DX LISTENING DIGEST 3-064, April 13, 2003 edited by Glenn Hauser, ghauser@hotmail.com Items from DXLD may be reproduced and re-reproduced only if full credit be maintained at all stages and we be provided exchange copies. DXLD may not be reposted in its entirety without permission. Materials taken from Arctic or originating from Olle Alm and not having a commercial copyright are exempt from all restrictions of noncommercial, noncopyrighted reusage except for full credits HTML version of this issue will be posted later at http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtd3d.html HTML version of late March issues: http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtd3c.html For restrixions and searchable 2003 contents archive see http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldmid.html NOTE: If you are a regular reader of DXLD, and a source of DX news but have not been sending it directly to us, please consider yourself obligated to do so. Thanks, Glenn NEXT AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1177: RFPI: Mon 0030, 0630, 1230, Tue 1900, Wed 0100, 0700, 1300 on 7445 WBCQ: Mon 0445 on 7415 WJIE: M-F 0730 on 7490, 13595 [unconfirmed] WWCR: Wed 0930 9475 WRN ONDEMAND http://new.wrn.org/listeners/stations/station.php?StationID=24 OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO: Check http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html [Low] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1177.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1177.ram [High] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1177h.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1177h.ram (Summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1177.html ** ANGOLA. Not a bad morning here in Victoria. Pouring rain, but mild temperatures. Nice to be sitting around a warm radio! Radio Nacional Angola is my catch of greatest interest this week. 11955.65, 1538- Apr 13, Radio Nacional Angola. Fairly decent signal with Portuguese talk by man and woman. Loud het so use USB mode. Fair bit of splatter from presumed Turkey on 11955.0. Same light banter until TOH. Then time pips x 4, and into news. Could not make out any positive ID. Though one reporter finished his piece with 'Radio Nacional'. Much better reception possible after TOH since 11955 signs off, and so can use AM. A S7 to S9 signal. ID noted at 1605. African vocals when rechecked at 1610 (Walt Salmaniw, Victoria, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. FRIENDS OF ABC TOLD RADIO AUSTRALIA IS SAFE -- 03 Apr 2003 In response to a letter from Friends of the ABC in March, voicing concerns about the combination of Radio Australia with Australia’s overseas TV service, the ABC’s Director of Corporate Affairs has written to Friends president Terry Laidler. The letter says: Thank you for your letter... concerning the operations of ABC International Broadcasting Division. The Managing Director has asked me to respond on his behalf. As you are aware, the establishment of the International Broadcasting Division brings together Radio Australia and ABC Asia Pacific under a single management structure. This arrangement does not in any way alter the separate identities of the two bodies or the editorial processes or lines of control for which their separate managements remain responsible. I note your comments about perceptions of interference by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, but I do not accept that the structural arrangements implemented would tend to increase the likelihood of either real or perceived interference by the Department in the editorial functions of Radio Australia. In the case of ABC Asia Pacific, the contract between the ABC and the Department... recognises categorically that editorial responsibility lies entirely with the ABC. The ABC recently announced the appointments of Ian Carroll and John Doherty to senior management positions in ABC Asia Pacific, to ensure that the network operations and distribution activities of the service are in highly experienced and capable hands. Similarly, the leadership of Radio Australia is highly experienced and well accustomed to providing international broadcasting services consistent with the requirements of the ABC Act and Editorial Policies. Additionally, the ABC has convened the International Broadcasting Management Group, which will include the above senior managers and the Directors of News and Current Affairs and Content Rights Management. This group will meet on a monthly basis to oversee the operations of the International Broadcasting Division. The ABC firmly believes that establishing the Division is the best arrangement for both Radio Australia and ABC Asia Pacific, particularly in the present international environment. As well as the opportunity for more coordinated operations and more effective cross promotion, the arrangement provides a stronger profile for Radio Australia within the Corporation. It also ensures that the ABC is able to take advantage of opportunities to extend the reach of Radio Australia through rebroadcasting and other contemporary delivery mechanisms on the back of delivery of ABC Asia Pacific in the region. International audiences will have the choice of more integrated television, radio and online offerings, which build on the ABC’s reputation for authoritative, independent public broadcasting in the region. The separate funding for ABC Asia Pacific is quarantined within the Corporation, as it has been since the service commenced at the end of 2001. There will be no diversion of resources from Radio Australia to ABC Asia Pacific. Yours sincerely, Geoffrey Crawford, Director of Corporate Affairs _________________ (Via radioinfo http://www.radioinfo.com.au/ via David Onley, Myrtleford, Victoria, Australia, Apr 13, dxing.info via DXLD) ** AUSTRIA. Radio Austria International - ROI ends 1 July, 2003. Restructuring of ORF short-wave broadcasting, effective 1 July, 2003, Radio Austria International - ROI, the international service of the ORF, the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation, will have a new structure. In future, the ORF's domestic radio station "Austria 1" (German: "Oesterreich 1") will be broadcast on short-wave. The program mixture, consisting of information, cultural features, music, literature, education, science and religion, has found wide acceptance among Austrian listeners and will thus be available to Austrian expatriates and a global listening audience interested in Austria. In addition, there are plans to offer programming in English, beyond the extent currently offered by "Austria 1" program. Programming in French and German will be discontinued from July 1st. Nevertheless, we are convinced that, through this re-structuring program, the ORF will continue to offer interesting programmes on short-wave. (Excerpt from ROI website via JKB, April 2003) Domestic service "Austria 1" has several times at day English and French news after the News in German, for example after the 8:00 local time news in the morning. (JKB) Greetings (from Berlin, Juergen Kubiak (JKB), DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AZERBAIJAN. 9155, R. Dadagorgud, 0915 and 0955 April 2. Program in Arabic with talks at both times but 0956 with Turkic music. S3 at full amplification with QRM 9153 RTTY (Zacharias Liangas, Thessaloniki, Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9155 is used by the clandestine Ashur Radio in Assyrian and Arabic for Northern Iraq, approximately 0800-1200 and 1700-1900. The tx site might be AZE, but this has not been confirmed so far. The Voice of Azerbaijan is not using 9155 (it was using 9165 some years ago). Can anybody confirm whether The Voice of Azerbaijan is still using the name "Radio Dada Gorgud". Btw, the official spelling of this historic Azerbaijani epic hero in Latin letters is "Dädä Qorqud" (or "Dada Qorqud" without umlaut), the form "Dada Gorgud" is an English transcription of the Russian, not Azeri spelling. 73s, (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, EDXP via DXLD) ** BAHRAIN [non]. MALTA, 12060 Bahrain (via Valetta) 2000 April 3 after national anthem, program in Arabic with ID `idaatu Bahrain` by OM and mentioning freqs them with qur`an verses. S9+10 44444 (Zacharias Liangas, Thessaloniki, Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ??? Nothing is on SW via Malta; V. of Mediterranean is via Russia; what`s this? (gh) ** BELGIUM [non]. [Dean Bonanno reports hearing RVi again at 2230 on 1415 kHz, twice previous frequency 707.5] Dean, I didn`t mean you would hear RVi on other frequencies than 15565 in the 19m band area; I meant that other 19mb stations, if as strong as that one, might also break thru with receiver-produced images elsewhere on the Sherwood`s AM band. If you know the intermediate frequency of the receiver, and try adding and subtracting it and multiples of it to 15565, and dividing by various integers, you may eventually come up with something that fits. It might also be mixing with some other transmitter, even if you can`t hear it on 707.5; or 1415. If the IF is involved anywhere in the computation, that`s good evidence that it`s internal. I`ve never heard of a transmitted and propagated subharmonic beyond 1/2 or 1/3, and these result from a transmitter defect, when a lower frequency is first generated, and then doubled or tripled for the intended output, while the original frequency is supposed to be totally suppressed, but is not. I can`t imagine 1) 707.5 or 1415 kHz being anywhere in the Bonaire 15565 transmitter, and 2) if they were, being propagated as far away as you are with a detectable signal. It`s far more likely this is an artifact within your radio. It should be easy to check on any other radio, and I`ll bet you don`t hear them when they are audible on the Sherwood. It`s not clear whether you already looked for 707 and 1415 on the Grundig (not that it is immune from some imaging; I have one myself). The circuitry is certainly different and they would not show up at the same places. 73, (Glenn to Dean via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. Glenn, Voce está corretissimo em seu comentário. A Voz do Brasil não tem nada de popular, talvez tenha sido há 40 anos; hoje a audiência é muito baixa. Muitas emissoras não mais a transmitem no horário de 2200 UT, horário oficial do programa. 73 (Samuel Cássio, Brasil, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. About the re-activation of Radio Baré on 4895 kHz. I heard the station in Finland on 12th of October 2002, and when I've checked the frequency from time to time after that It seems they have been broadcasting regularly for past months. I sent a reception report and received a registered verification letter signed by Socrates Bomfim Neto (Vice Presidente). 