Editing International broadcasting (section)

== Restricting reception ==
In many cases, governments do not want their citizens listening to international broadcasters. In Nazi Germany, a major propaganda campaign, backed by law and prison sentences, attempted to discourage Germans from listening to such stations. The practice was made illegal in 1939.<ref name="Hughes and Mann 2002: 93">Hughes and Mann 2002: 93</ref> In addition, the German government sold a cheap, {{Reichsmark|76|link=yes}} [[Volksempfänger|"People's Receiver"]], as well as an even cheaper {{Reichsmark|35}} receiver,<ref name="Hughes and Mann 2002: 93"/> that could not pick up distant signals well.<ref name="Graef 2005: 36">Graef 2005: 36</ref>

The idea was copied by Stalin's Soviet Union, which had a nearly identical copy manufactured in the Tesla factory in Czechoslovakia.<ref name="Graef 2005: 36"/>
In North Korea, all receivers are sold with fixed frequencies, tuned to [[List of radio stations in North Korea|local stations]].

The most common method of preventing reception is [[radio jamming|jamming]], or broadcasting a signal on the same frequencies as the international broadcaster. Germany jammed the BBC European service during the Second World War. Russian and Eastern European jammers were aimed against [[Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty|Radio Free Europe]], other Western broadcasters, and against Chinese broadcasters during the nadir of Sino-Soviet relations. In 2002, the Cuban government jammed the [[Voice of America]]'s [[Radio y Televisión Martí|Radio Martí]] program and the Chinese government jammed [[Radio Free Asia]], [[Voice of America]], [[Radio Taiwan International]] as well broadcasts made by adherents of [[Falun Gong]].{{Citation needed|date=July 2024}}

North Korea restricts most people to a single fixed frequency mediumwave receiver; those who met political requirements and whose work absolutely required familiarity with events abroad were allowed shortwave receivers.<ref>Martin 2006: 495</ref> Another method of reaching people with government radio programming, but not foreign programming, is the use of radio broadcasting by direct broadcasting to loudspeakers.<ref>Goetz, Philip W. ''The New Encyclopædia Britannica'', 1991 edition, {{ISBN|0-85229-400-X}}, p 315</ref>
David Jackson, director of the Voice of America, noted "The North Korean government doesn't jam us, but they try to keep people from listening through intimidation or worse. But people figure out ways to listen despite the odds. They're very resourceful."<ref>Jackson, David. "The Future of Radio II". ''World Radio TV Handbook'', 2007 edition. 2007, Billboard Books. {{ISBN|0-8230-5997-9}}. p 38.</ref>

Yet another method of preventing reception involves moving a domestic station to the frequency used by the international broadcaster. During the Batista government of Cuba, and during the Castro years, Cuban medium-wave stations broadcast on the frequencies of popular South Florida stations. In October 2002, Iraq changed frequencies of two stations to block the Voice of America's [[Radio Sawa]] program.{{Citation needed|date=July 2024}}

Jamming can be defeated by using very efficient transmitting antennas, carefully choosing the transmitted frequency, changing transmitted frequency often, using [[Single-sideband modulation|single sideband]], and properly aiming the receiving antenna.{{Citation needed|date=July 2024}}