An interesting take from Roger Chambers in the ODXA group... I would add that I believe "China Drive" airs primarily on the domestic FM service serving Bejing -- branded "Easy FM". As such, it serves the needs of the traditional vacuous (love that word) FM listener.
It is only within the past few months that this program -- which I believe used to exist as "RealTime Beijing" -- began gracing the SW lineup. I agree with Roger that Radio Japan has perfected this type of bland programming, with the annoying "A Song For You" stuffed between two news segments. Deutsche Welle strayed into this fluff-laden turf with their midday program, "Update Europe", which has since (thankfully) left the airwaves. I will say that CRI produces some interesting feature programming, but -- since China remains a society still with controlled media -- CRI should be viewed skeptically as a source of unbiased news. Shame on us for expecting anything different. Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA USA ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Roger Chambers <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Sep 30, 2007 8:40 AM Subject: [ODXA] Fluff Programming on CRI To: ODXA <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Cc: Fred Waterer <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> China Radio International and Fluff Programming A few years ago, I recall comparing the programs of CRI favorably with those of the BBC or Radio Netherlands. That is certainly not the case today. First, the news. While the world news has been dominated by the situation in Myanmar (or Burma -- just what is the politically correct name these days?), on CRI at 1000 UTC on September 29th and 1100 UTC on the 30th, there was no mention of the situation in Rangoon (Yangon). This is curious, in that a main point in much of the news from domestic tv and foreign radio (Australia, DW, RN, and BBC) was the important role that China plays in the situation, economically and politically. Now to general programming. The seemingly ubiquitous "China Drive" is terrible. (The title alone implies a disastrous American influence on transportation expectations of middle class Chinese). It follows a pattern of "fluff" programming that is as vacuous as Vanna White. This is a type of program "perfected" to the point of near complete irrelevance by such stations as Radio Japan, Radio Korea, and Radio Taiwan International. (Curiously, all Asian Rim countries). As an infrequent, weekly feature, fluff works well (I would put the old "His and Hers" program with Jerry and Dody Cowen on Radio Netherlands in the 70s into that category. How's that for nostalgia?). However a daily dose is too much. A male and female, chatting back and forth over the weather or beach holiday interspersed with bubble gum music ...... who cares? The local FM bands are full of this baloney. On a public broadcaster, I would expect something better. China certainly has a very important role to play in coming decades with issues of development, political development, but even more important, energy use, global warming, abuse of the Mekong River, and the limits of environmental constraints. If CRI is really interested in getting its message out, just what is the message? A China expecting to live like affluent suburban Americans and Europeans? If they really want to "reach" the short wave enthusiast, or more generally and more importantly listeners on the Internet or rebroadcasts, they need better news and better programs than "China Drive." They could do far better than emulate the worst of the fluff as heard every day on domestic commercial AM and FM. Give us some programs with some relevance and substance. Roger Chambers Utica, New York ____________________________________________________________________________________ Moody friends. Drama queens. Your life? Nope! - their life, your story. Play Sims Stories at Yahoo! Games. http://sims.yahoo.com/ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/odxa/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/odxa/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ -- Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA USA International broadcasting / shortwave blog: http://www.intlradio.blogspot.com _______________________________________________ Swprograms mailing list [email protected] http://montreal.kotalampi.com/mailman/listinfo/swprograms To unsubscribe: Send an E-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED], or visit the URL shown above.
