From International Shortwave to Digital Rebroadcast

Abstract

Radio is the new medium of the 20th century, reinvented over again as new information and communication technologies emerge. Recordings of radio programs, whose value derives from their rarity, uniqueness, and visceral sensory power, are a surprisingly common component of audiovisual archives. Private collectors, national and international broadcasting companies, and community archivists are assembling sizable collections that now have varying degrees of access. When transformed digitally and delivered in new formats and on new platforms, recordings of radio programs have the potential to reshape our understanding of audio [intangible] cultural property in settings where the boundary-spanning nature of information and communication technologies (ICTs) confront the new realities of post colonialism. This article contextualizes an innovative effort to transform and deliver digitally a forty-year run of radio programs broadcast to the African continent by the Voice of America. The article positions the radio program—Music Time in Africa—in the context of international radio in sub-Saharan Africa and summarize the insights of three research literatures that inform approaches to providing access to musical heritage resources recorded under a wide variety of circumstances. The article concludes with a discussion of pro-active archiving through digital “rebroadcasting” as one possible strategy for overcoming the near universal restrictions on online access.