Mailbox
Today in Mailbox: Radio Prague's 75th anniversary, Czech officials' response to the Prague Pride gay and lesbian festival, problems with receiving Radio Prague e-news. Listeners/readers quoted: Karin Roos, Frank Miata, Karl G. Smith, Colin Law, Matt and Amy Smith, Bill Bergadano, Siegfried Rambaum.
Preparations for our celebration on August 31st are well underway. A special news conference on the current state of international broadcasting will be held here in the Czech Radio building where an exhibit on the 75 Years of Radio Prague will be on display. On August 31st a Czech Radio tent will be set up in the Prague city centre where staff will distribute Radio Prague promotional materials and there will also be live broadcasts from the tent.
Those of you who tune in to the Radio Prague broadcast on August 31st will receive a special, stamped QSL card. We will be looking forward to your reception reports!
Now onto your e-mails. Last weekend’s Prague Pride gay and lesbian march sparked controversy among Czech officials and some of our listeners reacted to their statements. Karin Roos who has dual Czech and US citizenship commented on the fact that Prague's mayor Bohuslav Svoboda had refused a call from Prague Archbishop Dominik Duka to withdraw his support for the festival.
Frank Miata from New York City is a former Prague resident:
“I was shocked to read about Petr Hájek's comments concerning the Gay and Lesbian Festival in Prague. We have an expression in America, ‘People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.’ The views of mister Hájek's boss on climate change most certainly could be called deviant, odd or strange. Hájek seems to have missed the reason for the city's tolerant welcome of this festival... commerce. If there is a deviant mind at work, Petr should look in the mirror.”
Karl G. Smith from Iceland responded to an older Radio Prague story:
“Thanks for your Josef Lada article! I’ve always loved his beautiful paintings; Bohemian peasants, Christmas etc... I’m sorry, Lada is not well known here, I wish our television would represent him and his work!”
Colin Law from New Zealand experienced a technical problem with our e-mail news service:
“I'm writing to tell you – in case you don't already know about it. There seems to be a problem with your mail system. At the time of writing (GMT 4.04 am) I have not yet received your ‘News’ email that would normally have arrived here about 9 hours ago. Examination of the headers in delivery of News 8 August and of Radio Prague Today 9 August suggests that the emails are getting stuck in your file servers.”
Thank you very much for alerting us to the problem and we apologize for the inconvenience.
Matt and Amy Smith, on the other hand, asked to be removed from Radio Prague’s e-news mailing list:
“It’s a pity that the right of free speech isn’t based on the obligation to say something sensible.”
Do you share their view or do you have a different opinion of Radio Prague’s broadcasts? Please let us know, we rely on your feedback to make our programmes better.
In a similar tone, Bill Bergadano dropped us this note:
“So how is he internet radio thing going? I just was wondering – since you made the very myopic choice to go to web and satellite delivered content, have you gotten 100 listeners yet?”
First, let me repeat that it was not Radio Prague’s idea to discontinue shortwave broadcasts, but rather a result of the current economic reality. Judging from the ceaseless flow of e-mails as well as the ever-growing crowd of Radio Prague fans on Facebook, our audience definitely exceeds one hundred. And here is a comment on the subject by Siegried Rambaum who left it on our Facebook page:
Do you follow Radio Prague? Do you enjoy our broadcasts? Is there something you miss in our programmes? Please let us know, we appreciate your feedback. And if you include a correct answer to our monthly quiz in your e-mail, you may even win a Radio Prague goodie bag.
In August we are looking for the name of a Mexican film actress who was born in 1926 in Prague and died in Mexico City only 29 years later.
Please send us her name by the end of August to [email protected]. Any questions and comments are welcome. Make sure to tune in on August 31st for the special 75th anniversary broadcast. Your reception reports will be rewarded by special QSL cards. Mailbox will be back on September 3rd. Until then, take care.
