NEW STATION ON SHORTWAVE

MIZZIMA RADIO

A new clandestine station began broadcasts on shortwave around January 1. The station is called Mizzima Radio and is on the air on a daily basis via the Encompass DM transmitter at Dhabayya, United Arab Emirates. Here is my logbook note from yesterday, January 11:

17730   U.A.E. Mizzima Radio - Dhabayya. S/on 1159 with introductory music, a clear ID and welcoming anncts in Burmese at 1200, news at 1202. Music at 1216 to introduce a commentary program. Good signal except for some slight carrier hum, Jan 11.

However, the organisation behind Mizzima Radio is not new! 

It has been in existence since 1998, founded by veteran journalists of Myanmar's 1988 pro-democracy uprising. It has separate websites in Burmese and English, a free-to-air TV channel, a YouTube channel, satellite broadcasting, smartphone apps, social media presence, and a publications unit.

I find it fascinating that an organisation boasting multi-media platforms should choose to utilise an "old school" medium such as shortwave radio! Although the company began life in India as an exiled media organisation, it was registered in 2012 in Myanmar as the Mizzima Media Co. Ltd. A June 29, 2021 report on the company's website indicates that although it still operates inside Myanmar, there are clearly difficulties in carrying on its day-to-day business. Quoting from that report:

We in Myanmar are facing many challenges since the 1 February military coup owing to the brutal crackdown against both us as individuals and as an organization, Mizzima Media. Following the coup, it became quite simply a question of life or death for us as to whether we want to continue our profession and pursuit of independent media for the people of Myanmar.

Our offices in Myanmar have been ransacked by the military. Meanwhile, some members of Mizzima are currently under detention, even subjected to torture; while many more of us face certain jail time – or worse – should junta forces manage to arrest us or attack our locations.

However, this is not the first time that we are faced with such challenges. We operated as an exile media company based out of India and Thailand for 15 years prior to 2012 – a period of time that saw Mizzima labeled an enemy of the state.

We, therefore, have considerable experience in conducting our work clandestinely and circumventing attempts by the military authorities to obstruct our work. And today we also benefit from technological advancements and modern equipment.

So, to counter the pushbacks we are experiencing, we must first use various media platforms including satellite broadcasting and social media platforms to continue our daily work. Even if the military junta tries to shut down one or more platforms, we still have other media platforms we can employ to report, publish and broadcast to the people. Again, we were well prepared for this eventuality owing to the multi-media nature of our organization prior to the coup. And we make use of the various platforms to tell people how they can find us too.

Second, we station ourselves in different locations inside and outside the country so that even if one station or one area is attacked by the regime, we can continue our work from other locations.

Continue reading......

Clearly, Mizzima Media is having trouble functioning inside Myanmar due to the military government's interference. It would seem it has chosen shortwave radio as another platform to independently inform citizens inside the country of news events. It will be interesting to see how long Mizzima Radio remains on shortwave and if its services will be expanded over time.

73 and good DX to you all,

Rob Wagner VK3BVW

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