Listener’s Day 2018

Listener's Day on RRI

Mihaela Ignătescu, 04.11.2018, 01:00

Dear RRI staff members, Let me join the celebration of Listeners’ Day. When I first listened to overseas radio stations, the whole world was different from what it is now. It was hard to reach communist countries, both physically and mentally. Shortwave broadcast made it possible for all the people to learn about those countries. I was very young at that time and was open to all sorts of ideas. I was lucky that I had a shortwave radio to get information from every corner of the world. Thus I developed my attitude toward intercultural communication. 40 years after that, I am working as Dean of Graduate School of Global Communication and Language at Akita International University in Japan, which has a partner institution in Romania and some exchange students from it. I owe much to shortwave broadcast for what I am now. Although IT technologies have been developing to replace existing media, I believe radio broadcast will never lose its function. IT technologies depend too much on the networking systems, and they may face fatal breakdowns in unexpected natural disasters. I hope the world will not forget how important and effective radio broadcast is. Once again, let me celebrate the Listeners’ Day. (Hiroki Uchida, Okutsubskidai, Tsubakigawa, Japan)

(…) congratulations on the 90th anniversary of official radio broadcast in your country. I started listening to shortwave stations almost 40 years ago, 50 years later than start of the official broadcast in Romania. I remember receiving Radio Bucharest by chance when I was a teenager, turning the tuning dial of my old Panasonic portable receiver, and being excited at the moment I caught the interval signal for the first time. I didn’t understand what was said in the programs in English, but that really brings back memories. Listening to radio broadcasts had been just one of my hobbies for many years, until I started working for the radio monitoring organization under the Foreign Affairs Ministry in Tokyo, where I kept listening to news and commentaries from North Korean national stations for a decade. They were completely different from those of our country. At least they were not means to give exact information to people living there, but to control them ideologically. There I learned that such kind of broadcast sometimes could be a small opened window to make an inference about what was going on in the country, what was important issues to the party and the government, and what leaders of the closed society thought about. To me it was the object of analysis at that time.(Actually I heard the company once used to have some staffs to monitor East European radio stations decades ago.)After I quit the job, listening to the radio became my hobby again. But thanks to the experience, I can enjoy listening to news and commentaries which might be boring to some, whether they come from communist countries or not. Of course I like music played on the shortwave radio, too, even better than songs played on the internet media. Radio has been essential to my life anyway. These days shortwave broadcasts are being discontinued in many countries. But I think your station is important to all of shortwave listeners around the world. I sincerely hope RRI remain in the shortwave bands for many years to come. ( Masahiro Kobayashi, Kawaguchi, Japan)

Thanks for telling us about the 90th anniversary of the first official radio broadcast in Romania. Congratulations and best wishes to radio Romania for your great achievement. Nowadays most radio stations are stopping their broadcasts, while you are moving forward at full swing, which is great, and a gift. I am feeling proud to be your listener. Radio plays a very important role in society. It is touching everybody’s life in places where there are no means of communication, and radio signals come and change people’s lives. I have been listening to radio from my childhood days, that is, about 1983 -84, and I continue to do so. I am listening mainly to short wave broadcasts of foreign radio stationsin order to find out about far away, unknown country. Radio is the way to get there and learn traditional culture, history and society. I am very happy to know everything about a country where I could not go, and it is almost free of cost. Various radio station are organizing quiz contests from time to time, and I am actively participating in those contest through radio, in order to increase my knowledge about other countries, and win some valuable prize which are not available on the market.I have won two international radio quiz contests so far, and been awarded visits to China and Indonesia free of cost. Now I want to win the Romanian trip prize, it is very valuable to me, and hope it will happen shortly. (SB Sharma, Jamshedpur, Jharkand)

