On the top floor of an old brick building in the heart of Berlin, a group of journalists and tech enthusiasts are working to spur the Syrian media revolution.
On the top floor of an old brick building in the heart of Berlin, a group of journalists and tech enthusiasts are working to spur the Syrian media revolution.
Their weapon is an unassuming black case the size of a shoebox that allows opposition radio stations in Syria to transmit inside hostile territory.
Dubbed PocketFM, the device is basically a low-powered radio transmitter. Coupled with a satellite dish to receive new programmes, a car battery for power and a one-meter antenna it can broadcast FM radio within a five-km radius.
That’s enough to cover a town, or a city district, said Philipp Hochleichter, who oversees development of the device for the Berlin-based non-profit organisation Media in Cooperation and Transition.
The group has been training journalists in conflict zones for more than a decade and often relies on FM radio to reach populations in far-flung areas that don’t have access to the Internet or smartphones. But when the group realised that shifting front lines and the brutal treatment of journalists meant operating large broadcast antenna could become too cumbersome or risky, it developed PocketFM.
It’s now being used to covertly broadcast in nine locations, including two that are controlled by the Islamic State group, said Hochleichter. Connected to a solar panel, a PocketFM transmitter can theoretically work autonomously for long periods of time.
The project, which also includes compiling a daily best-of from nine cooperating radio stations that is beamed down by satellite, is financed by the German foreign ministry. It cooperates only with moderate Opposition groups who have to abide by a code of conduct.
“Of course it’s necessary for us to make sure they don’t fall into propaganda scheme which is very tough in Syria at the moment,” said Najat Abdulhaq, a Palestinian journalist.