73 de (Pentti Lintujärvi, Helsinki, Finland, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRASIL. A Rádio RGS, de Porto Alegre (RS), está de volta na freqüência de 11895 kHz. Foi ouvida, em Porto Alegre (RS), em 11 de abril, às 0240, com o programa Cortando Estradas (Célio Romais, Panorama, @tividade DX Apr 12 via DXLD) ** CANADÁ. Mais um integrante do Serviço em Espanhol da Rádio Canadá Internacional foi aposentado. Depois de Hector Moreno, chegou a vez de Suzana Peña de Puga. Ele se despediu, na programação dominical da emissora, sob muita emoção, quase chorando. O momento foi acompanhado por Oséias Fantinelli, em Jacutinga (RS). Emoção é o que nunca faltou na Rádio Canadá Internacional. Quando foi ao ar o último programa da emissora em língua portuguesa a locutora chorou copiosamente! (Célio Romais, Panorama, @tividade DX Apr 12 via DXLD) ** CANADA. I just finished listening to "What a Week" on CBC North Quebec. Pretty funny stuff but more like "Royal Canadian Air Farce" than TW3 in my opinion. The parody of "Fifty Ways To Leave Your Lover" called "Fifty Ways To Leave Your Bunker" was the highlight of the show. They must have picked up on the thread in swprograms last week when Ralph Brandi and I heard tunes on Radio Jordan that had a strangely topical theme including: "Don't Sleep In The Subway Darling", a request by Mrs. Saddam hussein no doubt; Ralph noted Credence Clearwater Revival's "Bad Moon Rising"; and Steve Coletti even suggested we might soon hear "I gotta Get Outa This Place." There was also lots of Canadian-self-deprecating humor as usual on CBC comedy shows. George Bush and his staff are trying to come up with new names for the provinces of Iraq. All the names they come up with are already names of states or other countries. Finally somebody suggests that they just adopt names of existing provinces in other countries. But nobody could think of another country whose political subdivisions are called provinces. On second thought that is probably more a slam at Bush and his staff and their legendary ignorance of anything outside the USA that is not Mexico. They took lots of easy shots at Bush's stereotypical stupidity. The skit about Saddam's body doubles trying to figure out how they were going to make a living had a good suggestion -- move to Hollywood and become a regular on Jay Leno's Tonight Show. All-in-all I enjoyed the show and commend CBC Radio's revival of their long lost tradition of satirical comedy. Ever since "Air Farce" moved to TV and "The Great Eastern" went off the air (I think their coal-fired transmitter (on the long wave) ran out of coal when they closed the last mine in Sydney, NS), I have missed the CBC's ability to look at a very serious world and reduce the world scene to a satirical rubble heap while exposing the world's essentialty assinine substructure. ~*-.,_,.-*~'^'~*-.,_,.-*~'^'~*-., (Joe Buch, DE, April 12, swprograms via DXLD) -*~'^'~*-.,_,.-*~'^'~*-.,_,.-*~'^ ** CAPE VERDE. BROADCASTS BEGIN TO AFRICA'S CAPE VERDE ISLANDS Just off the west coast of Africa, the tiny island nation of Cape Verde is home to more than one million people. Although Cape Verde is open to the Gospel and the establishment of churches, only one percent of its population is Christian, making it one of the least evangelized countries in the world. Last year, TWR-Africa received a request from the churches in Cape Verde to partner in broadcasting Christian radio programs in Portuguese to the nation. After meeting with representatives of the church, an agreement was reached to broadcast Thru the Bible in the capital, Praia, where the majority live. On March 3, the island church's dream became a reality as the first program went on the air. For more information about this exciting initiative, visit http://www.twrafrica.org/ (TWR E-SNAPSHOTS APRIL 2003, David McCreary, TWR via Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, India, DXLD) ?? How can this be? The Portuguese colonialists must not have done their job! More potential converts ripe for the picking! Population 400K+; Time Almanac 2000 says, ``Religion: Roman Catholic fused with indigenous beliefs`` --- not good enough for TWR!! (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. Dear Glenn Hauser, I am Danny, Webmaster of "China BCL Information Source" http://zuji.51.net/bcl I would like to tell you a piece of good news. Our programs cooperating with CHBC named "BCLer's Sky" is going to sign on on April, 26th. It will be the first programs for DXers and BCLers in Chinese. We are very appreciate your contributions on DXing. We are eager to hearing your advice on our programs before it is on air. We also hope that more of your friends will get the information. Wonderful QSL cards and other souvenirs made by CHBC will be offered to those who send reception reports to us. At the same time, we will welcome monitors through out the world to join us. All the best! (Danny Wu from Fuzhou, China, April 12, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA [and non]. 9765, 1547- Apr 13, CRI. Russian program with a historic play from the sounds of it. Good reception with many parallels: 11790, 9870 (both fair to good), and 5990, 5915 (both poor to fair). Rechecked at 1613. Very strong signals with news on 13655, and 11875. 11960, 9885 (fair), and 9765 good. End of news at 1615. Beautiful ID at 1615. Later announced mailbag program. Just happened to be listening at 1639, when they announced the following (in Russian): Beginning 16 April, between 18 and 20 UT, CRI Russian will be relayed via Radio Baltic Waves on 1557. This might be interesting to DXers in Europe at least (Walt Salmaniw, Victoria, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CYPRUS. Pleased to report a QSL today from BFBS 13720 (presumably Cyprus). You can view this on my QSL pages. Second down on the Cyprus page. http://radiodx.com/qsls/cyprus_sw.htm Cheers, (Paul Ormandy, ZL4TFX, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Just wondering, why do you assume it is Cyprus? Did you tell them or did they tell you, or was nothing really said about the site? (gh to Paul) Pure speculation... (Paul Ormandy, NZ, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CZECH REPUBLIC. Bill Bathurst, who has been an announcer at Radio Prague for the past 14 years, is leaving the station to move back to California. This week's "One on One" has an interview with Bathurst. I always enjoyed listening to his jazz programs on Radio Prague, and had the pleasure of meeting him when I visited the station in 1995. He seemed kind of curmudgeonly. :-) My friend Nora, who worked at the station at the time, talked me into leaving behind a copy of a book I had brought on my trip, an anthology of Czech literature, for Bill (Ralph Brandi, NJ, April 12, swsprograms via DXLD) ** DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. Muere el radiodifusor Pepé Justiniano Polanco 60 años en los medios SANTO DOMINGO.- El radiodifusor Pedro Justiniano Polanco (Pepé) murió el jueves víctima de un infarto cardíaco. Tenía 79 años de edad. Sus restos fueron enterrados ayer en el Cementerio Nacional de la avenida Máximo Gómez. Con 60 años en la radio, Pepé Justiniano fue quien popularizó la frase ‘‘el agua es vida, no la desperdicies’’. Toda su vida la dedicó a sus emisoras Radio Mil y Radio Continental. En tres ocasiones presidió la Asociación Dominicana de Radiodifusoras (ADORA). El radiodifusor nació el 8 de enero de 1924 en San Pedro de Macorís, aunque fue en Santo Domingo donde desarrolló su trabajo en la radio. Comenzó su labor en 1944 como control de audio de Radio HIN. Antes de fundar a Continental, laboró en las emisoras HIG y HIZ. Además, llegó a dirigir La Voz del Trópico. En 1954 fundó la primera emisora de su propiedad, Radio Popular, que después de la guerra de abril del 1965 se identificó como Radio Continental (Listín Diario.com 4/12/2003 via Dino Bloisse, DXLD) ** GERMANY. 6140 has been stated in DXLD 055 to transmit in digital mode. However on 3.4 at 1000 was transmitting in AM and English with signal S4, 34343 (Zacharias Liangas, Thessaloniki, Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY? Pirate, 6310, Radio Marabu, 1951-2030 playing mostly rock songs though the 2030 was a disco song. IDs and short announcements by man after a song play. S5, 2x141 requiring narrow bandwidth for better reception. Little QRM by operators (Zacharias Liangas, Greece, April 11 or 12? DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GREECE. Re DXLD 3-061 Voice of Greece English has been noted here 0930-1000 on 12105 and 15630, not 0830-0850. Confirmed April 12th, 0835 was in Greek, 0930 heard English news bulletin, feature on Olympic Games 0945, music 0955, Greek from 1000 (Mike Barraclough, Letchworth, UK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. 11585, 1532- Apr 12, All India Radio. Very strong signal with beautiful Indian music and talk in presumed Baluchi. Listed as Bangalore 500 kW. Parallel to weaker 9620 (Aligarh 125 kW). Again quite distinctive AIR audio --- to me like the old fashioned type of microphones (Walt Salmaniw, Victoria, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAN [non]. "COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY" PARS TV REPORTEDLY SHUT DOWN | Excerpt from report by Iranian newspaper Resalat web site on 5 April A counterrevolutionary TV network abroad has closed down. The [US- based] Pars TV network was forced to close owing to its large debt to the satellite network and inability to pay that debt. Pars TV network, the first 24-hour TV network, was always mudslinging against the system and published unfounded rumours. For these actions, it boasted of being the spokesperson of counter-revolutionaries abroad. Source: Resalat web site, Tehran, in Persian 5 Apr 03 (via BBCM) ** IRAN [non]. Clandestine, 3870.75, V. of Kummunist Iran 1652 April 6, a Kurdish patriotic song, talks by man with ID then spelling numbers. Then talking about liberty and Islamic democracy. Internationale at 1727 S7/34333 // 4380/S6/3333 (Zacharias Liangas, Thessaloniki, Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) CLAND, 11575, Possibly AFN FN. Called As R Jumhuriya Islam In Farsi till 1607 April 7. New tune in 1622 with a commentary by man. However is parallel to KRSI (Radio Sedaye Iran) satellite program on Telstar 15W Abt 13800 it was not parallel to 11575 but using same ID R Jumhuria Islami at 1639 11575 is Lightly jammed as 43443 S9+20 ,but 13800 is clear S9+30, 44444 (Zacharias Liangas, Thessaloniki, Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAN [non]. Cland 7525, R Yaran? 