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DÉCOUVERTES
Radio
14:06
CULTURE
ENJEUX
2/05/11
SOCIÉTÉ
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Born of pirate radio, seeking
a spot on British dial
CANAL HISTORIQUE. L’histoire de la radio pirate britannique Caroline a été retracée en 2009 dans Good Morning England,
un film au succès retentissant. Voilà maintenant que cet espace de liberté musicale qui connut son heure de gloire dans les
années 1960 outre-Manche réclame aux autorités une fréquence légale sur ondes moyennes! A l’heure de la diffusion globale sur internet, c’est plutôt surprenant !
THE NEW YORK TIMES
Born of pirate radio,
seeking a spot on British dial
Ancienne radio pirate
britannique cherche fréquence légale
to take, took, taken to the air être diffusé,
retransmis, émettre / makeshift de fortune
/ offshore en mer, au large / shipwreck naufrage / decade décennie / cast ensemble,
groupe / volunteer volontaire/bénévole /
global mondial.
2. reach portée, couverture / to reward
récompenser / AM radio procédé de radiodiffusion à partir d'émetteurs utilisant la
modulation d'amplitude.
3. against the flow à contre-courant / mainstream classique, conventionnel / to make,
made, made one’s bones (on) faire sa réputation, gagner ses galons (sur, avec).
4. former ancien / arch-nemesis ennemi de
toujours, principal ennemi, ennemi par excellence.
5. nationwide national / push ici campagne
/ broadcasting diffusion, retransmission / to
advertise faire de la publicité pour, ici rechercher par voie d’annonce, proposer / medium
wave onde moyenne / broadcaster société
de diffusion, station de radio / to embrace
embrasser, adopter / slot créneau / to secure
obtenir.
7. to draft rédiger.
24 • VOCABLE Du 12 au 25 mai 2011
BY JENNIFER MASCIA
ince first taking to the air from a
makeshift studio on an offshore ship
in 1964, Radio Caroline has endured
government raids, shipwrecks and a decade
of radio silence before finding a land-based
studio in the southeastern county of Kent.
From there, a cast of volunteer disc jockeys
has transmitted album-oriented rock to a
global audience over satellite radio and the
Internet since 1999.
2. But to station management, that global
reach isn’t enough. In an age when many prefer to listen to music over the Web or by satellite, Radio Caroline would like to be rewarded for its contribution to British popular
culture in the most modest of ways: an AM
radio designation in the southeast of England, where it was conceived.
S
Against the flow
3. It’s a rather mainstream move for a
station that made its bones on rebellion. And
just as in Radio Caroline’s early days, the
British government is not enthusiastic.
4. “ ‘No, you can’t have it because we say
you can’t have it,’ and when you ask why,
there is no ‘why,’ ” said Bob Lawrence, development coordinator at the station and father of the AM radio campaign, characterizing what he says is the attitude of Ofcom,
the British communications authority, toward its former arch-nemesis.
5. In December 2006, as part of a nationwide
push for digital broadcasting, the authority
announced it would no longer advertise com-
mercial licenses for medium-wave radio. As
a result, many broadcasters abandoned AM
and embraced the digital format. That leaves
empty slots on the AM spectrum, one of
which Radio Caroline is trying to secure.
6. “We believe we should be treated as a special case because of our longevity, and because of what we’ve given to music history,”
said Lawrence, 50, who joined the station in
1978, when he was 18.
A petition
7. Last June, he drafted letters to 168
members of Parliament representing districts
in the southeast, imploring them to support
1967
The Marine Broadcasting Offences Act became
law in the United Kingdom at 12 midnight on
Monday, August 14, 1967 and was repealed by
the Wireless Telegraphy Act 2006. Its purpose
was to extend the powers of the British Wireless Telegraphy Act of 1949 (which it incorporated by reference), beyond the territorial land
mass and territorial waters of the UK to cover
airspace and bodies of water. The Act included
the Channel Islands and extended to the Isle of
Man. As a result, offshore stations called pirate
radios became criminal if operated or assisted
by persons subject to UK law. Station operators
thought they could continue if they were staffed,
supplied and funded by non-British citizens, but
this proved impractical.
