http://www.rhci-online.net/radiogram/radiogram.htm

https://github.com/GyanD/codexffmpeg/releases/tag/2023-03-05-git-912ac82a3c

set MyFiles=*.flac *.fla *.wav *.aif *.mp4 *.mp3 *.mp2 *.aac *.ogg *.m4a
for %%a in (%MyFiles%) do ffmpeg -i "%%a" -y -lavfi showspectrumpic=s=1920x1080:color=fiery:gain=.7:fscale=lin:orientation=0:saturation=1:mode=combined:legend=enabled:start=0:stop=8000 "%%~na.jpg"

RSID: <<2025-03-27T23:31Z MFSK-32 @ 9265000+1500>>



Welcome to program 395 of Shortwave Radiogram.

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

Here is the lineup for today's program, in MFSK modes as noted:

  1:44 MFSK32: Program preview (now)
  2:58 MFSK32: Americans surveyed on PBS/NPR funding*
  7:05 MFSK64: Does closing VOA leave void for Russia and China?
12:07 MFSK64: This week's images*
28:19 MFSK32: Closing announcements

* with image(s)


Please send reception reports to radiogram@verizon.net

And visit http://swradiogram.net

We're on Bluesky now: SWRadiogram.bsky.social

And X/Twitter: @SWRadiogram



From The Hill:

Plurality of Americans say NPR, PBS should be federally funded:
Survey

by Dominick Mastrangelo
March 26, 2025

A plurality of surveyed Americans say the federal government
should continue to fund public broadcasters, according to a new
survey.

New polling from Pew found 24 percent of surveyed Americans say
the U.S. government should not continue to send taxpayer dollars
to NPR and PBS, while a larger slice, 43 percent, say federal
funding levels to those outlets should stay the same.

The same survey found 32 percent of Democrats say they regularly
get news from NPR, compared with 9 percent of Republicans.
Thirty-one percent of Democrats regularly get news from PBS,
compared with 11 percent of Republicans who said the same.

The survey’s results were published the same day the heads of NPR
and PBS, Katherine Maher and Paula Kerger, respectively, were
grilled by lawmakers on Capitol Hill over their outlets’
editorial practices and funding models.

Maher told lawmakers her organization took in just more than $11
million in federal funding last year.

President Trump and Republicans have accused public broadcasters
of bias against them, and some have called for the Corporation
for Public Broadcasting to be shut down completely.

The Pew survey was conducted March 10 through 16 among 9,400
respondents.

https://thehill.com/homenews/media/5215518-more-americans-say-npr-pbs-should-be-federally-funded-than-not-survey/
 

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Shortwave Radiogram now changes to MFSK64 ...


 

RSID: <<2025-03-27T23:37Z MFSK-64 @ 9265000+1500>>
 

This is Shortwave Radiogram in MFSK64

Please send your reception report to radiogram@verizon.net





From The Conversation via RNZ:

Does the end of Voice of America leave a void for China and
Russia to fill?

By Valerie A. Cooper
25 March 2025

Of all the contradictions and ironies of Donald Trump's second
presidency so far, perhaps the most surprising has been his
shutting down the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM) for being
"radical propaganda".

Critics have long accused the agency - and its affiliated outlets
such as Voice of America, Radio Free Europe and Radio Free Asia -
of being a propaganda arm of US foreign policy.

But to the current president, the USAGM has become a promoter of
anti-American ideas and agendas - including allegedly suppressing
stories critical of Iran, sympathetically covering the issue of
"white privilege" and bowing to pressure from China.

Propaganda is clearly in the eye of the beholder. The Moscow
Times reported Russian officials were elated by the demise of the
"purely propagandistic" outlets, while China's Global Times
celebrated the closure of a "lie factory".

Meanwhile, the European Commission hailed USAGM outlets as a
"beacon of truth, democracy and hope". All of which might have
left the average person understandably confused: Voice of
America? Wasn't that the US propaganda outlet from World War II?

Well, yes. But the reality of USAGM and similar state-sponsored
global media outlets is more complex - as are the implications of
the US agency's demise.

Public service or state propaganda?

The USAGM is one of several international public service media
outlets based in western democracies. Others include Australia's
ABC International, the BBC World Service, CBC/Radio-Canada,
France Médias Monde, NHK-World Japan, Deutsche Welle in Germany
and SRG SSR in Switzerland.

Part of the Public Media Alliance, they are similar to national
public service media, largely funded by taxpayers to uphold
democratic ideals of universal access to news and information.

Unlike national public media, however, they might not be consumed
- or even known - by domestic audiences. Rather, they typically
provide news to countries without reliable independent media due
to censorship or state-run media monopolies.

The USAGM, for example, provides news in 63 languages to more
than 100 countries. It has been credited with bringing attention
to issues such as protests against COVID-19 lockdowns in China
and women's struggles for equal rights in Iran.

On the other hand, the independence of USAGM outlets has been
questioned often, particularly as they are required to share
government-mandated editorials.

Voice of America has been criticised for its focus on perceived
ideological adversaries such as Russia and Iran. And my own
research has found it perpetuates stereotypes and the neglect of
African nations in its news coverage.

Leaving a void

Ultimately, these global media outlets wouldn't exist if there
weren't benefits for the governments that fund them. Sharing
stories and perspectives that support or promote certain values
and policies is an effective form of "public diplomacy".

Yet these international media outlets differ from
state-controlled media models because of editorial systems that
protect them from government interference.

The Voice of America's "firewall", for instance, "prohibits
interference by any US government official in the objective,
independent reporting of news". Such protections allow
journalists to report on their own governments more objectively.

