I’m going to date myself here — but stay with me. It’s a good one.
My first duty station was in northern Scotland, toward the end of the Cold War. The U.S. Naval Communications Station there served as a strategic post near what was then the Soviet Union. This was an era before the internet — when international phone calls were costly, and “real-time news” meant listening to a radio, not refreshing a feed.
So, I bought a shortwave radio.
Unlike local AM or FM broadcasts that fade beyond a city or region, shortwave signals can travel thousands of miles, bouncing off the Earth’s ionosphere to reach across continents and oceans. That global reach made it a powerful tool for connecting — and influencing — listeners worldwide.
Back then, nearly every major nation broadcast shortwave transmissions designed to reach distant audiences. Using directional antennas, they focused their content toward specific regions — both to inform and, at times, to persuade. The U.S. had Voice of America (VOA), the BBC World Service delivered its trusted journalism, and Radio Free Europe targeted audiences behind the Iron Curtain.
And on the other side of the dial? Radio Moscow — the official voice of the Soviet Union. It offered polished English-language programming presenting the USSR’s perspective on world events, often in sharp contrast to Western broadcasts.
Of course, not every message got through. The USSR routinely jammed Western transmissions, flooding the airwaves with noise or pulsing tones to drown out programs like VOA or the BBC — a primitive but effective form of information warfare. Controlling what citizens heard was as critical as any weapon in the Cold War.
When Iraq invaded Kuwait, I remember tuning in to hear how different nations framed the same event. Each had its own narrative — its own “truth.” It was an early lesson in how perspective, policy, and perception shape information.
Tuning in took some skill: lower frequencies worked better at night, higher during the day. Sometimes, the signal meant for another region came through clearer — a reminder that truth doesn’t always come through the loudest channel.
That experience taught me something that still applies today:
Whether it’s a shortwave signal or a digital feed, understanding the source, the intent, and the bias behind information is essential.
In many ways, those shortwave radios were the analog version of cybersecurity — scanning signals, filtering interference, and separating fact from fiction.