June 1, 1997
Broadcasters
... that march to a different drummer
Let's take a detour from current events and look at some new and different radio-related Web sites that have opened lately. These broadcasters march to a different drummer and offer a different perspective compared to western media. Remember that the times below are expressed in a 24-hour clock of UT (Universal Time), 4 hours ahead of EDT and 7 hours ahead of PDT in North America.
Iran
For a variety of reasons, over the years Iran has been in the news. It was a surprise to us that the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting organization has come up on the Web. There was nothing on the page at the end of May, but keep an eye on "http://194.126.32.20/irib/index.htm to see what develops. You can listen to the Voice of the Islamic Republic of Iran transmitting in English on 9022 kHz at 1930 and 0030 UT.
There's opposition to the current government too. Another voice in the Middle East cauldron appears on the "The Constitutionalist Movement of Iran" Web site based in Washington, DC, USA. "Our struggle is for liberating our country from religious fascism and laying the foundation for a democratic and progressive Iran. A free society cannot be established unless its people have reached agreement on key principle fundamentals, and a democratic political system is in place to preserve those principles. Independence, territorial integrity, national unity, sovereignty and human rights are the principles that majority of Iranians agree upon. In our opinion, while there is still a remnant of Iran left, the Islamic Republic must be overthrown." Radio broadcasts of the news in English, and other files, in TrueSpeech format are available at http://www.irancmi.org/radio/.
Voice of Kurdistan
The Middle East continues as a world hotspot. The several political and religious factions seek to make a point of view, and sometimes the consequences are deadly.
The Internet is an inexpensive vehicle to make a statement, and now there is a Web site for Voice of Kurdistan and Kurdistan itself -- a geopolitical area of 230,000 square miles -- made up of Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Syria and a small portion of the former Soviet Union.
Want to see a map of Kurdistan? Dial up http://www.kurdistan.org/facts.html and have a look.
The Voice of Kurdistan came to life in September 1963. In years past shortwave listeners reported hearing the clandestine broadcasts from deep within the mountains. Now the schedule is on the Web. The primary frequency is 4075 kHz; the schedule is 04-06, 10-12 and 19-21 UT.
The pages offer a interesting perspective on the Kurdish points of view. There is history, some news items, background, and more. Check it out at http://ourworld. compuserve.com/homepages/gara/.
Want to learn more? Using the Isleuth meta search engine http://www.isleuth.com/ we searched on "Kurdish Democratic Party" on six search engines simultaneously and found hundreds (really!) of references in less a minute. That included the map URL above, and a history of the KDP at http://home1.swipnet.se/~w-11534/. There�s plenty of additional reading material here.
Cuba
Listeners to Radio Havana Cuba know that the country has fallen on difficult times and the economy is not robust. The audio on the transmitters of Radio Havana Cuba is poor, and distorted at times. Nevertheless, the station survives. Now there is a new "official" Web site-- so the host firm NY Transfer in New York says -- at http://www.radiohc.org/. The transmission schedule is out of date, but the news items (in English and Spanish) are current.
And an individual in New England claims to have approval to put Radio Havana English language news broadcasts on the Web. It is not real time, and the audio is taped off the shortwave receiver, but nevertheless you can listen. Dial up http://www.crocker.com/~acacia/havana.html and have a listen.
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Shortwave Radio Catalog
A comprehensive descriptive inventory of almost everything that is related to radio. It is updated monthly. We recommend it as your first stop on the Web.
British Broadcasting Corporation
The BBC World Service broadcasts 24 hours a day to somewhere in the world. The news coverage is outstanding.
Airwaves Radio
This site was off line for a number of months due to a fire that destroyed the Web servers, files and software. Now, in May 1997 it's back, bigger and better than ever. Search engines, news, jobs... all related to US domestic broadcasting industry.
World Radio Network
WRN offers a world-wide collection of broadcasters providing audio on demand and live audio via a satellite. Here you will need Real Audio and Streamworks audio players.
Radio Netherlands
One of the most popular broadcasters in the world, RN offers a variety of resource information for the listener. Check out the "Real Radio" pages and see for yourself.
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Radio
