Hello Dane Just to be clear on this; I'm referring to TV content, not radio.
Lynne On 30 Nov 2011, at 16:01, Dane Trethowan wrote: Found myself nodding my head as I read the below post. In Australia all our radio and TV services are available to the masses without restrictions. The tax payer in Australia pays for our national - and at the moment International - broadcaster the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Some calculations were done some time ago which worked out that each and every Australian paid 10 cents per day to keep the ABC going and even though I'm not a huge fan of the ABC I think I certainly get my money's worth given that I only pay 10 cents a day. As the below poster mentions, services such as Radio Australia has made a huge difference to people in developing countries and if Radio Australia can educate and inform then I don't mind so much. Of course! the ABC at times does run its own agenda these days but let's leave that out of the discussion for the time being <smile>. So my view is simple, whether or not I like the ABC I value my 10 cents per day not only for what it gives me but for what others can be given to listen to or to watch as well, unrestricted. On 1/12/2011 1:21 AM, Martin McCormick wrote: > "Mrs. Lynnette Annabel Smith" writes: >> In the case of the BBC, I am very strongly in favour of this ban to be >> honest because we have to pay a license fee; why should others be able to >> get in through the back door so to speak? > I am a believer of the statement that information wants > to be free. Most countries have put their best faces forward > over short wave radio for almost 90 years at great expense to > their tax-paying citizens. In the overall scheme of things, the > expense is miniscule compared with defense, health care in those > countries smart enough to realize that this is the best way to > do things, but it is still a large sum of money for staff > and transmitting facilities to just fling a signal in to the air > in hopes somebody over seas finds it interesting and useful. > > The ability to listen to another country's broadcasts is > a tremendous educational resource and here is something else. > > OSU, where I work, has had an international outreach > program since 1951 in which we encouraged students from abroad, > many from countries we don't necessarily get along with, to > obtain a student visa and study here. A number of them say that > they used to listen to the Voice of America, BBC Radio > Netherlands and many other Western countries and were curious > about democracy which is why they came here. > > The same holds true for the UK, Germany, Australia and > others. > > If you live in the US, you can certainly listen to the > Voice of America (VOA) on short wave, but American citizens do > not get VOA on their local radios or televisions because the > charter of the VOA which is run by the US Information Agency > specifically forbids American citizens from taking any part in > VOA contests or other activities. This was done many decades ago > to prevent "the government" from broadcasting to the American > people. In other words, our tax Dollars go to fund something we > can't even use which I am sure makes lots of people here angry, > but it is a very cheap form of defense. > > For every terrorist out there foaming at the mouth and > piecing his bomb together, there are probably a hundred people > listening to and now watching VOA or BBC programs and saying to > themselves or even others, "Hey! This is pretty nice. Why isn't > our country more like that instead of like it is?" It's > education and outreach. > > Sure, we can slap locks on everything and put a coin > slot on everything else, but what kind of world does this build? > > Canada has a duel broadcasting system much like the UK > in which there is the CBC (Exactly along the same lines as BBC > (except for a letter)) and privately-owned broadcast stations > with all the screaming ads. There is no television or radio > license fee in Canada. The government gets the money from > general taxes. > > I don't resent people out in the world listening to VOA > for free, because I listen to the BBC and many others for free. > It all kind of comes out in the wash. > > There are a lot of things our government does with my > money that really stick in my craw, but broadcasting to the > world and showing us, warts and all, is a cheap way to forestall > hatred and misunderstanding. > > ======================================= > > The Techno-Chat E-Mail forum is guaranteed malware, spyware, Trojan, virus > and worm-free > > To modify your subscription options, please visit for forum's dedicated web > pages located at > http://mail.tft-bbs.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/techno-chat > > You can find an archive of all messages posted to the Techno-Chat group at > either of the following websites: > > http://mail.tft-bbs.co.uk/pipermail/techno-chat/index.html > > Or: > <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]> > you may also subscribe to this list via RSS. The feed is at: > <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.xml> > > --------------------------------------- -- Dane Trethowan >From Melton Victoria Australia skype callto:grtdane12 MSN: [email protected] ======================================= The Techno-Chat E-Mail forum is guaranteed malware, spyware, Trojan, virus and worm-free To modify your subscription options, please visit for forum's dedicated web pages located at http://mail.tft-bbs.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/techno-chat You can find an archive of all messages posted to the Techno-Chat group at either of the following websites: http://mail.tft-bbs.co.uk/pipermail/techno-chat/index.html Or: <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]> you may also subscribe to this list via RSS. The feed is at: <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.xml> --------------------------------------- ======================================= The Techno-Chat E-Mail forum is guaranteed malware, spyware, Trojan, virus and worm-free To modify your subscription options, please visit for forum's dedicated web pages located at http://mail.tft-bbs.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/techno-chat You can find an archive of all messages posted to the Techno-Chat group at either of the following websites: http://mail.tft-bbs.co.uk/pipermail/techno-chat/index.html Or: <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]> you may also subscribe to this list via RSS. The feed is at: <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.xml> ---------------------------------------
