New radio show highlights world of media

Last month a new radio program looking at the media industry around the world debuted on shortwave and internet radio. 

The 55-minute program, Media Network Plus, broadcasts monthly. It usually includes coverage of the media in Ukraine on the program, since I am one of the announcers. :-) The other is executive producer of the show, Keith Perron of PCJ Radio.

So the second broadcast aired yesterday ... amid considerable confusion. The first transmission of the show is scheduled for the 4th Friday of the month on Radio Miami International (WRMI) at 7 pm EST (0000UTC Saturday) on shortwave frequency 9955khz and streaming live on the station's website.

However, it went on the air two hours late (at 9 pm EST) due to technical difficulties at the station. Since Keith is in Taiwan and the time difference from BC is 16 hours, he missed out on a good night's sleep trying to get to the root of the problem. It turns out that because of the American Thanksgiving holiday there was no one on hand at WRMI to deal with a mechanical failure.

In the meantime, if you were following me on Twitter you will have noticed a rather frenzied exchange with Vasyl who was also trying to catch the show on WRMI's live stream ... but I suspect he may have given up by the time the program finally aired. Hopefully he'll catch it on the weekend. It also streams on the PCJ Radio website Saturday and Sunday at 0700UTC (2 am EST) and 1600UTC (11 am EST).

The podcast will be at the PCJ website here sometime after the final live transmission.

On this month's edition of Media Network Plus:

• Myroslava Gondgadze is named one of the top 100 influential women in Ukraine
• The Director of Broadcasting of Radio Television Hong Kong steps down, citing health reasons
• Afrikaans station Radio Pretoria finally gets a 5-year broadcasting license
• Police in Zimbabwe confiscate shortwave radios in rural communities
• Two Dutch journalists receive an award for their coverage of child sex abuse at Catholic boarding schools in The Netherlands
• Feature interview with Adrian Johns, author of Death of a Pirate, a book about British offshore pirate radio station Radio City
• Feature interview with Richard Lucas, author of Axis Sally: The American Voice of Nazi Germany about an ambitious, star-struck Ohio girl who evolved from a failed Broadway actress into a reviled disseminator of Nazi propaganda

Next month's broadcast will air (barring any more holiday system glitches!) on December 24th and will feature an indepth look at deteriorating press freedoms in Ukraine and, on a lighter note, radio bloopers that Keith has collected over the years... including some of mine. I can hardly wait for that (...she said sarcastically).

Anyway, I hope you'll check out the show and let us know what you think of it ... what you like and what you think would make it better. Leave a comment here or send an email to either Keith or myself. Duzhe diakuyu!