1847 April 11 man talking on conditions about Iraq. Same for next man on 1856 referred also to Sadam and on Mujahedeen. At 1909 with poetic type talks over music. Address at 1932. All program is in Farsi. Signal 44434, S9+10 max (Zacharias Liangas, Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAQ. US RADIO AND TV BROADCASTS TO IRAQ DETAILED At a US Central Command Operation Iraqi Freedom briefing in Qatar on 11 April, Brig-Gen Vincent Brooks, Deputy Director of Operations, said: "... We do continue our efforts to communicate with the Iraqi people in a number of methods. The Coalition began broadcasting world news television broadcasts in Arabic today, and this is done using existing military broadcast platforms. And these are in addition to the radio broadcasts that continue 24 hours a day, and the leaflet drops and daily interfaces that we have... "We recognize that there are some areas that don't have television. Now, that's been the case for some period of time here, not just with the lack of power in and around the Baghdad area, but some other areas, also. We know that there are broadcasts that are being received in certain parts of the country, and frankly, Iraqi television channel number 3 has been run by the coalition now for well over a week, perhaps longer than that - maybe even two weeks, and has not been run by Iraqi TV. Much of what you saw broadcast was satellite, and we know that there are some elites that had access to satellite television. There are also some population areas that have generators. So having said that, while we recognize we're not reaching all of the population yet by television, we think it's important to begin broadcasting right now for those who can receive it. And that goes broader than the Baghdad area; it's - it covers a good portion of the country. Our radio broadcasts, as I mentioned, cover all of the country and have for some time on five different frequencies, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week...." Source: US Central Command web site in English 12 Apr 03 (via BBCM via DXLD) UK-US BROADCASTS TO IRAQ DETAILED | Text of report from UK government's 10 Downing Street web site dated 12 April; subheadings as published Towards Freedom Towards Freedom (TF) are radio and television services broadcast in Arabic direct to the people of Iraq. The radio service started broadcasting a daily one-hour Arabic-language programmes to Iraq on 20 March 2003. The television service begun to broadcast daily hour-long Arabic- language television programmes designed to complement the radio on 10 April 2003. The first episode will feature addresses by the president of the United States and the British prime minister to the people of Iraq. These were recorded especially for the programme on 8 April, during the president's and prime minister's talks in Northern Ireland. There was a real need to fill the information gap that materialised in Iraq under Saddam's regime. The people of Iraq had no balance in the interpretation of events that was fed to them and there was no mechanism to allow the Coalition to explain its intentions. In the long term, Iraq needs a free and open media sector which engages people in the debate needed to build a free and open society. But more immediately, the Coalition needs to be able to explain its activities, achievements and intentions direct to the people of Iraq. The mechanisms to do this didn't exist under Saddam. Propaganda? No. Although the Coalition wants to build support in as many ways as possible, as far as Towards Freedom goes, we think that balanced, timely, relevant and interesting information is the best way of doing this. Towards Freedom TV and radio services are designed to deliver this for the people of Iraq while Iraq gradually builds a free and open media sector. What will be broadcast? Presented by Iraqi journalists, the programmes include regular items, highlights and features likely to interest an Iraqi audience, as well as Coalition public service announcements. Regular Items News: Towards Freedom's first news bulletin will bring its Iraqi audience up to date on developments so far. The aim is gradually to start to fill the information gap that Saddam's propaganda allowed to develop. Towards Freedom's news aims build a balanced picture of developments in Iraq. This will include giving the international Coalition the opportunity to explain its intentions direct to the people of Iraq. Supporting analysis and comment by Iraqis will explain what this means for Iraq. Press Review: The first programme will feature a review of the London press. It will also review a regional newspaper from Basra, the first publication to report about developments in Iraq in a way that shows that it is independent of the Ba'th regime and Saddam. As an independent press develops in Iraq, we plan to review other publications as well. Public Service Announcements: Towards Freedom will include these announcements designed to address immediate practical issues. For example, to encourage people to stay at work and carry on working normally; to warn them about paramilitary activity and let them know about newspaper distribution. Features: Towards Freedom will include feature items about key issues for the people of Iraq, including reconstruction, healthcare, women and children, political and economic developments, culture and personal stories. The first television programme will feature an interview with Laith Kubba, a representative of the Iraqi National Group, a report on the recent meeting between the prime minister and Iraqi opposition leaders, a report on humanitarian aid for Iraq, a report on Umm Qasr and an arts feature. How will people know about it? The programme will be broadcast on one of the frequencies of existing Iraqi television channels so Iraqi television sets will already be tuned in to receive it. The radio service is publicised through leaflet drops which list the frequencies on which it is broadcast. As more channels open to us we will let people know about the television service using the radio service, leaflets, by word of mouth and other Iraqi media as these become available. An alternative to Iraqi television This will be the first time that most viewers will have had an alternative to Iraqi state TV and the first direct opportunity to get honest news and information about their country. For years the regime exercised absolute control over the media, except in the Kurdish enclaves in the north. Satellite dishes were illegal. And the subscription fee for the very limited and censored satellite television was that was only recently provided was well beyond the means of all but those who were close to the regime. The media could be described as "totalitarian". Characteristics included a flood of slogans and propaganda to citizens; efforts to persuade people that Saddam was a God-like figure who never made mistakes and news bulletins which reported mainly on Saddam's activities. How will the programme be brought to the people of Iraq? Towards Freedom is a remarkable team effort. It is the first time so many UK government departments and international Coalition partners have worked so closely together on such a project. The concept of Towards Freedom came from a cross-government information working group, supported by the UK National Contingent Headquarters in Doha. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office's public diplomacy department commissioned and runs Towards Freedom. The Ministry of Defence's Permanent Joint Head Headquarters (PJHQ) at Northwood is meeting the television programming costs. The programming is outsourced to World Television, the company which also produces British Satellite News. The production team was set up, and the first programme produced, in just eight days. The first programme will be seen in Iraq at 1200 gmt (1300 bst) on 10 April. The United States of America's Department of Defence assets are delivering the broadcasts in Iraq. The programme will be broadcast primarily from a US aircraft called Commando Solo, a highly modified C-130 (Hercules-type) aircraft that has flying radio and television transmission capability. Careful consultation The programmes' content is agreed in close consultation with Iraqis, across government, with Coalition headquarters in Doha, staff in Iraq and other stakeholders, including Iraqis in Iraq. A consultative group or Sounding Board of members of the Iraqi community in London advises us about the content of the programmes to help make them relevant. Cutting-edge technology World Television sends the completed programme daily by satellite in the late evening to the US base of 4th Psychological Operations Group (Airborne) at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. From Fort Bragg, it is rebroadcast by military satellite to Qatar, recorded on to videotape and loaded into a video player on board Commando Solo. Fort Bragg can also send the programme to mobile US radio and television broadcasting systems called SOMS-B (Special Operations Media System- B) which allow it to be rebroadcast from different locations in Iraq. Commando Solo broadcasts on 693 kHz mediumwave, 9715 kHz shortwave and 100.4 MHz FM; SOMS-B on 756 kHz mediumwave and 11292 kHz shortwave. The television signal will be broadcast from the aircraft and SOMS-B systems to ordinary television sets on frequencies that were used by the regime's domestic television services. So the people of Iraq will be able to turn on their televisions and view news and information about their country from the Coalition, as though it were coming from their local terrestrial transmitter. In due course the programmes will also be broadcast by US Special Operations Command mobile radio and television stations. Source: 10 Downing Street web site, London, in English 12 Apr 03 (via BBCM via DXLD) BROADCASTS HOPE TO REACH IRAQIS http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2003/04/11/MN294748.DTL (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) ** IRAQ [and non]. MEDIA BEHAVIOUR NOTE 1200 GMT 11 APR - 1200 GMT 12 APR 03 The US military said on 12 April that it was planning to start radio and TV broadcasts from Baghdad International Airport early next week. "We do have a ground-based broadcasting team headed up to Baghdad International Airport... They'll be able to broadcast radio and television, we expect to be operational on Monday. It's equipment that's going... and a broadcast team to be able to broadcast from the area," international news agencies quoted spokesman Captain Frank Thorp as saying at US Central Command headquarters in Qatar. US military aircraft flying over Iraq have been broadcasting TV programmes on a frequency previously used by Iraqi state TV, in addition to the Information Radio broadcasts that began in December 2002. However, shortages of electricity meant most people in the country were unable to watch the broadcasts, Reuters reported. The following are BBC Monitoring's observations for the 24-hour period ending at 1200 gmt on 12 April: Iraq Satellite Channel Iraq Satellite Channel has not been observed since 1618 gmt on 7 April. Colour bars have been