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The Documentary; Revolutionary Radio

The Documentary: Revolutionary Radio

Religion & Ethics

17/11/2012

Revolutionary Radio

BBC World Service - The Documentary, Revolutionary Radio

Fi Glover investigates why radio has been a potent political force in revolutions.

A revolutionary General in Nicaragua asks what is more dangerous in the hands of the public, guns or microphones? Fi Glover investigates how for 90 years, radio has been a potent political force in revolutions.

Over the past 90 years radio has proven itself a powerful political force, not just reporting on changes of government, but sending out a call to arms during some of the biggest revolutionary uprisings of the 20th Century. These events track radio's evolution, from its rise as an exciting new technology used by the Bolsheviks to demonstrate their modernity, to its reported demise amid the social media buzz of the Arab Spring.

Fi Glover speaks to those who participated in these events, as well as people who stood by their radios listening during extraordinary times.

In May 1945, in Prague, William Greig calls for American assistance amid Nazi machine gun fire. In Greece, Antonia Moropoulou recalls Junta Military Police playing her student radio broadcasts during her incarceration in 1976, and in Serbia Dusan Masic describes reading the news to the masses protesting below from the window of B92 radio during a government shutdown. Together they tell the story of how radio became such a revolutionary medium.

Produced by Kate Lamble, Loftus Productions

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