Warm wishes on the occasion of 90th anniversary of Romania’s first official Radio broadcast, and happy listener’s day to all at RRI and the larger worldwide listener’s diaspora of RRI….Radio is my life. I have a dedicated corner in my home for all my radios. Of course listening to RRI broadcast daily is a real delight and fun. It gives all the information about Romania and the world also includes art, music and culture, making the broadcast the most comprehensive. This time the RRI’s celebration of Listener’s day is special one because it is the 90th anniversary of first official radio broadcast. All these years, RRI is serving the listener’s community without fail. And I am hopeful that it will continue to do so. RRI is always updating itself with new technologies to keep pace with the new world order and new generation of listeners. I am really grateful to RRI to be with us during these test times where digitization is taking over everything. I want to share one incidence where one of my students asked -sir, is radio a dying medium?

And my answer was this…….

I would rather say it is an evolving medium. Ask any passionate radio listener, they will say FM Band is not true Radio in its Spirit. In reality, Radio is Shortwave. Where you catch far away radio stations. This passion for radio lasts for ever. The peace and joy radio hobbyist get is beyond explanation.New technology like DRM (Digital Radio Mondiale) which transmit digital signals rather then analogue signals of good old radio (however, I don’t like digitization). At present DRM radio receivers are expensive, maybe because there are few manufacturers. Radio stations are leaving shortwave band because running radio stations over the shortwave is expensive and people are now have more and more access to online content. I want to add one more thing- Whatever technology may come, radio can’t die. There are nations who suppress the news content and freedom of expression. Media in these nations don’t allow freedom of press. Analogue radio is the only mean to spread the information in these areas. long love radio… long live RRI… ( Mahesh Jain, Dwarka, Delhi, India)

Congratulations & Happy 90th Anniversary to Radio Romania International. Radio enables us to listen to it any time anywhere – at home, at work, as we exercise, or as we drive in our cars. Other Medias like TV and Internet requires special attention and time to use. It is due to the fact that radio relies only on one sense, called hearing. Whereas other Medias require both ear and eyes. Radio is still the most accessible, reactive and engaging medium there is, informing and transforming us, through news, entertainment and audience participation. Radio also has abilities or skills that other media cannot match. The connection formed between the broadcaster and the audience is beyond any comparison. I experienced this many a time, whenever listener’s letters are read out in any radio program, the broadcaster calls out the listeners by their names. This kind of personal touch radio has, which is not present in any other media – be it TV or the Internet. Moreover, radio increases the imaginative power of listeners because the listeners create an image in mind of whatever is said over the radio. What makes Radio more popular is its ability to reach masses across the globe and all the news, views, information and knowledge without any significant cost. This is the reason why international broadcasters use Radio and particularly shortwave radio to broadcast in the most troubled regions of the world, like Afghanistan, Somalia, Pakistan, Darfur, North Korea. These are the regions which suppress human rights and freedom of speech. Therefore, in the dissemination of correct information and news, Radio does a wonderful job. It is sad that gradually the major international broadcasters have shut down its various language services and shining their presence over the shortwave spectrum. Some others have fully left shortwave radio. You are also left the shortwave. But I am hopeful that you will continue with us and carry on your strong presence in the radio in Social media. (S.M. Najim Uddin, International DX Radio Listeners Club, West Bengal, India)

Radio is an inseparable companion of my life. Already in my childhood I listened to the sounds coming from my parents’ radio receiver. I really liked listening to foreign radio stations that broadcast interesting music. Although I did not understand anything because I did not speak foreign languages, music did not create such a barrier. As an adult, I returned to listening to radio on medium and short waves in 2013. Then I discovered Radio Romania International. Just like in childhood, now I listen to beautiful music on the waves of your radio station.I play hammered dulcimer with passion. My grandfather before the Second World War was an outstanding hammered dulcimer player in Vilnius. Now I continue this family tradition. On the occasion of your anniversary, I am sending you a musical gift in the form of a melody played by me on hammered dulcimer. I made the recordings in my home. It is Blue Waltz, a folk melody from the beginning of the 20th century.I wish you all the best. (Piotr Krupski, Elblag, Poland)