observed on the channel's frequencies since 1024 gmt on 9 April. Republic of Iraq Television No video or audio from the domestic TV channel has been observed by BBC Monitoring as of 1200 gmt on 12 April. No news sources have reported any Iraqi TV services on the air in Baghdad. Republic of Iraq Radio Main Service Republic of Iraq Radio Main Service was untraced by BBC Monitoring on its usual frequencies in the reporting period. No news sources have reported any Iraqi radio services on the air in Baghdad. Voice of Youth radio Voice of Youth radio, operated by Uday Saddam Husayn, was last heard by BBC Monitoring at 0430 gmt on 25 March. Information Radio US-run Information Radio continues to be heard on shortwave 9715 kHz and mediumwave 756 kHz. Internet The web site of the Iraqi News Agency - http://www.uruklink.net/iraqnews/ - and other Iraqi sites hosted on http://www.uruklink.net were inaccessible. Source: BBC Monitoring research 12 Apr 03 (via DXLD) ** IRAQ [and non]. MEDIA BEHAVIOUR NOTE 1200 GMT 12 APR - 1200 GMT 13 APR 03 No Iraqi domestic broadcasting has been traced. US Information Radio continues to be heard. Other sources presumed to be on the air are the US/UK airborne TV service Towards Freedom and UK-run Radio Nahrain near Basrah. There is a report that a US ground-based broadcasting team is heading for Baghdad International Airport. Spokesman Captain Frank Thorp told reporters at Central Command headquarters in Qatar that it was expected to be operational on Monday 14 April. Following are BBC Monitoring's Iraq-related media observations for the 24-hour period ending at 1200 gmt on 13 April: Iraq Satellite Channel has not been observed since 1618 gmt on 7 April. Colour bars have been observed on the channel's satellite frequencies since 1024 gmt on 9 April. Republic of Iraq Television -- No video or audio from the main domestic TV channel has been observed by BBC Monitoring as of 1200 gmt on 12 April. Youth [Shebab] TV has not been reported on the air since shortly after the start of air attacks on Baghdad. No news sources have reported any Iraqi TV services on the air in Baghdad. Republic of Iraq Radio Main Service was untraced by BBC Monitoring on its usual frequencies in the reporting period. No news sources have reported any Iraqi radio services on the air in Baghdad. Voice of Youth radio, operated by Uday Saddam Husayn, was last heard by BBC Monitoring at 0430 gmt on 25 March. Media targeting Iraq BBC Monitoring has observed the following official, unofficial, opposition and broadcasts of unknown location: No new stations targeting Iraq have been heard since the start of Radio Nahrain operated by UK forces in southern Iraq near Basrah and US-run Information Radio. Information Radio continues to be heard on shortwave 4500 and 9715 kHz shortwave and 756 kHz. Al-Mustaqbal/The Future on 1575 kHz mediumwave has been broadcasting programmes irregularly. On 12 April it was observed to be carrying continuous music at 1215 gmt, without announcements, and left the air at 1400 gmt. Voice of the People of Kurdistan was observed already on the air at 1315 gmt on 4025 kHz shortwave although listed to sign-on at 1345. A transmission was also observed commencing at 0200 gmt. The station appears to have made an adjustment to local summer time. Republic of Iraq Radio, Voice of the People was observed at 1510 gmt on 1053 kHz mediumwave and 9563, 9570 and 11710 kHz shortwave. Radio of the Land of the Two Rivers was observed on 1566 kHz mediumwave between 1457 and 1530 gmt, with possible technical interruptions. Mesopotamia Radio and Television from Irbil was heard signing on at 1700 gmt on 7560 kHz shortwave. Radio Freedom (Radio Azadi), Voice of the Communist Party of Iraqi Kurdistan was heard at 1635 gmt on 3900 kHz shortwave. Voice of Rebellious Iraq was observed opening on 675 kHz mediumwave at 1500 gmt and has recently continued past this time. (The same frequency is used by a new Iranian station called Radio Nejat at 1230-1430 gmt.) Voice of Iraqi Kurdistan was observed in progress on 4085 kHz shortwave at 1625 gmt. Voice of Kurdistan Toilers was observed in progress at 1605 gmt on 4245 kHz shortwave. Voice of the Iraqi People was observed opening at 1730 gmt on 3900 and 5883 kHz. Internet The site of the Iraqi News Agency - http://www.uruklink.net/iraqnews/ - and other Iraqi sites hosted on http://www.uruklink.net were inaccessible. Source: BBC Monitoring research 13 Apr 03 (via DXLD) MEDIA BEHAVIOUR ROUND-UP 1630 GMT 13 APR 03 [excerpts] No Iraqi domestic broadcasting has been traced. US Information Radio continues to be heard. Other sources presumed to be on the air are the US/UK airborne TV service Towards Freedom and UK-run Radio Nahrain near Basrah. There is a report that a US ground-based broadcasting team is heading for Baghdad International Airport. Spokesman Captain Frank Thorp told reporters at Central Command headquarters in Qatar that it was expected to be operational on Monday 14 April. Following are BBC Monitoring's Iraq-related media observations for the 24-hour period ending at 1200 gmt on 13 April: Media targeting Iraq BBC Monitoring has observed the following official, unofficial, opposition and broadcasts of unknown location: No new stations targeting Iraq have been heard since the start of Radio Nahrain operated by UK forces in southern Iraq near Basrah and US-run Information Radio. Information Radio continues to be heard on shortwave 4500 and 9715 kHz shortwave and 756 kHz. Al-Mustaqbal/The Future on 1575 kHz mediumwave has been broadcasting programmes irregularly. On 12 April it was observed to be carrying continuous music at 1215 gmt, without announcements, and left the air at 1400 gmt. Voice of the People of Kurdistan was observed already on the air at 1315 gmt on 4025 kHz shortwave although listed to sign-on at 1345. A transmission was also observed commencing at 0200 gmt. The station appears to have made an adjustment to local summer time. Republic of Iraq Radio, Voice of the People was observed at 1510 gmt on 1053 kHz mediumwave and 9563, 9570 and 11710 kHz shortwave. Radio of the Land of the Two Rivers was observed on 1566 kHz mediumwave between 1457 and 1530 gmt, with possible technical interruptions. Mesopotamia Radio and Television from Irbil was heard signing on at 1700 gmt on 7560 kHz shortwave. Radio Freedom (Radio Azadi), Voice of the Communist Party of Iraqi Kurdistan was heard at 1635 gmt on 3900 kHz shortwave. Voice of Rebellious Iraq was observed opening on 675 kHz mediumwave at 1500 gmt and has recently continued past this time. (The same frequency is used by a new Iranian station called Radio Nejat from 1230-1430 gmt.) Voice of Iraqi Kurdistan was observed in progress on 4085 kHz shortwave at 1625 gmt. Voice of Kurdistan Toilers was observed in progress at 1605 gmt on 4245 kHz shortwave. Voice of the Iraqi People was observed opening at 1730 gmt on 3900 and 5883 kHz. FUTURE MEDIA DEVELOPMENTS Glenn Hauser's DX LISTENING DIGEST newsletter reported on 11 April that Danish based International Media Support, which organised domestic broadcasting in Kosovo and Afghanistan after the wars, is summoning a conference in London on how to establish domestic broadcasting in Iraq after the present war. Existing Iraqi and Kurdish opposition broadcasters will also be invited. The item was first broadcast on Danish radio on 6 April. Source: DX Listening Digest, 11 Apr 03 Source: BBC Monitoring research 13 Apr 03 (via DXLD) ** IRAQ [and non]. ROVE: 'RADIO FREE EUROPE' NEEDED FOR ARABS White House Aide Praises, Pans Press Coverage http://www.mediainfo.com/editorandpublisher/headlines/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1864279 (April 11, 2003 via Jilly Dybka, DXLD) But, but, there already is such a station, as in next story. Not to mention, R. Sawa and various US-sponsored clandestines. Further evidence of how disconnected from reality Rove is (gh, DXLD) ** IRAQ [non non]. RADIO FREE IRAQ TO OPEN BUREAU IN BAGHDAD By KAREL JANICEK, The Associated Press, 4/12/03 11:53 AM PRAGUE, Czech Republic (AP) -- After 23 years in exile, Iraqi journalist Kamran Al-Karadaghi is finally going home. Al-Karadaghi, 64, is longing to see his family, friends and home country again. He's also looking forward to practicing his profession there. In Prague, he is the chief editor and deputy director of Radio Free Iraq, a division of the U.S.-financed Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty that has beamed broadcasts into Iraq since 1998. Al-Karadaghi plans to establish a Baghdad bureau as soon as the city is safe enough to return home. His mission will be to start from scratch and provide something virtually unknown to his fellow citizens -- radio broadcasting not under the thumb of government. "I feel quite relaxed at the moment, to be honest," he said. "No matter how difficult it will be to rebuild Iraq, nothing can be really worse than the regime of Saddam Hussein." David Newton, Radio Free Iraq's director, said the station wants to expand broadcasting to 24 hours a day. The station broadcast five hours a day before the war and now is on the air for 10 hours. Al-Karadaghi, 64, a Kurd born in the northern town of Sulaymaniyah, left his country in 1980 and worked as a journalist for various London-based Arabic media. He joined Radio Free Iraq in Prague as it was launched by the U.S. Congress. During his time in exile, he never contacted his relatives directly, to avoid putting them at risk. The station's team, consisting of nine full-time journalists, was recently strengthened by another four. Its journalists will face a difficult task in Iraq, Newton said, because most reporters there "never heard about objectivity and different sources." Al-Karadaghi is looking forward to the challenge. "We hope to be able to really be helpful and to give an example how free and objective broadcasting should be," he said. "We hope our work will be recognized." ------ On the Net: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: http://www.rferl.org Radio Free Iraq: http://www.iraqhurr.org (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) Same from: http://www.620ktar.com/news/article.aspx?article_id=122459&cc=012345 (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** IRAQ. HELP THEM CREATE A BBC OF THEIR OWN Statues fall, but looters roam Iraq's major cities. Kurdish forces seize oil-rich territory in northern Iraq, and Turkish troops threaten to stop them. The political leadership has vanished. There's no home-grown media to replace the state-run apparatus. Here, experts offer ways to overcome the obstacles facing Iraq as it moves from chaos to reconstruction. Sunday, April 13, 2003; Page B02 Anthony Borden is executive director of the London-based Institute for War and Peace Reporting, which works to strengthen journalism in post-war societies. He visited Baghdad just before the war began. After decades of dictatorship and war, Iraq desperately needs responsible media outlets as the country struggles to forge a new form of participatory politics. The creation of "independent" media may seem like an obvious idea in the West. But in Iraq, the task is more complicated than just establishing media free of state control. This will happen anyway, and based on recent history, the majority of them are likely to be disasters. Broadcasters and newspapers have proliferated over the past decade in Kurdish areas not under Baghdad's thumb, but almost all are politically controlled, promoting their particular leader or faction, and do not produce Western-style fact-based reporting. Highly partisan media outlets can be a healthy sign. Europe, for example, has many newspapers identified with either the left or the right. But in transitional societies, such extreme partisanship -- without the counterweight of balanced media -- can directly impede the rebuilding effort, as happened in Bosnia. "Vendetta journalism" can provoke violence. Immediate plans by the incoming U.S. administrators are still unclear, but one idea is that teams of former Iraqi exiles working under the U.S.