When information war shuts down our digital communication networks, the ingenious response... is short-wave radio
One of the values of framing yourself as “living on Planet A” (our new project on The Alternative) is that you value ingenuity and innovation—sometimes meaning the recombination of elements that are familiar and already to hand, in new and responsive ways.
We noted a great example of this in the Ukraine-Russian war last week. In an age of endless digital network connections and devices, blocking and disabling each other in a relentless information war, the BBC’s news services have gone back to an old format: long-wave radio. As the New York Times reports:
The BBC said this week that it would use radio frequencies that can travel for long distances and be accessible on portable radios to broadcast its World Service news in English for four hours a day in Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, and in parts of Russia.
“It’s often said truth is the first casualty of war,” Tim Davie, director-general of the BBC, said in a statement. “In a conflict where disinformation and propaganda is rife, there is a clear need for factual and independent news people can trust.”
On Tuesday, Russian projectiles struck the main radio and television tower in Kyiv. Oleksii Reznikov, Ukraine’s defense minister, wrote on Twitter that Russia’s goal was “to break the resistance of the Ukrainian people and army,” starting with “a breakdown of connection” and “the spread of massive FAKE messages that the Ukrainian country leadership has agreed to give up.”
Shortwave radio has been a go-to vehicle to reach listeners in conflict zones for decades, used to deliver crackling dispatches to soldiers in the Persian Gulf war, send codes to spies in North Koreaand pontificate through the Iron Curtain during the Cold War. But more modern forms of radio along with the internet eventually pushed shortwave out of favor; the BBC retired its shortwave transmissions in Europe 14 years ago.
More here. The BBC’s shortwave radio broadcast can be found on 15735 kHz from 4pm to 6pm and on 5875 kHz from 10pm to midnight, Ukraine time. And this Guardian report shows how many of the BBC’s (and other platforms) services are being shut down and blocked by Russian authorities.