Try to convince these guys that it is spring here in the eastern
USA ...

Sending Pic:123x98C;




http://bit.ly/2u6Bplk

Please report decode to themightykbc@gmail.com

 

Welcome to program 40 of Shortwave Radiogram.

I'm Kim Andrew Elliott in Arlington, Virginia USA.

Here is the lineup for today's program, all in MFSK32 except
where noted:

  1:35 Program proview (now)
  3:05 MFSK64: New "Voice of China" international media group*
10:53 MFSK32: Turkish Media Group to be sold to Erdogan ally**
15:26 SW transmitters for "secure digital communications"*
21:12 Start of spring brings winter weather to Washington DC*
26:39 Closing announcements

* with image(s)

** Image, centered on 2200 Hz, will be transmitted simultaneously
with text. Run two instances of Fldigi, or record the broadcast
and decode the image later. Another image will follow the text on
1500 Hz.


Please send reception reports to radiogram@verizon.net

And visit http://swradiogram.net

Twitter: @SWRadiogram

 

RSID: <<2018-03-24T16:03Z MFSK-64 @ 9400000+1500>>

This is Shortwave Radiogram in MFSK64 ...
 

From Radio Free Asia:

China's Central Propaganda Department Takes Over Regulation of
All Media

21 March 2018

The ruling Chinese Communist Party is strengthening its hold on
all forms of public expression, enlarging its powerful propaganda
department to absorb agencies responsible for regulating the mass
media, and exporting its ideology to the rest of the world via a
new mega-broadcaster.

As President Xi Jinping embarks on a second, unlimited term in
office following the annual National People's Congress (NPC) last
week, he is presiding over a massive restructuring in which the
ruling party will take over key government agencies and
ministries.

"In order to strengthen the party's centralized and unified
leadership in public opinion work by the media, strengthen the
management of publishing activities and develop a prosperous,
socialist publishing industry with Chinese characteristics, the
responsibilities of the State Administration of Press,
Publication, Radio, Film and Television (SAPPRFT) will be
reassigned to the Central Propaganda Department," the party's
central committee said in a directive published in state media
this week.

"After this adjustment, the main responsibility of the Central
Propaganda Department will be to implement the party's propaganda
guidelines," it said, adding that the department will also
formulate and implement media and publication policy and manage
the sectors.

Among the biggest organizations in its stable will be the Voice
of China, newly formed from the merger of China Central
Television (CCTV), China National Radio and China Radio
International and employing more than 14,000 people, state news
agency Xinhua reported.

The mega-broadcaster will be tasked with "propagating the party's
theories, directions, principles and policies" as well as
"telling good China stories," it said.

A senior media professional who asked to remain anonymous said
the new broadcaster was unlikely to base itself on the structure
of the Voice of America, instead taking Russia Today (RT) as its
model.

Beijing rights activist Hu Jia said the station has been set up
with the aim of exporting China's ideology beyond its borders.

"The Voice of China is under the control of the Central
Propaganda Department," Hu said. "This is an important tactic on
Xi Jinping's part, and a huge weapon in his hands to change the
world's opinion of this dictator and his autocratic one-party
rule."

"Xi has the self-confidence of a czar following the
constitutional amendments, and now he wants to bravely lead the
fight against mainstream values in the rest of the world," he
said.

"He will use authoritarian power to make Chinese lies sound nice,
and engage in ideological infiltration and indoctrination."

'My country is awesome'

Hu said a foretaste of what is to come lies in the party
propaganda documentary, "My country is awesome," which party
members were ordered to see, but which has also been screened
overseas.

"It's actually pretty awesome for the party," he said.

Meanwhile, former 1989 student leader Wuer Kaixi, now based on
the democratic island of Taiwan, said Xi's new-found confidence
is very dangerous to the rest of the world, however.

"For some time, Xi Jinping's actions have been showing us ...
that he wants to transform his superpower diplomacy by this
terrifying export of its values to the international community,"
Wuer told RFA. "China's blind confidence now is the result of
decades of appeasement by the West."

"This is an alarming signal," he said. "The time has come for the
entire world to face up to this challenge by the Chinese
Communist Party."

The propaganda department will also have responsibility for
supervising national film production, distribution, and
screening, organizing the review of film content, the directive
said. It will also be responsible for managing "international
cooperation."

The import and export of all films, media, publications and other
content will also be managed by the party, including any
cooperation with overseas organizations.

Crushing public expression

Former China Youth Daily editor Li Datong, who posted and
forwarded an open letter opposing indefinite presidential rule on
the social media platform WeChat, likened the move to the massive
Nazi propaganda takeover of books, newspapers and all forms of
public speech in Germany during the 1930s.

"The party has now taken direct control of the government, so
it's basically like Nazi Germany under Joseph Goebbels'
[propaganda] system," Li said. "The Nazi party took effective
control of all areas of ideology."

"It is another step towards the total crushing public expression
and opinion, and any creativity and thought in cultural
products."

"There were previously still some areas where some gaps remained,
because of the divisions in responsibility," he said. "For
example, if the propaganda department wanted to get rid of
someone, they couldn't do it without going through the system,
for example via the [former] SAPPRFT."

Li added: "Now, it's easy for them. They can shut down whomever
they like, just like the Nazi propaganda department did."

Shaanxi-based journalist Ma Xiaoming said the propaganda
department is more useful than the police or the military when it
comes to wielding power.

