Page - 43 - in Mobile Culture Studies - The Journal, Volume 3/2017

Mobile Culture Studies. The Journal 3 2o17 Patricia Jäggi | Cosmopolitan Noises 43 In one reportage-style broadcast, the reporter himself tries out different kinds of dangerous mountain sports, such as bob sledding, delta flying, and trick skiing. With a sound recorder in his pocket he recorded all his adventurous trials. These recordings were later assembled to create a fun programme for young listeners with easy commentary and pop music (Dickson 1975). This interest in documenting and broadcasting Swissness through alpine sensations started no later than 1950. In a record-breaking broadcast directly from the Matterhorn, the Swiss fasci- nated many listeners by making a double transmission: one from the summit to the valley by an ultra shortwave transmitter; the second a live international shortwave broadcast of the talks between Switzerland and overseas (Adank 1950). Reporters from France, England, and the United States were in Zermatt to talk with the guides and technicians on top. Only one record- ing was made in Zermatt, which shows a somehow particularly difficult reception quality. This programme from the Matterhorn received hundreds of letters and was the subject of numerous newspaper articles. It can be seen as the beginning of the inclusion of outdoor sounds for the making of Swiss atmospheres, a trend that can be traced until the mentioned touristic feature programme from 1975. Image 3: The reporter Jaime Ortega from the Spanish service in the Amazon carrying a compa- ratively light cassette audio recorder (Credit: swissinfo.ch, 1983)