Development of Radio in Africa

Development of Radio in Africa Melissa Paddock Topic: The development of radio in African countries, including South Africa In this academic assignment I will be describing the historical background and development of radio in Africa as well as in South Africa. I will also provide information about the present situation of radio today in Africa and South Africa. Radio was first broadcasted in South Africa in 1924. There has been three different phases that have occurred since the development of radio in Africa and South Africa. The first phase is the historical beginning of radio on the African continent. These were the first stages of development which would lead radio to become a mass media in the future. Radio was started in Africa when the European, British, Belgium, French, Portuguese, Spanish and Italian settlers arrived on the African continent and started to take control of the different countries. This was known as the Colonial period. These settlers started radio broadcasting to fulfil their own personal needs and interests. Only at a much later stage did the colonisers introduce radio services for the local and indigenous people of Africa. (http://www.transculturalwriting.com/radiophonics/contents/usr/downloads/radiophonics/A_Brief_History.pdf; accessed on 27 February 2014) The second phase in radio broadcasting now started with the development of the radio in South Africa and Africa after the colonial period. â€Å"The domestic broadcasting systems of all European powers were at this time stare (not government necessarily) monopolies such as the British independent public service model of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) or the French government radio stations. The Portuguese permitted some private broadcasting by colonial settlers in their colonies, but the main picture was one of national state monopolies† (http://www.transculturalwriting.com/radiophonics/contents/usr/downloads/radiophonics/A_Brief_History.pdf; accessed on 27 February 2014). Some of the first broadcasts on the African continent took place in South Africa. In Johannesburg (the Association of Scientific and Technical Services), Durban (Durban Corporation) and Cape Town (the Cape Peninsula Publicity Association), the radio stations were given licences to broadcast. These three radio stations started their broadcasting in 1924 but very soon after their establishment they all found themselves in debt. This is when the government decided that a commercial option would not provide the service that they required and wanted. In 1927 a man named I.W.Schlesinger, an insurance entrepreneur that purchased the three failing radio stations, decided to connect the three stations together into one network and called it the African Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). But in 1929 the ABC fall into a shortfall situation owing to several implications such as poor landline connections, high costs of programme production and because of the difficulty enforcing the licence payments . The ABC eventually reversed its financial position and within a couple years they were able to carry out capital improvements, this was all because of the schemes that that had implemented. The main audience at this stage were elite English speaking people. Most of the radio’s shows were broadcasted in English, which showed the development of the inequality of the languages used in broadcasting. Afrikaans was domination in the rural areas. In 1931, the ABC then changed its policies as they introduced a 30minute segment done in Afrikaans, and then in 1936 they had changed the 30minute segment to a 90minute one. There was no broadcasting done in any African language. John Reith, Director General of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), was invited to South Africa in 1934 where he recommended a new form of broadcasting for the country. (Teer-Tomaselli de Villiers 2014: 153 154) In 1936 The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) was established. Very soon after the establishment of the SABC, they began to move away from the structure and way of broadcasting that was done by the BBC. There were issues with the unequal use of different languages. In June 1938 the first broadcast quality carrier link was set up between Grahamstown and Johannesburg. In 1939 a short wave receiving station was established near Panorama outside Pretoria. The main issue with the radio broadcasting was that there was dominantly English being spoken and only in 1939 did the radio start to bring in Afrikaans. The radio never catered for the black native people as there was no mention of African languages during broadcasting. In 1948 the National Party came into power in South Africa and they and the Afrikaner Broederbond acquired more domination in broadcasting. In 1950 the SABC introduced their first commercial radio station known as Springbok Radio. Springbok Radio’s pr ogramming was aimed at the white English