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i
Bob Lawrence, development coordinator
at Radio Caroline and father of the AM
radio campaign, at the station in Kent.
(ANDREW TESTA/THE NEW YORK TIMES)
the station’s request for one of several littleused AM frequencies owned by foreign governments. Sixty-five members of Parliament
responded. Tracey Crouch was the first.
8. “Radio was always around in my youth,”
said Crouch, a 35-year-old Conservative M.P.
who represents Chatham and Aylesford. But
nostalgia isn’t why she drafted a motion in
Parliament in December to get the station
back on the air.
It’s a rather mainstream
move for a station that made
its bones on rebellion.
9. “I just think that people should have a
choice about where and when they can listen to their favorite music station, and technology shouldn’t be a barrier to listening,”
she said. Radio Caroline is also deeply embedded in the cultural heritage of her district. “It’s something the southeast is very
proud of,” she said.
History
10. The station was created in the spring
of 1964 by Ronan O’Rahilly, a music promoter who couldn’t get his acts played on
conventional radio because of the dominance
of powerful record labels, which were said
to engage in payola. So O’Rahilly commandeered a former Danish passenger ferry and
anchored it a few miles off the coast, just out
of the reach of the British government.
11. He named his station in honor of Caroline Kennedy after viewing photos from the
Kennedy administration. The British station
with the American name soon became recognized as a symbol of rebellion the world
over. At the movement’s peak, two dozen pirate radio stations reached a daily audience
of 15 million.
12. The government immediately began trying to quash the movement, instigating a
long period of animosity between pirate and
government-sanctioned radio. The Marine
Broadcasting Offenses Act of 1967 expanded
the government’s reach to territorial waters,
effectively outlawing pirate radio. Except for
Radio Caroline, all offshore stations closed.
What now?
13. In an email message, Rhys Hurd, a
spokesman for Ofcom, said that 648 kilohertz, which was recently give up by the BBC
World Service, was available, but that “even
if we did advertise the frequency for use
within the U.K., either at a local or national
level, there can be no guarantee that Radio
Caroline would win the license. We would
judge applications on their merits and their
merits alone,” he wrote.
14. Crouch, referring to Ofcom, said, “I think
they’re just being a bit stubborn. They want
everyone to move off these analog stations
and onto these digital platforms. But not
everyone has that digital capability, and you
can’t get that technology in your car.”
15. Another supporter in Parliament, Teresa
Pearce, a Labour M.P. who represents Erith
and Thamesmead, was involved in a letterwriting campaign in 1967 to keep Radio Caroline on the air after a government ban, her
first foray into politics, at the age of 12.
16. “Without Radio Caroline, we wouldn’t
have the variety of music we have today,”
she said. “I think we owe them something
for having changed the face of radio.” ●
8. youth jeunesse / M.P.= member of Parliament député.
9. deeply profondément / to embed ancrer,
enraciner / heritage patrimoine historique,
culturel / proud fier.
10. act artiste/groupe / record label maison
de disques / payola (US) (fam.) pots-de-vin,
dessous-de-table / to commandeer réquisitionner / Danish danois / to anchor ancrer /
out of the reach hors de portée.
11. peak apogée.
12. to quash étouffer, réprimer / to instigate
susciter, donner lieu à / to sanction approuver, autoriser / to expand étendre, élargir /
effectively réellement, effectivement, concrètement / to outlaw déclarer illégal, interdire.
13. spokesman porte-parole / to give, gave,
given up abandonner / available disponible
/ application candidature, demande.
14. stubborn obstiné, têtu / to move off quitter.
15. ban interdiction / foray incursion.
16. to owe devoir.
1967
broadcasting (radio)diffusion / to repeal
annuler, abroger / purpose but / beyond audelà de / to staff pourvoir en personnel / to
supply équiper, approvisionner, ravitailler /
to fund financer / impractical irréaliste.
Bob Lawrence, notre invité, fut un des
premiers disc-jockeys sur Radio Caroline.
Depuis sa plus tendre enfance il rêvait de
travailler pour cette radio pirate, et son
rêve s’est réalisé. Aujourd’hui il y travaille
toujours et se bat pour que celle-ci puisse émettre sur la
bande AM.
Du 12 au 25 mai 2011 VOCABLE • 25