-led coalition's supervision would produce a new newspaper, and set up a TV station and a radio channel. This sort of multi-media operation could play an essential role, especially in the urgent early days, in providing basic information and news about humanitarian aid and other practical needs. But this approach can't work beyond the short term, if that. Media organizations directly run by international authorities -- such as those set up in Kosovo and Afghanistan -- are unlikely to achieve professional standards. Defense departments, by definition, simply cannot do real media. The challenge in Iraq is to create a publicly owned media system, moderate in tone and dedicated to responsible reporting, that would reflect the country's diversity of views and competing interests. The concept may clash with the U.S. instinct for private institutions. But it is a useful halfway house in moving firmly away from Iraq's state-controlled media, dominated by a Ministry of Information and infiltrated by the security services. As I saw in Baghdad shortly before the war, the mix of glorifying the leader and playing up Iraqi suffering (mostly at the hands of the United States) was truly noxious. Funding methods can vary, with some private media enjoying financial benefits in exchange for a commitment to public interest journalism. But the principal structure should be a classic centrally funded public broadcaster and news agency. The BBC in Britain is one model. An independent board of governors -- composed of eminent, non- political Iraqis -- would be established as the legal owner of the new media. It would set measurable guidelines for audience and content, and thus be held accountable for the media's performance. Among the first priorities would be training, both in the basic art of news gathering and in the more difficult task of reporting on human rights abuses and cross-cultural issues. That would help the new Iraqi journalists undertake the vital job of retelling the country's recent history, a minefield of sensitivities but essential for uncovering the near past and preparing for the future. An Iraqi media devoted to the public interest, says Siyamend Othman, a former UPI executive and member of the media group in the State Department's Future of Iraq project, would be a "revolution not only in Iraq but in the Arab world." It's the best way to give Iraqis a true voice. © 2003 The Washington Post Company (via Mike Terry, Jilly Dybka, DXLD) ** ISRAEL. The midnight Israel Time (2100 UT) English has been stopped. The 7 AM (0400 UT) broadcast is still at 8 AM (0500 UT). Hello Daniel, We have stopped the midnight English, French and Spanish programs. For the time being there are no schedule changes. When the state of emergency will be canceled in Israel, our English, French and Spanish programs will go back to their previous times and network. But until then there are no changes. The change will be announced on our programs. Best wishes, Alegra (via Doni Rosenzweig, Apr 13, DX LISTENING DIGEST) According to the 1630 GMT English news, Israelis no longer have to carry gas masks, they can dismantle their sealed rooms and Israel Radio in English is back to normal as of 7 A.M. GMT+3 on Monday. The 15 minutes English news will be on Reshet Aleph (NOT REQA) at 0400 (NOT 0500) GMT, 1030 GMT and 1630 GMT. The 25 minute broadcast remains on Reshet Heh at 1900 GMT. Note also that Passover begins Wednesday evening so there should be special holiday programming (Joel Rubin, NY, April 13, swprograms via DXLD) Since Israel has lowered the State of Emergency - Kol Israel is going back to a normal schedule. Therefore, English broadcasts will be at: 0400 UT (Midnight EDT), 1015 UT (6:15 EDT), 1630 UT (12:30 PM EDT) and 1900 UT (3 PM EDT), as they normally are. Domestically, the foreign languages which are normally on Reshet Alef, have been moved back to Reshet Alef. Thanks for Joel Rubin to bring this to my attention after he heard it on the 1630 UT broadcast (I was about to listen to the 1900 UT broadcast to check if it had changed!) (Doni Rosenzweig, Apr 13, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ITALY? PIRATE (Euro) 6955v & 6275v, Radio 3 Network, 2140-0230. On my first day of reception they were on 6954.85, but later drifted up to 6955.15. Alternating talk (possibly an interview) between a YL and OM in Italian. Pop music later, with songs by Chic and Culture Club. Spoken and jingle IDs. SINPO on this frequency was 33333. The following two days they were found on 6275 with similar format, but the signal was worse. I received the same form letter e-mail response in Italian for my e-mail RR that others have reported. Basically this station is on FM and Internet only, these re-transmissions are not authorized, and the station has alerted the authorities. (George Maroti NY. Apr 9-11, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Pirate? 6275.05 relay of Rai Tre? 2023 rave version of Macarena!, short announcements in Italian, then rave music. Abrupt sign off: Signal S9, 33433, bad carrier (Zacharias Liangas, Greece, April 11 or 12? DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ITALY. Radio 3 network heard suddenly on 6275.11 kHz at 1632 UT, this only lasted a few minutes, the audio was very poor then became a silent carrier. During the brief time I listened to the live stream and compared that with the transmission and was very similar! So, are we hearing an unauthorised relay off the internet? That`s my belief as I did not notice any delay between the stream and transmission. Signal here into UK 444. I have e-mailed the station and recieved a reply in Italian! An Italian neighbour did try to make sense of the letter and basically they are aware of the "unauthorised" transmission but cannot do anything about it themselves but leave us to report it to the authorities! The situation could change in the future? So watch this space. As I said this was translated by some one who didn't understand the topic. Here is the full text: "Gentili Sig.ri nel ricevere le Vostre email, sono rimasto alquanto sorpreso per cio che avete dichiarato: ovvero una presunta ricenzione della nostra Emittente in Onde Corte. Faccio presente che la nostra radio trasmette SOLO in FM nel territorio compreso trale Prov. di Siena e di Firenze, e in live steaming attravesso il nostro sito http://www.radio3.net Per cui cio che avete sentito NON dipende affatto da noi, ma si tratta di ignoti che stanno in qualche modo ritrasmettendo il nostro segnale SENZA alcum motivo e SENZA autorizzazione. Vi saro grato se vogliate monitorare anche nei prossimi giorni, rd avvertirci tempestivamente circa l'eventuale presenza del segnale in onde corte, in modo tale da poter denunciare alle Autorita competenti questo stano episodio, di cui ripeto NON siamo responsabili. Il nostro Avv.il Sig. Fontana, che legge per conoscenza questa email, provvedera ad inoltare la segnalazionealle Autorita competenti e si riservera di agire al fine di tutelare la nostra immagine e il nosto operato. Vi ringranzio molto per le preziose segnalazioni, e saro lieto di inviarvi i ns. adesvivi. Distniti saluti." Signed by Mirco Roppolo (Peter Chalkley, ARO7030+random wire, hard-core-dx via DXLD) Peter, Unauthorized it is, as the station manager clearly points out. Not off the Internet, however. I've checked and on shortwave you can't observe the same several seconds delay, which is peculiar to the stream being bufferized on a Real Audio or Mp3 server. The station asks to keep on monitoring these frequencies and let it know if the signal is still there. So that they can report to the local postal police. You'll get some station stickers for your "reporting". 73s (Andy Lawendel, Italy, ibid.) Here is Artiom Prokhorov in Moscow. Radio 3 from Italy is heard right in urban part of Moscow on April, 11th - 2003, at 2130 UTC with rather good signal on 6274 khz with music, jingles and short announcements in Italian and English. I sent email reception report to the station's address and got this following answer. I don't understand well Italian, but as far as I did understand this letter, they at the station were amazed to get my message and mentioned that SW broadcasting is unauthorized relay. I enclose this letter to my message. Maybe Italian users of this list will make clear translation of this text (Artiom Prokhorov, April 12, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Seems to be form letter, identical text forwarded by several, as above (gh, DXLD) R. Tre network, heard 4/13 0120-0200+ UTC 6275 kHz with pop music by Madonna, Bruce Springsteen, song "Can't Hurry Love", ID's by female. SINPO 33222/33333 on Sony ICF-2010 w/ 7m wire. If possible, PLEASE QSL to: (Greg Myers PO Box 20112 St. Petersburg, FL 33742 USA, hard- core-dx via DXLD) I heard this station tonight on 6275.2 at 0549 with various pop tunes "Kay lee" by UK group Meridian at 0549, "Freeway, making love in a pink Cadillac" ? at 0604; "Come on baby", Cher at 060.08; Italian announcements at 0554, occasionally would be off air only to return later. AM signal. All times UT and heard 13th April. best regards (David Norrie, AOR 7030, Auckland, New Zealand, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KASHMIR [non]. Cland 6100, R. Sedaye Kashmir, 1453 Apr 11 woman, talks in Urdu, 1454 exotic song the Pakistani way. After song, OM with talks about Pakistan, Punjabis. 1508 with a traditional song play. Signal: At 1450 song was inaudible though S5 on AM mode (in SSB was OK) with co-QRM with something that seemed RTMalaysia (?). Signal after 1500 became better to S7-9 max (Zacharias Liangas, Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA NORTH. 