[HCDX] Dutch government to slash Radio Netherlands Worldwide

["Zacharias Liangas " <greekdx@xxxxxxxxx>]

Dutch government to slash Radio Netherlands Worldwide, focus on regions needing "free 
speech"
http://www.radiosurvivor.com/2011/07/07/dutch-government-to-slash-radio-netherlands-
worldwide-focus-on-regions-needing-free-speech/
Posted on July 7, 2011 by Paul Riismandel

Dutch Prime Ministher Mark Rutte announces changes to Radio Netherlands

As part of a government austerity program, the Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte announced 
plans to make significant cuts in the budget of shortwave broadcaster Radio Netherlands 
Worldwide. RNW has been relied upon by both Dutch expatriates and other listeners around 
the world for a unique take on world events, in addition to news from the Netherlands.

In a press conference Rutte praised the service and articulated its revised mission:

    "Radio Netherlands Worldwide will limit itself to one role, promoting free speech. I think the 
other tasks RNW performs are nice, valuable, but not enough to finance them with public 
money."

As part of this plan RNW will be moved into the government´s Foreign Ministry.

The cuts at RNW come at the same time as other international broadcasters are scaling 
back as well. Germany´s Deutsche Welle is ending shortwave and mediumwave (AM) 
broadcasts while Radio Australia is also phasing out shortwave in favor of internet 
broadcasting. In general governments have cited the ability to reach listeners more easily 
over the internet as a significant reason for ending terrestrial international broadcasts. The 
Dutch government´s revised focus for RNW reflects this trend to retain terrestrial broadcasts 
only to regions that still rely on shortwave for international news and information.

However, that doesn´t mean that RNW and other prominent supporters will go down without 
a fight. The network has assembled testimony from a variety of prominent international 
voices in support the station and retaining its full broadcast service. Dutch national Willem 
Sools discusses the important role RNW played for him while being held hostage in Somalia 
in 2008:

    "The whole time, we were able to listen regularly to a little radio, to stations including Radio 
Netherlands Worldwide. I wanted to thank you, even though you weren´t aware of it. I was 
able to hear everything about the Netherlands: interviews, documentaries, the news and, at 
Yuletide, typically Dutch stories about Saint Nicholas and Christmas - fantastic. Your 
broadcasts strengthened me a lot. Thanks."

As the BBC and Deutsche Welle have phased our their broadcast service to North America, 
Radio Netherlands Worldwide has remained one of the stations that I could reliably tune in 
for high-quality world news in English on the shortwave band. Admittedly, shortwave radio is 
not a primary information service for me at this point in time, nor is it for most people in North 
America. However, I´ve appreciated the service in times when I was traveling and there 
wasn´t another good news source on the AM or FM dial, or when there´s been a power 
outage and I´m tired of hearing "traffic and weather on the 8s."

I suppose it is a good thing that the Dutch government seems to want to maintain broadcasts 
to the developing world and regions where it wishes to promote free speech. However, it is 
hard not to lament that the era of ubiquitous global shortwave broadcasting is coming to an 
end. Standard rig : ICOM R75 / 2x16 V / m@h40 heads Sennheiser 
Please read and distribute this 15 year research article http://tinyurl.com/5vzg7e 
Please read my article on SINPO at http://tinyurl.com/yt7qjd
________________________
http://zlgr.multiply.com (radio monitoring site plus audio clips ) MAIN SITE 
http://www.delicious.com/gr_greek1/@zach (all mypages !!)
........
Zacharias Liangas , Thessaloniki Greece 
greekdx @ otenet dot gr  ---  
Pesawat penerima: ICOM R75 , Lowe HF150 , Degen 1102,1103,108,
Tecsun PL200/550, Chibo c300/c979, Yupi 7000 
Antenna: 16m hor, 2x16 m V invert, 1m australian loop 


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