{"id":31506,"date":"2017-04-27T06:00:35","date_gmt":"2017-04-26T20:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=31506"},"modified":"2017-04-27T17:51:19","modified_gmt":"2017-04-27T07:51:19","slug":"smart-stuff-shortwave-south-pacific","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/smart-stuff-shortwave-south-pacific\/","title":{"rendered":"Doing smart stuff with shortwave in the South Pacific"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/span><\/p>\n Pick the anomaly in this list of what Australia does and desires in the South Pacific:<\/span><\/p>\n Number 5 is the clanger. The ABC Board decision to mute Radio Australia\u2019s (RA) voice in the South Pacific trashes Oz interests.<\/span><\/p>\n The ABC exits as the region\u2019s needs increase. The Pacific\u2019s geopolitical potpourri is \u2018crowded and complex\u2019 with implications for \u2018stability, security and cohesion in the region.\u2019 (See the new ASPI report on<\/span> the changing geopolitics of the South Pacific<\/span><\/a> by the ANU\u2019s Joanne Wallis).<\/span><\/p>\n My previous column argued that a<\/span> shortwave re-think<\/span><\/a> is the moment to end the ABC\u2019s decade-long shredding of its Island service. A shortwave U-turn should embrace a new Pacific future: time to shift from exit to engagement, from retreat to renewal.<\/span><\/p>\n South Pacific Radio<\/b><\/p>\n Imagine the South Pacific not as a big ocean with specks of land, but rather visualise and hear a space full of overlapping radio voices with a musical soundtrack. Radio is vital. Radio is a key way the Pacific talks to itself: for example, the campaign to get<\/span> MPs in Solomon Islands<\/span><\/a> to donate<\/span> high-quality radios<\/span><\/a> (solar powered, battery or hand cranked) to their communities. Here are some reasons why the South Pacific shortwave service should be restored:<\/span><\/p>\n Papua New Guinea<\/b><\/p>\n PNG must be at the centre of Australia\u2019s South Pacific understandings. The restatement of constant interests was the theme of the<\/span> 8 April joint press conference<\/span><\/a> by Australian and Papua New Guinean leaders. This year\u2019s an election year in PNG which, coupled with the chance of a<\/span> Bougainville referendum in 2019<\/span><\/a>, ought to catch Canberra\u2019s attention.<\/span><\/p>\n The ABC should read its own reports on the problems confronting PNG\u2019s National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC):<\/span> \u2018Citizen Access to Information in PNG\u2019<\/span><\/a> and<\/span> \u2018Governance and the Role of Media in Papua New Guinea\u2019<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n NBC\u2019s issues are equally important for RA. A big problem causing a notable drop in PNG radio usage is the \u2018worsening radio signal in some provinces.\u2019 So the ABC\u2019s answer to a deteriorating NBC signal is to turn off RA\u2019s shortwave signal to PNG?<\/span><\/p>\n Rebuild RA and serve South Pacific media<\/b><\/p>\n RA\u2019s South Pacific service must serve the region on every available platform from shortwave to social media. The rebuild needs lots of money and people\u2014a cascading conversation involving many Pacific voices, not just a one-way Oz broadcast.<\/span><\/p>\n The ABC should be in the centre of the South Pacific \u2018town square\u2019 offering broadcast conversation and digital dialogue. The future isn\u2019t a monotone old-media monologue. How might Aunty go about that task? Some ideas:<\/span><\/p>\n Australia\u2019s has abiding interests in South Pacific states that are free, democratic and growing. An ABC that acts as an independent, accurate journal of record for the Islands will serve Australian policy priorities as well as Island needs.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Pick the anomaly in this list of what Australia does and desires in the South Pacific: Australia wants a leadership role in the South Pacific, a fundamental foreign policy interest explicitly stated in 1901 in …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":79,"featured_media":31507,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[880,730,99],"class_list":["post-31506","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-abc","tag-media","tag-south-pacific"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n
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