9334.95, 1516- Apr 12, Voice of Korea. Very strong reception in English, but so overmodulated that I thought it was in SSB. Difficult to discern the diatribe! ID at 1518, then 'Dear Listeners', just like the bad old days of Radio Beijing and Radio Tirana. Parallels are 7505 and 11335.26 both poor, 11710.08 fair with adjacent splatter from KJES on 11715, as well as 11705 (Walt Salmaniw, Victoria, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. 6105, Candela FM, 0802 4/12 with ballads, OM in SP, "Candela!" quick canned IDs, listener's requests 4/12 (Jilly Dybka, TN, Cumbre DX via DXLD) That one had been inactive quite a while, from Mérida, Yucatán (gh) ** MEXICO [non]. The late Wolfman Jack is getting his own museum in Del Rio, Tex., the tiny border town where Bob Smith invented the Wolfman character. The museum will be fronted by a $130,000 statue of the Wolfman, which is scheduled for unveiling in November, and the museum itself is scheduled to open next year (From http://www.nydailynews.com via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** NEW ZEALAND. Extra funds for Radio NZ linked to change 11 April 2003 By JOHN DRINNAN The Government is planning extra funding for Radio New Zealand but is understood to want changes to the way the public broadcaster is run. http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,2394802a10,00.html (via Jilly Dybka, KF4ZEO, TN, DXLD) RADIO NZ FINDS NO FINANCIAL WRONG 14 April 2003 By JOHN DRINNAN The Radio New Zealand board has found "no serious wrongdoing" at public radio after investigating "whistleblower" claims by its news boss Lynne Snowdon, sources say. http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,2401659a11,00.html (via Jilly Dybka, TN, DXLD) ** NIGERIA. OVERVIEW OF THE MEDIA The Nigerian news media industry is one of the largest and most vibrant in Africa. It includes the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN), a network of government-run national, regional, and state radio stations; the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), which controls a similar network of government-owned television stations; a few private radio and television stations; and over 100 national and regional publications, most privately owned. As in most African countries, radio is the most important means of mass communication in the country. Estimates of the number of radio sets in the country range up to 24 million, serving a population of 130 million people. With radio sharing and community listening being common practices, the vast majority of Nigerians have access to radio. Furthermore, radio broadcasts from either national or regional stations reach virtually all of the national territory. By comparison, there are some 7 million television sets in the country, which tend to be centred more in the urban areas and more available to the affluent than to the poor. Similarly, newspapers tend to be more available in urban than rural areas and more prevalent among the better educated southern population than among northerners. The country's overall literacy rate is approximately 57 per cent, a factor limiting the relative influence of newspapers. The Nigerian constitution provides for freedom of the press, and most observers agree that the press has been enjoying greater freedom since 1999, the advent of the civilian government under Olusegun Obasanjo. Nevertheless, the US-based Freedom House rated Nigeria as only "partly free" in its 2002 Press Freedom Survey, in which 53 per cent of African countries were rated "not free" and 15 per cent were rated "free". Freedom House notes that criminal defamation laws "are used against journalists to inspire some self-censorship". It also alleges that Nigerian journalists are often subject to violence, especially in the north of the country. The State Department's most recent human rights report, issued in March 2002, states that "the government generally respected" press freedom, though "there were problems in some areas". The report notes that Decree 60, signed into law during the former military regime, is still on the books. The report goes on to explain that Decree 60, which was widely criticized by Nigerian journalists as unconstitutional and an "instrument of censorship," created a Press Council with the power to accredit, register, and suspend journalists. The Council took no official action during 2001, but journalists still regard the existence of Decree 60 and the Press Council as significant limitations on freedom of the press. Issues of educational and ethical standards for journalists are often as important to the quality of news media in Africa as issues of press freedom. Media observers note that in Nigeria, as throughout Africa, journalists have long suffered from a lack of formal professional training. Many working reporters have learned their trade primarily through whatever on-the-job training is made available by their employer. The lack of training, the observers point out, often results in poor journalistic practices - such as basing a story on only one source, reporting solely on the basis of unnamed sources, or reporting only one side of controversial stories. That said, many observers will also assert that Nigeria has the most professional level of journalism to be found in Africa. Professional training is available from independent organizations, such as the Nigerian Institute for Journalism, NIJ, which offers an independent training certificate programme. Increasingly, media organizations are requiring degrees or certificates such as those offered by the NIJ as a requirement for a reporter's job. Media observers also note ethical problems that plague journalism in Nigeria. The Media Rights Agenda, an organization "promoting and protecting press freedom and freedom of expression in Nigeria," has noted a long list of unethical practices that it claims are widespread throughout the country (Media Rights Monitor, September 2000). These include soliciting bribes to run a particular story or to suppress certain facts; ethnic or political bias in reporting; reporting on stories about which the journalist is uninformed; reporting, or failing to report, a story in deference to an authority; and unduly sensationalizing a story. Though these problems do undoubtedly affect the quality and reliability of journalism in Nigeria, it must also be noted that professional journalist organizations in Nigeria have recognized the problem, publicized it, and made some efforts to overcome it. The Nigerian Union of Journalists, the Nigerian Guild of Editors, and the Newspaper Proprietors Association of Nigeria, for instance, in 1998 formally adopted a Code of Ethics and called upon all of their members to observe it. Radio The FRCN operates national radio stations, identified as Radio Nigeria, which broadcast in shortwave from the cities of Lagos, Ibadan, Kaduna and Enugu. Radio Nigeria Lagos provides three separate channels: Channel 1 broadcasts in English on mediumwave and FM, as well as shortwave; Channel 2 broadcasts in English on mediumwave and FM; and Channel 3 broadcasts on FM only in English, Nigerian Pidgin and the major indigenous languages of Yoruba, Hausa and Igbo. The national stations in the Ibadan (southwest Nigeria), Enugu (eastern) and Kaduna (north) offer one or more channels in English and the indigenous languages spoken in each particular area. In addition to the national stations, each of the country's 36 states has at least one state radio station broadcasting in mediumwave or FM. State radios typically hook up to the national network for major newscasts of the day, but otherwise carry their own programming. Each of the state radio stations broadcasts in a combination of English and the vernacular languages that predominate in the state, ensuring that radio is almost universally accessible. The national radios operate solely on government funding and are not permitted to accept commercial advertising. State radios receive government funding but are allowed to accept some advertising as well (American Express Small Business Report). There were six private radio stations broadcasting in 2001, according to the US State Department Human Rights Report. The most popular of the private stations are Ray Power 1 (Lagos) and Ray Power 2 (Abuja), owned by DAAR Communications. The stations draw an especially large audience of young adults, in large part due to the stations' musical appeal as well as its relays of BBC programming. Ray Power stations also feature local news, phone-in programmes and sports. DAAR Communications also has networking agreements with over 30 state radios throughout Nigeria, giving Ray Power a nearly nationwide reach. Available audience survey data indicate that Ray Power stations enjoy an audience of between 2 and 4 times as large as Radio Nigeria. The Voice of Nigeria (VON) is the country's external service. As described on the station's web site (www.voiceofnigeria.org), VON is an autonomous corporation that has been granted by statute the exclusive authority "for broadcasting externally, by radio, Nigeria's viewpoint to any part of the world". VON is required by law to broadcast "as a public interest in the interest of Nigeria" and to "ensure that its services reflect views of Nigeria as a federation and give adequate _expression to the culture, characteristics, affairs and opinions of Nigeria." It broadcasts on shortwave in English, French, Swahili, Hausa, Fulfulde and Arabic from studios in Lagos and Abuja. Important international news sources for Nigerians include direct shortwave reception and FM rebroadcasts of BBC and VOA services in Hausa and English. Television The NTA operates national and regional television stations, and at least 30 states currently operate their own television stations, as well. The NTA national programming is in English only, while regional stations broadcast in a combination of English, Yoruba, Hausa and Igbo. NTA programming includes a variety of general interest shows, including news, talk shows, sports, soap operas and business programmes. Since the early 1990s, Nigeria has allowed private television broadcasting. According to the State Department Human Rights Report, in 2001 there were nine privately owned television stations that broadcast domestic news and political commentary in the country and two private satellite television services. These include African Independent Television, AIT, which is owned by DAAR Communications, which also owns Ray Power Radio. AIT broadcasts in the Lagos area and, via satellite, to Africa, Europe and the Caribbean. Its 24-hour programming includes African news and locally-produced entertainment. The station's goal, as stated in press releases, is to present a positive image of Africa to the world and to ensure that Africa is "is represented by