Dear RRI English section, Firstly I would like to congratulate RRI on its 90th anniversary in regards to your first radio broadcast. Radio has played a big role in my life which I have enjoyed since owning my first radio at the age of 8 in 1983, discovering a whole new world of music and information at the slide of a switch mainly listening to the BBC. I did not discover short wave until the 1990s with a later radio and began to find many interesting world radio programmes, especially broadcasts by RRI, and it is still a pleasure to listen to your broadcast, however, I now tend to listen to RRI on the internet. I believe there is a future for radio broadcasts as there will always be an interest in other cultures. I believe radio will have a good future on various websites that will get mentioned on programmes on where to find broadcast archives and where to listen live such as sites like www.tunein.com and www.radio360.eu I have had some great memories of entering competitions and receiving gifts from world radio stations. Radio to me has a more personal touch than other media sources such as TV or films where it is more rare to talk with those people involved at a personal level. (Alastair Pamphilon, Whitnash, Warwickshire)

As one of your regular listeners, I am very glad to respond to your 90th anniversary request for accounts of radio in our lives. I have lived all my life in Newfoundland, which is in eastern Canada, stuck out into the North Atlantic Ocean, and a very good place for hearing radio from nearly the whole world. I am now 66 years old and every day I still listen to radio of almost all sorts: local broadcast radio here in Newfoundland; national radio in Canada; broadcast stations from near and far local areas; international broadcasts via short-wave radio; and many local and podcasty radio stations via my Internet radio set. I am not really a dedicated DX-er but I certainly do enjoy the thrill of hearing a station that is meant for a local audience thousands of kilometers from me! Today, too, I enjoy being able to hear the modern digital shortwave broadcast system, DRM, of which – as you know – RRI is a leading user. One of my earliest memories is of radio. When I was a very small child, still unable to speak, I often lay on the kitchen counter-top as my mother did housework like cooking, washing and ironing. She – like me now – always had the radio on, and very clearly I remember being puzzled by an announcer one day saying that each performer was now stepping up to the mike to perform popular songs. I was old enough to think that he could not be telling the truth, that he was just playing records. But there was a magic in that idea, something that I think underlies my continued interest in radio. As a young adult, in university, I was still so much influenced by that magic of radio that I wrote two theses, my master’s and my doctoral thesis, on radio topics, investigating local radio in my own community in the decades before I was born. Today, my wife and I both like being able to move from room to room and continue listening to the radio programme we were hearing in another room. Thus, our house has at least one radio in every room. As I write these words, I am nearly surrounded at my desk by radios for various broadcasts. Now that I am retired from my job, I have also rekindled an interest from my childhood – how radios work, and especially older ones. So, next to my desk is my latest project – a 1950s-era German Südfunk radio, a four-tube set with piano-key buttons and an amber-lit-glass frequency-tuning scale on the front. Whenever I have a couple of hours to spare, I open it up and do a little tinkering. I look forward to the day when it will work again, when I can tune in and listen to my favourite shortwave stations, like, say, RRI.Congratulations on your 90th anniversary! I have listened to Radio Bucharest, now RRI, for many years but you’d already been broadcasting for nearly a half century when I started! I still have notes that I took on your broadcasts just over forty years ago, in March 1978, when I heard your broadcasts on 11940 kHz and a few evenings later on 7195 kHz. Today I enjoy RRI for many reasons. I cannot see radio diminishing in its importance to the millions of people who listen. It will certain *change* with technological, cultural, and political changes. I hope that one of these changes is not the elimination of national services like the RRI. We see the diminishment of national services in most Western countries, yet they cling to life. And all it will take is a new generation that appreciates the common wealth, wealth for all citizens, that is to be found in national services; I suspect that new generation is already starting to vote! (Philip Hiscock, St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada)

