Re: [Swprograms] A Lament for Radio in Africa
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Re: [Swprograms] A Lament for Radio in Africa



There was a book I read a few years back called "Investment Biker"  in which a US financial guru named Jimmy Rogers traded in his Brooks Brothers Wall Street uniform to ride a motorcycle around the world.  In the book he related how his only source of reliable information about safety when traveling through Africa was BBC World Service.  He detoured from his planned route several times to avoid hot spots in the Congo basin and Angola to mention a couple which he heard about on BBCWS.
 
He wrote off the entire trip as a fact finding investigation to find new areas on the "Dark Continent" in which to invest.  He then went on across South Asia ending in Vladivostok where he turned left and followed the route of the Trans Siberian Railroad back to Europe.  He trained for this trip by riding from The Arctic Ocean to Tierra Del Fuego.  Interesting stuff even if somewhat dated by now.  He still shows up on occasion on CNBC and other cable services from his new home in Singapore.  So I guess BBCWS will be losing another "opinion former" as they called those they were trying to cultivate when they shut down SW to North America.  'Tis a slippery slope indeed....
 
Joe

--- On Fri, 1/28/11, Mike Barraclough <softbulletin1@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

From: Mike Barraclough <softbulletin1@xxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [Swprograms] A Lament for Radio in Africa
To: swprograms@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Friday, January 28, 2011, 1:36 PM

Interesting piece from David Smith, currently involved with Bar-Kulan:

One of the best sources of news from and about Africa, a source updated virtually every minute of every day, took a serious knock this week. The BBC World Service, the most listened-to radio service in Africa announced on Wednesday that it is cutting one quarter of its staff and five of the languages it broadcasts in, including the Portuguese language service to Africa, its shortwave services in Swahili as well as programmes targeting Rwanda and Burundi.

This is an earthquake, a tsunami, a volcanic blow to the people who often rely on this service as the only credible voice in a sea of propaganda and misinformation. In other words, it is horrible news.

http://www.thoughtleader.co.za/davidsmith/2011/01/28/a-lament-for-radio-in-africa-and-an-opportunity-for-south-africa/


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