COLOMBIA: THE RADIO THAT EDUCATED THE “CAMPESINOS”

Radio Sutatenza: a cultural revolution in the Colombian countryside
An image from the video presentation of the exhibition made on behalf of the Banco de la República (Central Bank of Colombia), which sponsored the event
Source

Radio Sutatenza: a cultural revolution in the Colombian countryside (1947 – 1994)” is an exhibition that reconstructs the history of the famous radio station, which sought to reduce the abysmal distances between the quality of rural and urban life through education in the basics and at a distance. Managed by the Acción Cultural Popular (Acpo), an educational company of Catholic extraction, it used an educational method that combined communication technologies with a model of Comprehensive Fundamental Education (Efi), seeking to generate social change. In forty years, working with public and private entities, Acpo has created a network of educational media in more than nine hundred Colombian municipalities.

An evergreen slogan

Also from the institutional video, other archive images taken from the broadcaster’s historical archive
Source

Education makes us freewas the slogan used to invite the peasants to participate in the radio movement and to practice independently. The success of Radio Sutatenza stemmed from the fact that teaching entered the homes of thousands of peasants, many of whom set up radio schools in their homes to welcome those approaching learning for the first time, to meet their neighbours, but also to listen to entertainment programmes. The travelling exhibition has been taken to different cities in Colombia for several years. Videos are available on YouTube and several images of the exhibition can be found on the website of Studio Machete, which designed the exhibition layout.

CHINA: OLYMPICS TV IN 4K AND 8K

The Olympic Channel is the new high-definition CCTV16 channel launched by Chinese state TV to transmit the Winter Olympics in Beijing in February 2022
Source

On 26 October 2021, one hundred days before the start of the Beijing Winter Olympics, the first professional sports channel broadcast via satellite in 4K high and ultra-high definition began broadcasting. The Olympic Channel is the result of cooperation between China Central Radio and Television (CCTV) and the International Olympic Committee, and is the only channel authorised to use the Olympic name and logo with the five rings. CCTV16 will use the maximum transmission capacity to allow viewing: 5G + 4K and 8K + AI (upscaling with artificial intelligence) while the digital platform will be accessible from PCs, apps and the WeChat and Weibo multimedia platforms.

CZECH REPUBLIC: MW SWITCH-OFF BY 2021

The image published on the public radio site shows a detail of the mediumwave facility in Libice
Source

Czech public radio ‘Český Rozhlas‘ is stepping up its information campaign for listeners receiving mediumwave programmes, ahead of the planned switch-off of transmitters by the end of 2021. Since 1 November, more announcements have been broadcast to warn users and a call centre has been set up to explain the possible listening alternatives (from FM to DAB). In the run-up to Christmas, public radio will launch an intensive advertising campaign in the print media and online magazines on 22 November to promote the purchase of digital DAB receivers to replace analogue radio. The shift away from medium-wave has been underway since the 2000s, affecting countries that have an alternative FM network or are in the process of creating one in DAB. But AM (amplitude modulation) still remains a resource for countries with large territorial coverage that can reach the entire population with a few installations.

MEXICO: PIRATE RADIOS ON THE RISE

Pirate radios on the rise in Mexico
The article on the situation of pirate radio stations appeared on the website of the National Chamber of the Mexican Radio and Television Industry, an autonomous institution of which the radio and television station concessionaires are members
Source

The proliferation of pirate radio stations is worrying the authorities and broadcasters, who are members of the Cirt (National Chamber of the Radio and Television Industry). Many of them are run by organised criminal groups, who use them to communicate with each other, or by religious sects, pressure organisations or to generate mobilisation. “It is estimated that there are at least 500,” said Carlos Ponce, director of the section in charge of verification at the Federal Telecommunications Institute (IFT). Sixty were seized in 2021, bringing to 350 (out of 657 checks carried out) the number of deactivations carried out in the last seven years (since the start of inspection activity). Sixty percent of illegal radio stations are concentrated in the ‘corridor’ that ideally runs from Guadalajara and Bajio to Oaxaca; the other 40 per cent in the north of the country.

Damage to the economy and to licensed radio stations

The IFT (Instituto Federal de Telecomunicaciones) is an independent government agency that regulates telecommunications and broadcasting services
Source

Illegal pirate radio stations take resources away from the community because they do not pay royalties to the state, they do not pay taxes, they do not create jobs, they do not invest in production. They use frequencies without having participated in public tenders, like the concessionaires, and they take away advertising from the licensed radio stations. They often use non-standard equipment that produces interference and can jeopardise services such as air navigation by jamming communications between the control tower and aircraft. Countering these stations is not easy, says Alejandro Navarrete, head of the IFT’s Radio Spectrum Unit, because they hide their antennas in imaginative and unpredictable ways: they can be in trees or on the empty pipes of a water tank. Moreover, it is not easy to deactivate them: the operators of illegal stations and even whole communities often object and inspectors have to be escorted by the authorities, whether federal, state or municipal security forces.

GERMANY: A NEW ROLE FOR RADIO IN EMERGENCIES

A NEW ROLE FOR RADIO IN EMERGENCIES
Radio Wuppertal received a special award from the 
German Radio Prize for the report on the night of the flood of 14-15 July 2021
Source

After the floods that devastated North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate in July 2021, the role of the media in emergencies is being discussed. With such large-scale disasters, which increasingly strike suddenly, in addition to an early warning system such as sirens, it’s necessary to manage the rescue effort and inform the population. Radio is the most reliable medium for these tasks because it has been shown that mobile phones and internet networks tend to overload quickly and break down in such emergencies. Georg Rose, editor-in-chief of Radio Wuppertal, which received an award for its work during the floods, talks in an interview with Radioszene about how broadcasters can support the civil protection network, for example by being equipped with generators to keep the signal on the air and the editorial staff active for the crucial first 24 hours.

The management of WDR (Westdeutscher Rundfunk, North Rhine-Westphalia’s public broadcaster) has set up a study group to develop a digital offering that operates in adverse weather conditions, reaching as many people as possible in dangerous situations
Source

RadioSzene, a website for radio producers, published several articles on the role of the media during the flood emergency and possible countermeasures. Among them is an interview with Michael Radomski, in which the managing director of the Uplink group (over-the-air connection services) suggests the use of VHF channels (radio, TV, Internet, alarm applications and SMS) because they have proved to be less prone to interference and interruptions. There is also talk of the task force set up by the management of the WDR (Westdeutscher Rundfunk, public radio and television in North Rhine-Westphalia), which is to develop a digital offering capable of operating in adverse weather conditions, reaching as many people as possible in dangerous situations.

Ahrtal radio broadcast from Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler on 107.9 MHz 
Source

To support the reconstruction, a temporary local radio station was even set up for the Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler area, which had no local station. Ahrtalradio, broadcasting on 107.9, was created with the support of 20 radio producers from all over Germany to boost the economy, trade, tourism, society and associations. Listeners can introduce themselves, make suggestions and offer jobs. Companies, restaurateurs and service providers affected by the flooding receive 60 free spots to inform customers about the resumption of business.

Initially, Ahrtalradio was supposed to broadcast for one month, but the authorities extended the authorisation until 2 January 2022
Source
Translate »