Nothing Nefarious
About a month ago, we shared information about our radio station transmitter and a somewhat unique and important component that needed to be repaired…that’s what explains the fact that some of you south of Interstate 80 have had a harder time receiving KXEL on your radio lately. We’re always on with the app and webstream…but some of us prefer the good old radio.
Repairs were to take place in Baton Rouge, Louisiana…but then that big hurricane hit, and knocked them silly for the better part of two weeks. I’m told we may actually see some progress this week, so hopefully we’ll get a new part to install sooner than later. We appreciate your sticking with us.
I’ve really been struck, however, by the number of you who say you can’t get the station and wonder if it’s a government plot to stifle speech, particularly by the conservative national program hosts you hear. I’ve received similar complaints before, when a satellite issue knocks a program off the air, and a listener is trying to read something nefarious into it. I’ve typically sort of dismissed those concerns.
But given how the formerly-mainstream media has acted in the past two years in particular, silencing voices it doesn’t agree with…not the mention the outright ban of elected officials on social media…well, I completely understand why you might wonder if our silence on your radio is due to what folks on the radio station are saying.
And that fact alone is troubling…it wasn’t long ago that if you heard static or silence, you presumed correctly it was a technical issue. Now…you have cause to wonder. And that’s frightening, that we the people fear official censorship in America.
So to those who have asked…yes, the signal is temporarily different due solely to technical issues. At least this time. And I hope there never is another reason for it.
