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Why Listen to International Radio? Americans are saturated with media choices: Local radio, nationally-syndicated radio programs, newspapers, television, movies, and the vast universe of the internet. Even within those categories there are numerous variations: 24-hour cable news channels, local and regional newspapers, news web sites magazines, blogs and on-line discussion groups on every topic imaginable. Yet with all those choices, Americans are amazingly uniformed about the world. American media is mostly consumed by political contests or entertainment developments. Except for war or disaster, American news coverage devotes at best a few minutes per day or column inches of newspaper space to international affairs, or events in other countries. The increase in quantity of media in recent years has not been paralleled by an increase in the diversity of perspectives and opinions available. In an attempt to capture what is perceived to be the largest audience, the separation between news, entertainment, and revenue generation are being blurred. Increasingly, newspapers, so-called news magazines, and broadcast news feed a growing preoccupation with celebrity and scandal. Entertainment and promotion of American consumer culture is increasingly the focus of news departments, while serious reporting is relegated to a secondary role. Objective, in-depth analysis has been replaced by the shouting of opinions and speculation by "experts." This is often characterized by media pundits as "giving people what they want." Whether or not that is true in general, there are those who crave real news and thoughtful analysis about the what's happening in the larger world around them. Fortunately, there is a way to find out what is going on in the world beyond the U.S. cultural horizon: listening to international radio. International radio offers an unmatched variety of programming: news, commentary, drama, music, sports, literary shows, and educational programming. Broadcasts go out around the clock in dozens of languages from countries around the world. You can hear the latest news from Moscow, radio dramas from the London, Chinese folk music, language lessons from Germany, rugby games from New Zealand, and more. Accessing this radio can be surprisingly easy. The tried-and-true technology of analog, over-the-air shortwave radio still works, more than 80 years after its introduction. And thanks to the proliferation of personal computers and internet access, you can also listen to international radio via streaming audio. Satellite-delivered radio and digital broadcasting also offer exciting possibilities. If you love real radio, all of these means are at your disposal. Listening to international radio can not only expand the number and variety of educational and informational possibilities available to you, it can teach us, Americans especially, a valuable lesson: the U.S. not the center of the universe, but rather only one piece of a mosaic of nations. An occasional dose of a non-U.S. perspective can go a long way toward making us better informed citizens not only about the world, but about what goes on in our own country. Having access to worldwide news events as they happen can help sharpen our own political and economic instincts. Students of any subject get a more complete education when they access international radio. Those with cultural ties to other countries can regain a link to these origins. There's much more to international radio than news. Music, drama, sports and culture are all provided daily to anyone who wants to listen, wants to learn. You can hear great literature, sample countless musical styles, learn about ancient history, or learn a language, all from the speaker of your radio or PC. If you are multi-lingual (or would like to be) world radio offers you many opportunities to practice your first or second language. The main thing that international radio offers is the chance to be a better informed, more considered person. One who isn't swayed by the first thing he or she hears. One who doesn't always buy the official word. Someone who thinks. Which is something the world really needs these days. This isn't to say that world radio isn't subject to the same biases, agendas, or misinformation/disinformation as domestic media. Far from it: some of the most virulent propaganda and pap will be heard on shortwave. Don't believe the first or the last thing you hear on the international airwaves. Like any media, you have to apply your critical thinking skills to what you hear. But just the fact that you have access to differing opinions and ideas will give you more tools with which to apply that critical thinking. Many of us distrust the motives of media companies and find much of their output suspect. One way to cope with this is to seek alternatives to these media. International radio is one of those alternatives. Forget your local AM or FM radio station, and TV news for a while. Fire up your shortwave radio. Open up your streaming audio player. Listen in and hear what you're not being told. Partners: 2002 JTed |