Africans". Other important television broadcasters include Minaj TV, which serves eastern Nigeria and operates both a cable network and a satellite broadcasting service, and Galaxy TV, which broadcasts sports and entertainment to western Nigeria in English and Yoruba. In the short history of private broadcasting in Nigeria, private television stations have had a difficult time remaining solvent, owing to high costs and scarce advertising revenue. These problems have been aggravated by a law requiring that programming for terrestrial broadcasting consist of at least 60 per cent locally produced content (80 per cent for satellite broadcasting). This requirement causes hardships because locally produced programmes tend to be more expensive than much of the available foreign programming. Foreign television broadcasts are readily available to the few Nigerians able to afford satellite antennas, for the government does not restrict access to foreign satellite broadcasts. Print media The Nigerian press is made up of a wide variety of publications - some owned by the government, but most privately owned. These include regional newspapers and papers with a national readership; newspapers that strive for professional, objective journalism and others that designed to espouse the interests of particular ethnic groups; popular tabloids, dailies appealing to an educated elite and serious weekly news magazines. According to available market data, daily readership of Nigerian newspapers is limited to 23 per cent of the population, and no single title reaches more than 18 per cent of the population. The federal government owns two main daily newspapers, the New Nigerian (which publishes separate editions in Lagos and Kaduna) and the Daily Times of Lagos. Both papers are published in English, but the New Nigerian also publishes an edition in Hausa. Several states also publish daily or weekly newspapers, all in English, but they depend heavily on state subsidies to stay in production. The majority of Nigeria's newspapers are privately owned and published in Lagos. Several have a national audience. Among the most widely read, with circulation figures exceeding 200,000, are the Daily Times, The Guardian and the Daily Champion. The New Nigerian (Kaduna) enjoys a large regional readership in the north of the country. Outside of Lagos in the southwestern part of the country, the Nigerian Tribune (Ibadan )enjoys a large audience in the major cities in the states of Oyo, Osun, Ogun and Kwara. The popularity of some of these newspapers reflects the fact that the papers strongly champion the interests of a particular ethnic group. The Nigerian Tribune, for example, is noted for its defence of Yoruba interests and its support of the Yoruba-dominated Alliance for Democracy party. Experienced media observers note that the paper has been critical of Hausa-led military regimes in the past and has denounced the juntas as the "Kaduna Mafia" or the "Hausa-Fulani oligarchy". The Daily Champion (Lagos) has long promoted Igbo sociopolitical interests. In an interview published in the March 2002 issue of Media Review magazine, Emma Agu, CEO/editor in chief of the Daily Champion, confirmed the paper's pro-Igbo ideology: "I admit that in Igbo issues, or issues that affect the East, Champion comes out strongly. We have no apologies to offer for that." The Abuja paper Daily Trust has a pro-North tendency. It generally favours northern leaders and tends to be critical of the Lagos press and southern leaders. The Lagos papers Vanguard and The Guardian are widely read and highly respected newspapers that claim no political, religious or cultural affiliation. Both papers demonstrate professional journalism and objective reporting on all topics of current national interest - including controversial topics such as corruption, human rights abuses and good governance. Both also feature a wide range of commentary and editorials on issues of national and international concern. The Guardian, whose columnists and contributors include university lecturers, top business executives and national politicians, is aimed at a well-educated audience. It is a "serious" publication, likely to be read by the country's influential business leaders, politicians and policymakers. According to an Internews survey, The Guardian is read by 47 per cent of Nigeria's "decisionmakers," more than any other daily. This Day, a Lagos daily newer than The Guardian, is also well regarded and highly credible, especially in the north. It pays its journalists relatively high salaries, so that they are less susceptible to bribery, and gives them continuing professional training throughout their careers - practices it also shares with The Guardian. According to the Internews survey, This Day is the most widely read daily by decisionmakers in the northern cities of Kaduna (34 per cent) and Kano (29 per cent). As The Guardian and This Day, the weekly news magazines Tell and Newswatch, are well-respected publications and influential opinion shapers within Nigeria. Readers of both papers tend to be educated professionals and businessmen. According to an UN report, Tell has a weekly circulation of approximately 100,000; Newswatch has a weekly print run of 50,000. According to Internews, Tell is read by 67 per cent of Nigeria's decisionmakers; Newswatch, by 32 per cent. Many Nigerian news publications - including the dailies The Guardian, Post Express, Vanguard, Comet and Daily Trust, as well as the weekly news magazine Newswatch - also appear in internet versions on their own websites. Other news publications are hosted, at least in part, by internet portals such as AllAfrica.com and Lagos-online.com. Press agency The News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, is the country's only news agency. A government-owned agency, its English-language reports of domestic political and economic news appear in several local newspapers and are also e-mailed to subscribers. Internet There are about 10 Internet service providers in Nigeria and approximately 100,000 Internet users. The vast majority of these users access the Internet through the cyber cafes that have been springing up on the streets of the major cities. Costs for dial-up subscriptions at home are prohibitively expensive (equivalent to approximately 60 US dollars a month) and the telecommunications infrastructure is not developed or reliable enough to support general home use in any case. Internet access is generally not available outside the large cities, owing to a lack of telephone lines, though the use of wireless Internet services is increasing. Internet users in Nigeria can access a wide range of local sites, providing the same types of information, business, social and entertainment services widely available in developed countries. According to the State Department's Human Rights Report, the government does not restrict access to the Internet. Source: BBC Monitoring research 11 Apr 03 (via DXLD) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. 3335, R. East Sepik (pres.), 1057-1108 12 April, Nice island pop music over top of hour, M announcer in Pidgin mention of 'program', and Province, then more music for about a minute, then M announcer again mention of Province, meterband, Western Province, Papua New Guinea, a brief chime denoting ToH, then TC for 9:00 (3 minutes late). Deadair, then M again over lively instrumental island music, end of music, a brief pause, then more talk presumably a news update. No real ID heard, and can't understand the mention of Western Province. Surprised to find this as well as 3245 Gulf. Both not heard in ages. Fair signal with CHU slop-over QRM (Dave Valko, PA, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** PERU. 6536.0, Radio La Poderosa, Huancabamba. April 2003 - 0100 UT. It seems that the old reliable "RD Huancabamba" has got a new name. Sometimes ID as "RD La Poderosa". Quito April 12 2003 (Björn Malm, Ecuador, SW Bulletin, translated by SWB editor Thomas Nilsson) ** PERU. Radio La Voz de Salvación OAX6B 6035 kHz Sería interesante saber si esta emisora, encontrada en internet, realmente existe: http://www.radiovozdesalvacion.100megas.com/index.html La misma organizacion dice usar también Radio Bethel, 5950. Véase http://www.lavozdesalvacionarequipaperu.100megas.com/contact.html (Henrik Klemetz, Sweden, April 12, Conexión Digital via DXLD) Tendriamos que revisar un apunte del amigo Hauser… http://www.worldofradio.com/dxld2125.txt ... asi como la LISTA DE EMISORAS AUTORIZADAS realizada por el Ministerio de Transportes y Comunicaciones del Perú: http://www.radiodifusion.com/archivo/Radios_del_Peru.pdf uno busca OAX6B... y figura como Radio Landa...Radio Landa tiene MUCHOS AÑOS fuera del aire (salvo que me encuentre confundido...) En estos momentos 1900 UT del sábado 12 de abril estoy con un radio y NO están al aire...lo que sí aprovecho endecir es que en 9720 kHz hay una modulación TERRIBLE por parte de Radio Victoria... 73 (Alfredo ``Space Master`` Cañote, Lima, Peru, ibid.) Just found this info on the net, http://www.radiovozdesalvacion.100megas.com/index.html http://www.radiovozdesalvacion.100megas.com/ where I read of a new 24 h operation from Arequipa, on 6035 kHz, OAX6B. The address is given as Apartado Postal 105 Serpost, Cercado, Arequipa, Peru. The call sign OAX6B was assigned to Radio Landa, which used to be on 6035 decades ago (Henrik Klemetz, Sweden, April 12, dxing.info via DXLD) Radio Internacional, La Voz de la Salvación, Arequipa: The service is not yet on the air, says José Vera in an email, but will be a full scale operation "such as that of HCJB". They are holding the Radio Landa license and SW transmitter. The transmitting power will be raised, Vera says. Radio Bethel, 1050 and 5950 (5940?) is a different organization (Henrik Klemetz, Sweden, April 13, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Not with just one transmitter, even if power raised! (gh, DXLD) ** PERU. En este momento hay un fenómeno registrado desde ayer ... Por 6020 kHz uno puede escuchar 2 audios: El de Radio Victoria --- en paralelo con 780 mw y 9720 (superdistorsionado) - y otro que también posee la característica de "religioso"... No me gustaría pensar que por ahí están haciendo las pruebas de transmisión y que justo están usando la misma frecuencia. Mismo fenómeno R. Macedonia con Radio Chota [4890] y también las dos de carácter "religioso". Necesito por favor algún teléfono para comunicarme con ellos y tener más datas para compartir (Alfredo Cañote, Lima, Perú, Apr 13, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** PERU. Unión la Radio en Internet: Recién encontrado el sitio de Radio Unión, de Lima, Perú, http://www.radiounion.org por donde se puede conocer la programación de la emisora. Hay también varias encuestas sobre grupos musicales que podrían interesar al DXista al igual que los comentarios que se hacen sobre el alcance de la onda corta (Henrik Klemetz, Sweden, April 12, Conexión Digital via DXLD) Visita RADIOUNION.ORG La Mejor Programación Tropical y Folklórica, 100% PERUANA, ahora en Internet! FOROS CHAT, AGENDA DE FIESTAS, PRIMICIAS MUSICALES, Y MUCHO MAS... VISITA: http://radiounion.org radiounion http://radiounion.org new web page (via Henrik Klemetz, DXLD) ** RUSSIA. Schedule of Radio Sakhalin in Korean: Mon~Fri 0840 to 0900 UT, 11840 kHz USB, FM 106.0 MHz. The station is clearly received in Korea on 11840 USB (Sung Chul Cho, Korea South, April 12, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOUTH CAROLINA [non]. Brother Stair admits dependence on Satan: I had trouble sleeping last night so I sat in bed with the portable. Caught Brother Stair on 1530 WSAI at 0730 or so. He stated that the geomagnetic field is created by the earth's core, i.e., hell. We're heading for a field reversal and everything will be chaos. He said it himself (in not so many words) --- hell is responsible for his own broadcasts. Maranatha! Be prepared to meet your DX god. Sister Liz (Liz Cameron, MI, April 13, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TIBET. 