Hello. My name is Carrie Hooper and I come from Elmira, New York, USA. I am totally blind. Radio has always played an important role in my life. I am a pianist and singer. From an early age, listening to the radio helped me gain an appreciation for a wide variety of music, everything from classical music to classic rock, from country to old popular standards. I also grew up listening to programs on national public radio. When I studied for my Master’s in German and my Master’s in music at the University at Buffalo in Buffalo, New York, listening to classical 94.5 WNED made writing term papers easier. I got my first shortwave radio in high school and enjoyed listening to BBC World Service. I also discovered stations from other countries. Radio has not only served as a music teacher and a source of news and information. It has also helped me in my study of foreign languages. When I studied German, I listened to shortwave broadcasts from Deutsche Welle and HCJB, the Voice of the Andes from Quito, Ecuador. When I learned Italian, I listened to RAI on shortwave. When I studied Swedish, I listened to Radio Sweden in Swedish and in English. The English service of Radio Sweden broadcast a program called In Touch With Stockholm which gave listeners the opportunity to talk to Swedes about any topic they wished. Their conversations were included in the program. I wanted to talk to a blind student from Sweden because I wanted to know what life was like for a blind person there. Radio Sweden put me in touch with Ulrika Norelius, a blind music student at the Royal University College of Music in Stockholm, Sweden. We spoke on the telephone and our conversation was broadcast on the air. Ulrika and I stayed in touch and she told me about a guest student program at the university at which she studied. I applied for this program because I wanted to learn more about Swedish music and culture. I applied for a Fulbright scholarship to finance my studies. The music conservatory in Stockholm accepted me and I also received a Fulbright scholarship to study there for one year. In a way, Radio Sweden made it possible for me to study in Sweden. Ten years ago I began learning Albanian. My friend Tim Hendel recorded Albanian language radio programs from the Internet and shortwave from Radio Tirana, Vatican Radio, and Radio Maria. He continues to record Albanian programs from Vatican Radio and CHIN in Toronto, Canada. He sends me cassettes with these programs. When I began learning Spanish, Tim began recording Spanish language programs from various stations including Radio Romania International. The Spanish service of Radio Romania International offers Romanian lessons once a week. While visiting Tim, I heard one of these lessons and that inspired me to learn Romanian. Tim taught me some basic vocabulary and grammar. He took Romanian at Columbia University in New York when he studied for his Master’s in Romance Filology. He recorded the Romanian lessons from the Spanish and English programs and he also recorded programming for me from the Romanian service of Radio Romania International. I used material from Romanian lessons from the Spanish service when I taught Romanian to an American whose wife is Romanian. Recently my parents received an Amazon Echo so I can listen to Radio Romania International at any time. Is there a future for radio broadcasting? Absolutely. In today’s world, people have access to numerous sources of information and not all of the information they read or hear is true. Also, we live in a world polarized by hate and fear. Therefore, radio programs that inform and promote cultural understanding are more important than ever. Congratulations to Radio Romania on ninety years of service. Thank you for your excellent programs that paint an audio portrait of Romania. Radio Romania International offers information about current events and culture that you would not hear on US radio stations. Thank you again and keep up the great work. (Carrie Hooper, Elmira, New York)

Congratulations on your 90th Anniversary! Radio for me started as a hobby back in 2011 when I bought a SW radio, and listened to my first shortwave broadcast. As time went by it became more than just a hobby. It has become a window into other countries, their people, their cultures, and their history. This is especially true of Radio Romania International. I’ve always been fascinated with Eastern Europe but in the mainstream press and TV in the USA you don’t have a lot of articles or shows with context devoted to this area. RRI fills this gap with one of the best Shortwave Radio programs still being broadcast. I feel like RRI is a friend whom I care about. I’ve learned about Romania’s history, culture, people, it’s concerns and dreams for the future. The future of Shortwave Radio appears to be bleak with many stations going off the air or switching content to on line access only. The younger generations don’t appear to have an interest in SW or radio in general, plus its expensive to broadcast on SW. I fear that in 10 years or so Shortwave will no longer be broadcast from RRI. That’s such a shame as there is something very special tuning in and hearing the interval signal of RRI and then listening live to the broadcasts daily, and weekly. It gives you a connection to the Country that on line content doesn’t provide. I will continue to listen until SW is a thing of the past which I hope doesn’t happen. Thank you RRI for your excellent programs! (John P. Cooper, Lebanon, Pennsylvania)