"The central propaganda department is no less powerful than the
ministry of defense or the police," Ma said. "Ultimately, it
manipulates people's thoughts and ideas, and messes with their
heads, and their ability to think critically."

"It's that old Chinese saying about winning hearts and minds
before you try to take a city," he said.

Xi's crackdown on freedom of expression began soon after he
assumed the presidency, and has broadened across all areas of
mainstream and social media, as well as academia.

The media crackdown will go hand in hand with a new task force,
the "Leading Group For Centralized Education Work," located in
the ministry of education, which will strengthen the party's
control over higher education and in schools, and "deploy
ideological and political work in the field of education."

Reported by Ng Yik-tung and Yeung Mak for RFA's Cantonese
Service, and by Yang Fan for the Mandarin Service. Translated and
edited by Luisetta Mudie.

https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/china-propaganda-03212018140841.html


Image: This is not the logo of the planned Voice of China
international media conglomerate. Instead, it is the logo of the
Voice of China reality singing competition that appeared on
Chinese domestic television from 2012 to 2015. The program has
since been rebranded to "Sing! China" ...

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Shortwave Radiogram now returns to MFSK32 ...
 

From Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty:

Top Turkish Media Group Set For Sale To Erdogan Ally

22 March 2018

A top Turkish conglomerate says it is negotiating the sale of the
country's largest media holding to a tycoon close to President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, raising concern that the move will further
cement the government's control over the press.

Dogan Holding said in a March 22 statement that talks had begun
on the sale of Dogan Media Group to magnate Erdogan Demiroren's
Demiroren Group for about $1 billion.

Some of Turkey's most prominent media outlets are part of Dogan
Media Group, including the daily newspaper Hurriyet, the sports
daily Fanatik, the CNN-Turk rolling news service, and the
television channel Kanal-D.

CNN-Turk and Hurriyet, while in no way antigovernment, had been
regarded as enjoying a relatively independent editorial line in
recent years. Demiroren Holding is seen as more friendly to
Erdogan.

Meanwhile, the Turkish parliament late on March 21 passed
legislation placing all online streaming platforms, including
news outlets, under the monitoring of the country's broadcasting
regulator.

The law, drafted by Erdogan's ruling Justice and Development
Party (AKP), will require companies to obtain a license from the
regulator before streaming online.

The opposition slammed the move as censorship.

Dozens of journalists have been jailed since a failed July 2016
coup aimed at toppling Erdogan.

Based on reporting by AFP, Reuters, and dpa

https://www.rferl.org/a/turkey-media-group-dogan-sale-erdogan-ally/29115235.html



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This is Shortwave Radiogram.

Please send reception reports to radiogram@verizon.net

 

Kim's note: The next item, from the trade journal Radio World, is
an "advertorial," an advertisement in the form of a news article.
It originates from the transmitter and antenna manufacturer
Ampegon. The subject is shortwave. I'm sure many of us have
questions about the specifics of this Ampegon product ...


Shortwave Supports Secure Digital Communications

Taking advantage of its long-distance capabilities, the
established technology has a new mission

Dr. Simon Keens
20 March 2018

TURGI, SWITZERLAND - There are many innovative ways the industry
can use shortwave broadcasting to provide secure data
transmission and high-speed communications.

The modern world increasingly requires available real-time secure
communications between centralized locations and often to many
receivers in unknown locations thousands of kilometers away.

The reasons for this are endless. It might be to allow for
critical software updates, transfer sensitive business
information, or to disseminate warnings or instructions as
quickly as possible.

Information transfer via the internet or via fiber optic cable
was once the reference. However, the use of such technology means
that the information is only delivered to fixed points. In
addition, the use of third-party infrastructures provides a
security risk and increases transport cost.

Today, near-instant communication to unknown, remote receivers
using shortwave is being developed as a new secure means of
communications without the need for external providers,
delivering signals directly to multiple, or even mobile,
destinations regardless of fixed infrastructure. Messages may be
dispatched much faster, thus for situations where time is
critical, each additional second could be profitable and even
save lives.

Ampegon supplies turnkey broadcast solutions based around its
TSW-2000 series of transmitters and station auxiliaries to
provide secure, near-instantaneous communication capabilities
quickly and efficiently. Ampegon antennas can direct information
point-to-point or cover entire continents.

In addition, users can preprogram automatic remote transmitter
operation or control it over IP, ensuring necessary channels are
open before the critical message even arrives. This way, critical
information can be delivered anywhere on the planet with less
than a second's notice.

The author is head of sales and marketing for the Ampegon Group.

http://www.ampegon.com

https://www.radioworld.com/tech-and-gear/shortwave-supports-secure-digital-communications



Image: Ampegon's 100 kW shortwave transmitter, showing the PSM
(pulse step modulator) power supply (left) and RF amplifier
section (right) ...


Sending Pic:242x104C;

This is Shortwave Radiogram.

Please send reception reports to radiogram@verizon.net


Even though the first day of spring was 20 March, the eastern USA
received substantial snowfall on 21 March.

Here are photos of the weather around Washington DC ...



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Transmission of Shortwave Radiogram is provided by:

WRMI, Radio Miami International, http://wrmi.net

and

Space Line, Bulgaria, http://spaceline.bg


Please send reception reports to radiogram@verizon.net

And visit http://swradiogram.net

Twitter: @SWRadiogram

I'm Kim Elliott. Please join us for the next Shortwave
Radiogram.