This article in Radio World makes the case that shortwave radio is still vitally important, especially in countries where the Internet is often blocked for political reasons. He believes instead of shutting so many stations down, nations should be resurrecting the medium to get the truth out to places where information is tightly controlled, like China, North Korea and Iran. 

But he notes it doesn't have to be voice. He insists instead that text may be the future of SW, if only radio manufacturers can adjust to the new technical realities of the medium. 

This is a great sentiment and I used to love to tool around the various bands. I still have shortwave on my Sangean portable, but rarely listen to it, because there's not much there to hear. I would love to see a renaissance, but I think this guy is way too optimistic. Even if oppressed people wanted to hear a new kind of text and voice-based SW, how would they get access to the radios?

I'm not even sure how you get that text decoded at this point.

Anyway, for fans of that band, it's an interesting read. 

Why We Need “Shortwave 2.0”