Hello my friends at RRI! As a first generation American of German immigrants, I knew the ability of hearing different news and information from other points around the world would be interesting. When I was 9 years old (in 1966), I got a shortwave receiver kit as a present. It was the Heathkit GR-64. After it was built, I began to listen to broadcasts from the BBC, Deutsche Welle, Radio Moscow, Havana Cuba, Radio China, and VOA. I found it fascinating that the world news I heard from our national TV network stations had a very different spin or point of view than the same information from the other countries, even the VOA version. At 9 years old I realized I had to consider several points of view from different cultures to learn the full truth. Broadcasts from RRI and others also bring a welcome addition to supply more information (propaganda from some stations) but also a bit of the country’s culture with opinions, music, and events. The on the air answering of listener’s questions that were sent in are of particular interest. It was clear then and still today that basic AM radio shortwave broadcasts are the simplest, easiest and a low cost way to connect with most people around the globe. All that exposure led me down the path to become a Radio Amateur Operator in 1973. Today, I continue to listen to numerous AM Shortwave broadcasts as well as having great conversations with hundreds of radio operators around the world. This makes the earth feel very small and makes me realize that allpeople are basically the same no matter where we live. It’s a radio-family. My best to RRI for the 90th anniversary and all the other radio listening brothers and sisters. Peace and good health! (Joe Roth, Williamsburg, Virginia)

Every one has crazy goals in his or her life – at least two of mine has become a reality. The first one on a bright summer day 11 years ago, when I dipped my hand in the water of the Black Sea as a most lucky winner of a RRI contest. For Central Europeans it might be a wish to have a look out over the Atlantic Ocean , for me it was a goal to dip my hand in the Black Sea. Thanks to RRI and Romania it became possible. The second was to experience the fall of the iron curtain. Well I had been at the NGO-conference connected to the UN-Population conference in Bucharest in the 70th. I participated in the church service with a lot of nicely dressed men among us. At Christmas time 1989 I listened to the frequencies of Radio Bucharest as much as I could. Even in Romanian language you could sense the dramatic events take place. I heard the iron curtain fall. Born in 1948 I had a childhood with out TV, but with radio. The whole family listened to the news twice daily. Home from school I listened to children’s programs. I still remember some of the radio dramas. Jules Verne was my favorite. He brought me in my fantasy first time to Romania. As a child turning the dial, when my father was lot along, I was fascinated by the many different languages, music styles and sounds coming to my ears. One day I did catch a program on MW in Danish, that lead me to SW, and from the beginning I was deeply fascinated by SW. That you can catch the waves from a transmitter on the other side of the globe – I still find it much more fascinating than internet. Then I was hooked on SW – I think as low as I live – or as long as SW will exist. When you are 70 you might not have goals more, but hopes – with out hopes you die! On my personal account I hope one day to visit the Danube Delta on more than a daytrip! For the World – that it will an easier and freer life for ordinary Citizens. I am aware that free press and open radios are one of the important factors for a human society. I wish Radio Romania many more fruitful years! Best and warmest wishes! (Hans Verner Lollike, Hedehusene, Denmark)

