything about technical facilities. Nowhere. At no time. In no way. That's strictly your opinion.

Here's what the white house says about shutting down VOA:

The Voice of Radical America

President Donald J. Trump’s executive order on Friday will ensure that taxpayers are no longer on the hook for radical propaganda. Dan Robinson,

www.whitehouse.gov

There is no mention in there at all about languages or technical facilities. Those are the facts.

And that, in the opinion of everyone I know with international broadcasting experience or in electronic media outside the U.S. is something that should have been done several decades ago.

Maybe, but the courts disagree with the process. The courts have ordered the administration to do what congress intended. The proper way to do this would be to have experts do all the things you're talking about. Look at the technology and the services, and say it's all antiquated. That would be fine, and if any of that was happening anywhere, it would be useful. But none of it is happening.

 

[TheBigA]

Haven't we beaten this topic to death enough already? Bottom line is there are some folks on this board who think these arguably ancient programs should be funded and some folks don't. There's really nothing left to be said.

Nobody thinks "ancient programs should be funded." I think it's a good discussion that should be happening. Unfortunately the decision wasn't made because the programs are ancient. We need to be honest with ourselves about why it was made.

There was a hearing held in congress about funding CPB. It was a sham of a hearing, but at least they made an effort. There have been no hearings about VOA or USAGM. The only hearings have been in court.

 

[ted chittenden]

Where does anything or anyone say that? The point in disbanding the VOA and its associated "stations" is that such services are technologically outdated or unable to penetrate more totalitarian nations.

If you look at the nations where they plan to do that, it is obvious why. Does Andorra or Luxembourg really need an embassy?

This is becoming a political subject, so suffice it to say that many Americans believe government is too large and needs to be scaled down by eliminating unneeded services such as the VOA and moving others back to the state level.

And that, in the opinion of everyone I know with international broadcasting experience or in electronic media outside the U.S. is something that should have been done several decades ago.

I really get the impression that for you, at least in this instance, the end justifies the means.

 

[kevtronics]

Where does anything or anyone say that? The point in disbanding the VOA and its associated "stations" is that such services are technologically outdated or unable to penetrate more totalitarian nations.

Or the fact that spreading the message of freedom and liberty rings hollow now that the U.S. itself is sliding into totalitarianism... which even you seem to agree with, by saying that other nations are more totalitarian than the USA.

 

[TheBigA]

I really get the impression that for you, at least in this instance, the end justifies the means.

This is the kind of thing that has been happening in broadcast radio for 20 years. Companies buy these stations, they see they're overspending on programming and services that are declining in popularity, and they shut them down. Then these message boards fill up with angry comments from radio fans who say these companies should be banned and their stations should be given to real broadcasters. But at least in those cases, the decisions were made for financial reasons and stated as such.

This was not that kind of thing. This was a top down decision made for political reasons. If iHeart shut down all their conservative talk stations because of what the hosts were saying, people would be screaming about censorship. For some reason, that's not being said here.

 

[Delete My Account]

Of course, if iHeart decided to do that (as they decided when they dropped Howard Stern from their stations) that would also be a free-market, free-speech non issue.

The 1st Amendment applies to government restrictions on speech, and apparently the current government sees no conflict in attempting to determine what speech is allowed or affordable by entities such as CBS, NBC, Audacy, the beat goes on...

 

[TheBigA]

The 1st Amendment applies to government restrictions on speech, and apparently the current government sees no conflict in attempting to determine what speech is allowed or affordable by entities such as CBS, NBC, Audacy, the beat goes on...

I think the way they get around the constitutional issue is do the literalist thing, and say the constitution only says "Congress shall make no law." It doesn't say anything about executive orders. So while congress can't shut down speech, the white house believes its exempt. Because nobody is even trying to hide why they're doing any of those things. They're hoping a court somewhere will support them on it.

Meanwhile they're using every rule they can find to justify reversing the FCC's approval of the Audacy bankruptcy plan.

 

[davideduardo]

I really get the impression that for you, at least in this instance, the end justifies the means.

If it gets rid of the useless shortwave and blockable internet streams, it really does not matter. There are so many people opposing this closure using totally unverifiable data on millions of listeners that it has taken on political joust status.

The fact is that nearly every other nation has abandoned international broadcasting, yet there are people in the United States trying to make a museum dinosaur skeleton roar around the planet influencing people.