Australia: ABC Radio Australia jammed in China

RA transmitters in Shepparton Victoria

China is believed to be responsible for the alleged interference with English language radio frequencies for the ABC Radio, AIB and the BBC, however ABC international says, “it is extremely difficult to identify or confirm the source of this interference.”

Such ‘jamming’ makes it almost impossible to listen to the broadcasts that include news, current affairs, science and entertainment.

Research was undertaken by broadcasters and a link was posted on the ABC radio website showing interference to ABC’s short wave service.

In the audio, the Australian signal is heard, but it appears another broadcast is being played simultaneously, making the Radio Australia audio impossible to hear.

This particular interference has affected audiences within China, preventing them from  hearing any other news from outside the country.

Simon Spanswick, chief executive of the Association for International Broadcasting says: “Essentially what you do if you're trying to stop people listening to a program on shortwave is you transmit another audio feed on the same frequency. The aim is to simply make it so uncomfortable to listen to that people switch off and don't bother trying to listen to the program that they wanted to get.”

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott is ‘horrified’ by the Radio Australia jamming and says the Australian Government should ensure its service is available in China: "I don't want domestic censorship and I don't want international censorship...[and] I think it would be a pity if the ABC couldn't be accessed in China," he's told ABC local radio. I think the Australian Government should do whatever it reasonably can to try and ensure that Australian media outlets are reasonably available."

More jamming audio here.

In other actions against free media, access to the Russia Today website arabic.rt.com has been blocked in Libya and as a result 98% of traffic coming from Libya has dropped dramatically. Margarita Simonyan RT’s editor in chief says the station is “addressing the situation in the most urgent manner possible.” The website was rated as the Forbes Middle East top three online TV channels and is an award winning news channel. It was particularly popular in Syria, Lebanon, Kuwait, UAE, Jordan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

Reported for radioinfo by Katerina Plioplis

SOURCE:

www.radioinfo.com.au/news/12254