Thanks fro the invitation and greetings to all of you and to the listeners, especially those friends of mine around the globe listening to RRI.Boy, has radio been part of my life! Since around 1960-62 that I started listening daily, including to RRI on MW and SW. Before that, I used to try to explore our Philips tabletop enchanted by the mystery of radio.It has been an important part of me because I could hear the news from different points of view and then form an education view and opinion, hear about the customs, music, history and food of so many countries. I will never forget the aggressive propaganda of some East European countries of many years ago, the beautiful music from Radio Japan and Radio New Zealand International during some sleepless nights or the beautiful Christmas Eve program from Radio Australia in 1999. I haven’t had a dull moment when listening to international radio stations, even during those days of bad reception and interference and disappearing signals!Listening has influenced my life in that along the way I learnt about radio repairs and electronics and I made some life long friendships from many countries, both listeners and radio personnel, the announcer of the former RRI Greek broadcast knows that – is she listening?Sadly, I am not sure about the future. Listeners are disappearing, companies are not making anymore radios, governments try to save money by hitting the international broadcasts, listeners don’t send it reports and customs change.I wish RRI happy birthday, stay on for long time and keep improving. (Fotios Padazopulos)

Radio is still important, at least in my life. I can know and learn something new and what’s happening in another country outside my country. I can know and learn a culture from other country via the radio. Radio has played a great role in my life in order to get to know something, be it culture, customs, news from other countries, to develop a better understanding toward another country.

It is true that radio has been in great decline recently, but it does not mean no people will listen to the radio. Radio is still greatly needed for the people who live in area where there is no internet access. I think radio has hope in the future. As long as the human being still exists, radio will be needed. It is wrong to claim that radio is not needed anymore because there is internet access. People who live in conflict areas and have no internet access will find that radio is a great source of information for them. Radio can entertain them too. Some big international radio stations have closed their broadcast, but some smaller radio stations still broadcast today. Whenever there is radio, there are people who will still listen. Long live radio! (Alex Torbeni, Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia)

Dear Friends at Radio Romania International. I started listening to shortwave radio in 1965 when I built, with the help of a high school friend who was studying electronics, a Knight-Kit Star Roamer shortwave radio. As a 16 year-old I was working at a local commercial medium wave radio station in a small town in Florida and had finally scraped up enough money to buy the kit. I’ve been listening, using a number of other shortwave receivers, ever since. This experience, and an insatiable curiosity about the entire RF spectrum, led me not only to 30 years as an amateur radio operator but also to a 30-year career as a feature writer and columnist for many magazines, including 25 years at Monitoring Times where, when the magazine folded in 2013, I was the managing editor. Immediately following that I was inspired to start my own monthly magazine covering the entire radio spectrum, called The Spectrum Monitor, which is just now finishing its fifth year of publication. Congratulations to Radio Romania International on the 90thanniversary of the first official radio broadcast in Romania. At a time when so many international shortwave broadcasters have left the shortwave bands, it is indeed a major accomplishment. That Radio Romania International has not only refused to quit, but has also pioneered new technologies in international broadcasting by being the only European shortwave station regularly heard in the US using the digital format Digital Radio Mondiale, is testimony to RRI’s commitment to the future of international broadcasting. May you enjoy another 90 years on the air! (Ken Reitz)

“Radio is the best and cheapest means of communication and information having easy access to the world audience . It is within the reach of everyone – whether she/he is rich or poor , big or small , child , youth or old at very little cost . Radio is connecting to ‘ UNCONNECTED ‘ and reaching to ‘ UNREACHABLE ‘ anywhere , anytime in the whole world . Radio plays an vital role in case of emergency , war , flood , earthquake , disaster and spreading diseases and virus. It connects with the victims via its trained representatives and sends victims requirements to the government. In this way it saves lives . Radio is the voice of people , by the people and for the people. Misuse of this amazing tool of connecting , information and communication would be dangerous for the present and coming generations. It is the matter of great sorrow in the age of internet , our present young generation does not know the magic of radio . Therefore , there is a need to connect this our generation with radio . In this case social media , schools , NGO’s can play an vital role . I am a regular listener to RRI and I am very much interested in Romanias culture, history, art, customs, traditions and way of life. I fully believe that RRI is bringing Romania closer to us through its programs, website and various contests. (Mitul Kansal, India)