speaking people. Only after 1943 did they start broadcasting their programmes in Afrikaans as well. It was only in the 1960’s that they started broadcasting in African languages to cater for the black native people who listened to the radio. This was when Radio Bantu was developed during the Apartheid era, this allowed the black people to keep up to date with the political issues in South Africa. The radio stations now started to use VHF (Very High Frequency) and FM signals and networks. There was now an establishment of many African languages used in the broadcasting of programmes and music on the radio. From 1980 till 1984 there was the introduction of independent commercial radio stations such as Capital Radio, Radio 702 and Radio5. At the beginning of 1996 there were 22 radio stations in South Africa, out of those 22 stations 11 of them were broadcasted in the official African languages. Some new radio stations that were introduced were SAfm, KFM and Radio Lotus. This was the development of radio broadcasting in South Africa. (Teer-Tomaselli de Villiers 2014: 160 162) Radio development in the rest of Africa happened as follows: â€Å"in 1927 in Kenya, in 1932 in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), in 1933 in Mozambique, and in 1935 in the French Congo. The earliest radio in British West Africa was not broadcast by wireless transmission but via wired services-subscribers had loudspeakers installed in their homes to receive the service. This was how broadcasting began in Siena Leone in 1934, Gold Coast (now Ghana) in 1935, and Nigeria in 1936. Unlike the wireless services in Britains other colonies, these were created with native African listeners in mind. Then in 1936 the British colonial administration decided to develop radio broadcasting throughout its African colonies as a public service for native people. In Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia), World War II provided an incentive with major consequences for the development of radio in that territory. A small radio station was established principally with the objective of carrying news (in African lan guages) of the wars progress to the Families of Soldiers fighting with the British forces in Africa and Asia. Radio also developed rapidly in other parts of Africa due to the war† ((http://www.transculturalwriting.com/radiophonics/contents/usr/downloads/radiophonics/A_Brief_History.pdf; accessed on 27 February 2014).). These radio stations after the war were now focused on educating, informing and entertaining the African listeners. These radio stations had very little independence as the government had strict control over them, only from the 1960’s and onwards did they start gaining their independence. These radio services relied on shortwave connections to be able to reach distant places. The situation of radio today is still very important. Most people in Africa and South Africa have access to a radio where they can be constantly updated, informed and entertained 24/7. Radio has played as a major nation building feature in Africa. Direct broadcasting by satellite was started in the early 21st century. Radio is still a dominant mass medium throughout the African continent. Every country in Africa has at least one radio station. Radio’s now days are more technologically advanced and have much better network signals that allow for longer distance connectivity to that radio station. We can now even listen to the radio on our phones which allows for mobile and portable connectivity. More and more people now have access to radios as they are inexpensive. People in the rural areas now have access to radios which allows them to be kept informed by the news every day. Radios are an important feature in people’s everyday lives. Everyday new inventions and creativ e innovations are being formed in order to keep continuously developing the radio into an advanced electronic mass medium. To conclude, radio was first developed to satisfy the needs, wants and desires of the settlers that colonised the African continent. It went through a stage of racial discrimination where no African language was used, as well as minimal usage of the Afrikaans language, in the broadcasting of the radio channel. Later when languages became equal and more channels were developed in order to accompany for all races, cultures and languages. Eventually radio had been developed throughout the African continent and most people had easy access to it. Now the radio is used to inform, educate and entertain its viewers. Radio is now one of the most important forms of mass media because every person has access or owns a radio. Radio will forever live on and will never stop developing. References Mytton, G. Date unknown. A Brief History of Radio Broadcasting in Africa. http://www.transculturalwriting.com/radiophonics/contents/usr/downloads/radiophonics/A_Brief_History.pdf; accessed on 27 February 2014. Teer-Tomaselli, R. de Villiers, C. 2014. Radio: Theatre of the Mind.