In contrast, outlets such as China Media Group (CMG), RT from
Russia, and PressTV from Iran also reach a global audience in a
range of languages. But they do this through direct government
involvement. CMG subsidiary CCTV+, for example, states it is
"committed to telling China's story to the rest of the world".

Though RT states it is an autonomous media outlet, research has
found the Russian government oversees hiring editors, imposing
narrative angles, and rejecting stories.

Other voices get louder

The biggest concern for western democracies is that these other
state-run media outlets will fill the void the USAGM leaves
behind - including in the Pacific.

Russia, China and Iran are increasing funding for their state-run
news outlets, with China having spent more than US$6.6 billion
over 13 years on its global media outlets. China Media Group is
already one of the largest media conglomerates in the world,
providing news content to more than 130 countries in 44
languages.

And China has already filled media gaps left by western
democracies: after the ABC stopped broadcasting Radio Australia
in the Pacific, China Radio International took over its
frequencies.

Worryingly, the differences between outlets such as Voice of
America and more overtly state-run outlets aren't immediately
clear to audiences, as government ownership isn't advertised.

An Australian senator even had to apologise recently after
speaking with PressTV, saying she didn't know the news outlet was
affiliated with the Iranian government, or that it had been
sanctioned in Australia.

Switched off

Trump's move to dismantle the USAGM doesn't come as a complete
surprise, however. As the authors of Capturing News, Capturing
Democracy: Trump and the Voice of America described, the first
Trump administration failed in its attempts to remove the
firewall and install loyalists.

This perhaps explains why Trump has resorted to more drastic
measures this time. And, as with many of the current
administration's legally dubious actions, there has been
resistance.

The American Foreign Service Association says it will challenge
the dismantling of the USAGM, while the Czech Republic is seeking
EU support to keep Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty on the
air.

But for many of the agency's journalists, contractors,
broadcasting partners and audiences, it may be too late. Last
week the New York Times reported some Voice of America broadcasts
had already been replaced by music.

*Valerie A. Cooper is a lecturer in Media and Communication at Te
Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/world/545891/does-the-end-of-voice-of-america-leave-a-void-for-china-and-russia-to-fill
 

This is Shortwave Radiogram in MFSK64

Please send your reception report to radiogram@verizon.net
 

This week's images ...
.
.
.
.
.

An advertisement from the 1950s soliciting donations for Radio
Free Europe. Most of its funding was actually covertly from the
CIA. tinyurl.com/2bjcaucy ...

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.
.

Old church in Alberta with aurora in the background, March 23.
tinyurl.com/27cv7dm3 ...

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A bird perches on a branch of a cherry-blossom tree in Tokyo,
Japan, March 19. tinyurl.com/2b8jeddh ...

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Competitors in the ski cross competition at the 2025 FIS
Freestyle Ski and Snowboarding World Championships, St. Mortitz,
Switzerland. tinyurl.com/267m7768 ...

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Boats sail at sunset during Ramadan in Dubai, UAE.
tinyurl.com/27nztfkc ...

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A silhouette of travellers crossing the historic Mandalay bridge
in Myanmar, during sunset. tinyurl.com/2bj9a455

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Sunrise on H Street NE in Washington DC, March 21. The tracks of
DC's only streetcar line are visible. tinyurl.com/23jmgtjj ...

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A green jay at Estero Llano Grande State Park, Texas, March 21.
tinyurl.com/26pgdpcu ...

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Our oainting of the week is "Radio Sunset" (December 2022,
Cambridge, Massachusetts) by Billy Idyll. tinyurl.com/22trlwtj
...

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Shortwave Radiogram returns to MFSK32 ...



 

RSID: <<2025-03-27T23:58Z MFSK-32 @ 9265000+1500>>

This is Shortwave Radiogram in MFSK32 ...


Transmission of Shortwave Radiogram is provided by:

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

and

WINB Shortwave, http://winb.com


Please send reception reports to radiogram@verizon.net

And visit http://swradiogram.net

http://swradiogram.bsky.social

X/Twitter (for now): @SWRadiogram

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

RSID: <<2025-03-28T11:30Z MFSK-64 @ 15770000+1500>>
 

Sally Carr of Middle of the Road was born on March 28, 1945.

Sending Pic:181x240;

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sally_Carr

Please report your decode to themightykbc@gmail.com.

Images this week:

#1

This is the former Amersfoort NCS railway station. The station (which once was one of three very near each other) is a well-kept monument.

In spite of many rails in front of it, and being on a prime location, the station hasn't been in use since 1904. It was built around 1863. In 1904 railway companies decided that the walk (of 800 meters) from one station to the other
was too much to ask from passengers, so they decided to use only one of the stations for both companies. At the moment an architect's agency is residing in the wonderful building.

Photo is by T Houdijk
Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported

#2

Another former railway station, not too far from the first. This is Woudenberg-Scherpenzeel. This once was a major hub in the country, but during WW2 an importand bridge was destroyed, and it was never rebuilt. So the station lost
it's importance, first for passengers, and later for cargo too, and around 1990 al train rails were removed.

The photo is the old situation. Recently the terrain was develloped and a new company building arose at the same time restoring the old station as part of the company buildings. So it looks much better now. A neighbouring company has
an old locomotive in it's front yard to pay respect to the former railway line.

The station was built around 1886.

Photo by Maurits90 and it is in the public domain.

#3 (MFSK)

This is an Italian street car (not on rails), street car number 149, pulled through the streets of Naples by two mules in 1913.

Photo by Edmund F. Arras, and it is also in the public domain.