Radioactive Taiwan

ICRT was the voice of American soft power in Taiwan between 1984, and 1990. Probably no other Western radio station on the planet had such a diverse listenership in terms of age, education and economics. American top 40 host Kasey Casem received dozens of song requests from Taiwan each week as our listeners thought Kasey was an ICRT employee. Kasey made numerous shoutouts to ICRT during his time as host of at 40. ICRT's country music show, their jazz and even classical show was also very popular with Taiwanese. Name another radio station with such a mixture of musical genres in their programming. Taiwan also worked with book publishing and record companies, to help eliminate pirated products. Taiwanese wanted to put an end to their reputation as pirates, and ICRT stepped into that battle and the publishing and record companies followed. ICRT began organizing and implementing extremely beneficial activities that allowed students from schools all across the country to participate, and grab the spotlight. Young Stars was a student music competition where university students had to compose original songs. At the time, Taiwan students needed an outlet, as they struggled with their new found political identity, and personal creativity. ABOUT:  An audio story of how International Community Radio Taipei covered sensitive political topics at a time when Taiwan was still under martial law. ICRT gave a voice to the opposition party and Dangwai movement, ideas that were banned or poorly covered by most of the pro-government media at the time. Find us at www.report.tw

In 1983, Craig Quick was hired as general manager, and he brought a vision of a full-on thriving American radio station to Taiwan, that changed its local listeners' lives. Every employee bought in to Craig's radical radio vision. For a student, listening to ICRT was a must-do thing. ICRT allowed students to have a different favorite song from their parents and to start showing and sharing their own tastes. The result is thousands of Taiwanese were able to immigrate to English-speaking countries because ICRT gave them functional, useful, English. Working at ICRT was a beautiful cross-cultural experience for the non-Taiwanese employees, too, who hailed from all over the world. We share the “Five No's” for Taiwanese consumers, that ICRT helped Western businesses overcome. One by one, ICRT played a role in breaking down these “No's”, and Taiwan became a huge consumer of American goods. ABOUT:  An audio story of how International Community Radio Taipei covered sensitive political topics at a time when Taiwan was still under martial law. ICRT gave a voice to the opposition party and Dangwai movement, ideas that were banned or poorly covered by most of the pro-government media at the time. Find us at www.report.tw

Students Turned To ICRT By The Tens Of Thousands Because ICRT Was Fun, Played Western Music, AND the Dj’s Were Native English Speakers. Students Were No Longer Passive And They Began Changing Taiwan Society. Speaking English Was Increasingly Important And ICRT's 100-Percent English Programming With Entertaining Announcers, Attracted 300,000 Taiwanese Students, Every Afternoon And Evening. ICRT Was A Cultural Classroom, Introducing Little Known Musical Styles, Like Jazz, Classical, Country, and R&B, As Well As Western Humor And Chart Topping Pop Music To Taiwan. ABOUT: An audio story of how International Community Radio Taipei covered sensitive political topics at a time when Taiwan was still under martial law. ICRT gave a voice to the opposition party and Dangwai movement, ideas that were banned or poorly covered by most of the pro-government media at the time. Find us at www.report.tw

When President Jimmy Carter derecognized Taiwan, the American military radio station that broadcast to American soldiers and thousands of Taiwanese had to leave Taiwan. American businessmen demanded that the Taiwan government authorize an English-language radio station … and International Community Radio Taipei (ICRT) was born. ICRT became an active, community minded radio station, that worked with the people of Taiwan, to internationalize the country. Taiwan's youth were experiencing a cultural, economic and political awakening that coincided with ICRT's birth.ABOUT: Radioactive Taiwan is an audio story of how International Community Radio Taipei covered sensitive political topics at a time when Taiwan was still under martial law. ICRT gave a voice to the opposition party and Dangwai movement, ideas that were banned or poorly covered by most of the pro-government media at the time. Find us at www.report.tw