The Kavala gap
Is VOA still a global broadcaster?
by Kim Andrew Elliott
09-03-2006
Is VOA still a global broadcaster?
by Kim Andrew Elliott
09-03-2006
Employees of the Voice of America have been suffering a spate of bad news lately. First, on 1 February, we learned that, in a budget cutting exercise, VOA would eliminate about 250 hours of shortwave transmission daily. That amounted to about one frequency of three used for most broadcasts.
Then, on 6 February, we were informed that VOA would be dropping radio broadcasts on 12 of its language services, including the worldwide English VOA News Now.
And, if that were not enough, an e-mail on 24 February told us that the Greek relay stations of the International Broadcasting Bureau (VOA's parent agency) would be shut down. These facilities include several shortwave and one mediumwave (AM) transmitters at Kavala, and one mediumwave transmitter at Rhodes.
Kavala's big reach
The shortwave transmitters at Kavala officially served Europe, the former Soviet Union, Africa, the Middle East and even East Asia. Signals from Kavala were routinely heard beyond those areas, including (Smith-Mundt law banning domestic dissemination of VOA programmes notwithstanding) the United States.
During special live New year's editions of my former VOA programme Communications World, listeners would call or e-mail me from New Zealand, Japan, India, Africa, Europe, and the United States - and they were all listening to the same frequency from Kavala: 15205 kHz. This amazing relay station is in just the right location to cover most of the globe.
Of the two mediumwave transmitters in Greece, 1260 kiloHertz is a standout. It reached well into the Levant. The frequency was very popular among listeners to VOA News Now (VOA's global English service), including American expats in Israel. In 2002, the new Arabic-language service Radio Sawa took over 1260 kHz. Later in 2002, when Radio Sawa opened a new transmitter in Cyprus, it continued to use 1260 kHz rather than giving it back to VOA News Now. This could well have contributed to the demise of VOA News Now, slated for October.
Strategic importance
I don't know the details of the US agreement with Greece concerning these relay sites. The financial terms or the cost of electricity might be inordinately expensive. It could be that houses are being built closer to the facilities, and it is fashionable these days in Europe to complain about the alleged health effects of nearby radio transmitters. On the other hand, it would be difficult to find a more stable or reliable country in the region to host a relay station.
The loss of Kavala might be offset somewhat by three new shortwave transmitters at IBB's formerly mediumwave-only site in Kuwait. Even though the IBB has eleven other shortwave sites around the world, to maintain true global coverage, additional shortwave capacity is needed somewhere in a triangle roughly defined by Greece, Djibouti, and Kuwait. From this region, many countries that are vital to US interests, and where media freedom is or could soon be lacking, are one or two ionospheric hops away.
The medium of last resort
Why, in 2006, when modern media technologies abound, is it necessary to maintain worldwide shortwave capability? I covered this issue in a previous article on this website, No Comprendo. In essence, as long as shortwave radios remain in circulation around the world, shortwave remains the medium of last resort for international broadcasting. It is the failsafe.
The IBB Kavala and Rhodes relays will be missed. I don't mean this in a sentimental way. I mean that when there is a major global crisis, the United States will need to get accurate information to foreign populations and to Americans abroad.
The IBB Kavala and Rhodes relays will be missed. I don't mean this in a sentimental way. I mean that when there is a major global crisis, the United States will need to get accurate information to foreign populations and to Americans abroad.
Modern means of international mass communications will be blocked, destroyed, or swamped from overuse. That is when a global shortwave network will become the failsafe. We reduce that network at our peril.
Kim Andrew Elliott, expressing his own views, is an audience research officer in the International Broadcasting Bureau. His personal website is http://kimandrewelliott.com/.
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