PPL Corporation v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue

I chose this court case because the decision will have effects on many businesses in the United States who own foreign companies. A holding for the Commissioner of Internal Revenue may subject taxpayers in PPL’s position to double taxation. However, a holding for PPL threatens to undermine the consistency and uniformity of the U. S. tax code as well as curtailing the power of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue to interpret the law. The main issue in the case is whether or not a U. S. company receives a U. S. tax credit for paying the United Kingdom’s windfall tax. Along with the issue comes the question on whether or not the courts should employ a formalistic approach that looks solely at the form of the foreign tax statue and ignores how the tax actually operates, or should employ a substance based approach that considers factors such as the practical operation and intended effect of the foreign tax. Section 901 of the Internal Revenue Code allows U. S. Corporations a tax credit for income, war profits, and excess profits taxes paid to another country to avoid double taxation. This case involves the application of section 901 to a â€Å"winfall tax† (a one-time twenty three percent tax imposed by the United Kingdom on privatized companies). Petitioner PPL Corporation is an energy company in Allentown, Pennsylvania that provides electricity and natural gas to consumers in the United States and the United Kingdom. PPL Corporation owned a 25% share in South Western Electricity Board that the Government privatized in the 1980’s. In 1997, the U. K. Government imposed a windfall tax on companies based on the difference between a company’s value and the â€Å"flotation value†, or the amount at which the U. K. Government sold the company. After paying the tax, PPL then filed a tax claim with the IRS asserting PPL was eligible for a foreign tax credit under section 901 of the Internal Revenue Code. After being denied by the IRS in 2007, PPL argued that the windfall tax targets income and that the calculation of the tax involves the value of the company’s net gain. The Commissioner denied these laims however, stating that the tax is not a tax on income but rather a tax on the value of a company. The Commissioner adds that the calculation of the tax measures the ability of a company to generate income. The decision on the petition filed by PPL in the United States Tax Court was that PPL was entitled to a foreign tax credit because the windfall tax was essentially a tax on excess profits and this fell within the requirements of section 901. The Commissioner then appealed the decision to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. There, the decision was reversed in favor of the Commissioner holding that the windfall tax did not entitle PPL to a foreign tax credit because the tax was a tax not solely on South Western Electricity Board’s profits but instead on the difference between its profits and sale value. On July 9, 2012 PPL contested the decision of the Third Circuit and filed a writ of certiorari to the Supreme Court of the United States which was granted review on October 9, 2012. As I stated before, one of more important discussions about this particular case is what approach the courts should take when deciding. PPL argues the Supreme Court should adopt an approach that considers the actual as well as the planned function of the foreign tax, a substance based approach. PPL argues that U. S. tax laws have always looked beyond the label or name of the tax imposed by the foreign country and instead focused on how the tax operates- the substance of the tax. Furthermore, the PPL notes that the Treasury Regulations, section 901-2, suggest that a substance-based approach should be used. The Treasury Regulations state that â€Å"income† includes any income that has already been earned, is revenue based on gross receipts, or is net income. Congress intended, as shown in section 901, that in such situations, the substance of the tax trumps its form because tax law aims to reach the realities of economic transactions and dealings. The Commissioner argues that PPL’s reliance on the substance-based approach incorrectly assumes that any tax that depends on net profits is an income tax. Thus, the Commissioner rejects the substance-based approach and argues that the foreign tax paid by PPL was not an income tax and therefore does not qualify under section 901. The Commissioner argues that the substance of the U. K. windfall is the same as the form or labels that the British tax authorities have provided. The Commissioner stated that the U. K. windfall tax is a tax on the value of a company in relation to how much the U. K. government would receive for the company if it were sold. In response to PPL’s argument on double taxation, the Commissioner believes that because the windfall tax is not an income tax, PPL’s profits are not actually taxed twice. The Supreme Court’s decision in this case will determine whether a windfall tax involving gross receipts and excess profit constitutes the equivalent of a United States income tax and thus is eligible for a foreign tax credit under the Internal Revenue Code. I think PPL has a strong case against the Commissioner and I believe the Supreme Court will rule in the companies favor. I do believe that the windfall taxation on these businesses along with the U. S. taxation would mean double taxation for these companies.

Michio Kaku’s Vision of the Future

Michio Kaku’s Vision of the Future By Artemio Zavala Michio Kaku's speech offered an expansive view of future technologies. His predictions were carefully grounded within the laws of physics and turned out to be quite marvelous. He foresees technologies like â€Å"retinal display† contact lenses that connect directly to the internet, driverless cars, the mixing of real and virtual reality, and software â€Å"robotic doctors† that might replace most people's initial visit to the doctor.Kaku was also optimistic about progress in medicine, biotech and nanotechnology suggesting that we'll have medical â€Å"tricorders† like the ones on Star Trek, miniature nanobots coursing through our veins, and advanced gene therapy. Kaku also believes that computers, artificial intelligence and robots will advance rapidly, even though he foresees a possible slowdown in the rate of improvement as Moore's Law potentially hits a wall. One area where I think Kaku failed to disc uss was how all this will impact culture and the economy.Kaku seems glued to the idea that only technology will change; yet he didn’t talk about how this technology might negatively affect society. If there will be robots that will cook and software that will do the jobs of doctors, and might even become conscious one day, then it seems clear that technology like that would be able to do the jobs of millions of people who sit in offices or work in service industries. Maybe Kaku fails to see the possible impact that his fantastic ideas might have on society? Nevertheless, his ideas were simply astonishing and I truly found his speech to be quite intriguing.

Assess Different Sociological Explanations of Suicide

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