7380 /6130. For Saturday I could not find the program Holy Tibet. Instead of it 1530 to past 1605 Apr 11 [sic – must be Apr 12] there was a program consisting mostly of ads (1519-1521 and 1525- 1532!! Each advert is about 1 minute of length) and 5 minute talks or music. 6130 is 34333, 7385 is 44434 but after 1540 QSB is stronger (Zacharias Liangas, Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Holy Tibet show was never at 1530, but 1630 and there is no DST shift in Tibet (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TIBET [non]. CHINA, 12100, 1454- Apr 13, Chinese CNR music jammer. Vlad Titarev's unID Tibetan station is heard here as well with a poor to fair signal with Tibetan (or Chinese) sounding music without ID. Heard no ID at TOH. Has this one been figured out? I wonder about a 2X harmonic of Lhasa Tibet PBS on 6050, though not a peep from them here. I checked for listed parallels but no luck. 1511: Strong parallel found! 11510. Another very strong at 11945. (SIO 5-5-5). Weak parallel 7470. 13625 under cochannel. 9680 same. Therefore, this HAS to be the CNR music jammer! These frequencies are all listed in my B02 ILG (Walt Salmaniw, Victoria, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) As already in DXLD, it`s V. of Tibet clandestine via Tashkent on 12100, thus attracting CNR jammers (gh, DXLD) ** UNITED ARAB EMIRATES. DUBAI, 13675, 1622- Apt 13, UAE Radio Dubai. Despite reports about a supposed frequency change to 13650, I'm still hearing UAE here with a strong signal, parallel to 15395. Oldies instrumentals. Into English news at 1630. Top headline was that there have been no weapons of mass destruction found as yet. Weather (hazy) at 1634. Into Arabic at 1634:30 (Walt Salmaniw, Victoria, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. BBCWS SCHEDULE (or lack thereof) While it may have been defensible at the start of the hostilities in Iraq, I'm now viewing the BBCWS's approach to program scheduling as more of a conceit than a service. My April issue of "BBC On Air" might as well be kitty litter. Once the WS decided to dispense with the all news format, it should have resumed its regular schedule at least to a reasonable extent. Instead, without rhyme or reason, management created another schedule out of whole cloth dropping whole genres (like music) and instituting "new" programs like the daily "Talkback". The WS now programs so many streams, that when it goes off schedule it's impossible to determine what's on when. An alternative approach, after the first few days of the war could have been to open a set of frequencies for the all news service (which is normally only available on the Internet or via satellite) and retain the regular features and news schedule on others. In point of fact, the WS should -- in any case -- reduce the number of regional streams (two each for Africa and Asia is overkill) and replace one of them with the news stream permanently, reserving one or two frequencies in each region for this service. I refer to the current BBC approach as a "conceit" because it appears to have been implemented to emphasize management's commitment to making the WS a global news service, first and foremost, without regard to the WS's traditional more measured and proportioned approach to both global events and its programming. Iraq is important, but it's not the only damn thing going on in the world (John Figliozzi, NY, April 11, swprograms via DXLD) FWIW, I sent a note to my Bush House contacts on Thursday asking if they'd sorted out a "longer-term" schedule plan, but hadn't heard anything back yet. I was also wondering if splitting the schedule to "all news" and "infotainment" was doable -- because, domestically, both Australia and the BBC maintained their regular spoken-word services since these broadcasters also maintain rolling-news formats in parallel. The BBCWS could also use their e-mail subscription lists to update schedule information quickly -- they might wish to set up a separate schedule list in order to send future information out quickly via e- mail in the future. I think I might just suggest this. I don't feel as strong as you do regarding the 'conceit' issue. The BBCWS serves a multitude of audiences, with diverse needs. How to prioritize the needs of a Middle East audience versus a North American audience must keep them up at night. I know I'd have a tough time sorting out what's right for each audience and at what time. (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA, ibid.) A valid point, to be sure. I guess my counter would be that it seems that the schedule is being "massaged" in a way that seems more in line with management's preconceived notions about what the "new WS" should be, rather than any real analysis of audience needs/wants. I would further point out that there are seven individual program streams. It would seem that would, at the least, allow the Beeb to tailor things geographically. But your point is well taken. jaf (Figliozzi, ibid.) They are to some extent. I still hear Caribbean programming on 15190 in the morning, and listening to the African stream at the height of the war, I found them with more-or-less their regular programming. Far be it from me to defend the BBC, though. :-) – (Ralph Brandi, ibid.) I can't speak to whether or not management's notions are "preconceived" or not, nor can I speak to the degree of difficulty involved in with tinkering with all the schedules to wind up with the optimum mix for a given target area. Maybe once the dust settles we can get a peek "under the hood". As we have long lamented here, audience research for shortwave is an expensive and inexact proposition -- even more so given how quickly events have changed as the weeks have gone on. Perhaps, too, the funds weren't there to produce all the programming they would have wanted to for a full Spring schedule, given how much it might have cost to produce the war coverage. It's pretty safe to say, at least judging by the vocal group we have here, that we're ready for some variety in our BBCWS diet (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA USA, ibid.) I appreciate what the BBCWS has been doing during the war, but there comes a time when their level of coverage is a bit much and I guess we all have different measurements for that. They could use more variety now without sacrificing coverage of events in Iraq IMHO. I do wonder if they will give all of us who have subscriptions to BBC On Air a rebate for what has become a useless guide?! (Sandy Finlayson, ibid.) ** U K [non]. HMS ARK ROYAL SWITCHES OFF BBC Richard Hargreaves of the News, Tuesday April 8, 2003 Military leaders have axed the BBC from the nation's flagship amid claims of pro-Iraqi bias. http://media.guardian.co.uk/broadcast/story/0,7493,932306,00.html (via Jilly Dybka, KF4ZEO, DXLD) ** U K [and non]. BFBS monitoring report ---------------------- Date Freq Time SINPO Signal level 11-4-3 17895 1550 45554 S9+10 13860 1550 55545 S9+20 17635 1610 43444 S9+10 15150 1710 55545 S9+30 13860 1704 44434 S9+20 13760 1800 55545 S9+30 max 6015 1810 43433 S9+20 lower aud than 13.76 12-4-3 15425 0615 55545 S9+20 15795 0615 34423 S7 max Notices: 13860 has a very short delay of less than 100 ms over 15150 15150 has a delay of ca 400 ms over sat feed (Eutelsat W3 7E, 11324) Program of M East is relayed by SW (Zacharias Liangas, Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 11715, 1526- Apr 12, KJES. Very strong reception with children's choir in Spanish with preacher speaking (?translating) in the background, also in Spanish. Beam according to HFCC A03 is 350, pretty much directly at me. ILG B02 has a beam of 150 degrees, which again would be the backside of the signal towards the Pacific NW. Full ID at 1530 in Spanish by a female child (Walt Salmaniw, Victoria, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [and non]. In yesterday's op ed in the New York Times by Eason Jordan of CNN, he admitted CNN suppressed many accounts of torture by Saddam Hussein's regime in exchange for being allowed to keep the CNN Baghdad bureau open (the story is at http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/11/opinion/11JORD.html and makes you wonder what "agreements" have been made to keep CNN bureaus in Damascus, Havana, etc.). Never underestimate the human capacity for self-deception! (Harry Helms AK6C/7 Las Vegas, NV DM26, NRC-AM via DXLD) I heard that CNN also failed to report until now that some of its own informants over the years had been executed (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. Subject : WRKQ fined From the FCC Before the Federal Communications Commission, Washington, D.C. 20554 In the Matter of Monroe Area Broadcasters, Inc. File No. EB-02-AT-092 NAL/Acct. No. 200232480009 Licensee of Station WRKQ(AM) FRN 0003-7200-59 Madisonville, Tennessee FORFEITURE ORDER Adopted: April 3, 2003 Released: April 7, 2003 By the Chief, Enforcement Bureau: I. INTRODUCTION 1. In this Forfeiture Order ("Order"), we issue a monetary forfeiture in the amount of nine thousand dollars ($9,000) to Monroe Area Broadcasters, Inc. ("Monroe"), licensee of Station WRKQ(AM), Madisonville, Tennessee, for willful and repeated violation of Sections 73.44(b), 73.1201(a)(2) and 73.1745(a) of the Commission's Rules ("Rules").[1] The noted violations involve Monroe's failure to adequately attenuate WRKQ's transmission system emissions, failure to identify WRKQ by call sign, and operation of WRKQ at night with daytime power. 2. On June 27, 2002, the Commission's Atlanta, Georgia Field Office ("Atlanta Office") issued a Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture ("NAL") to Monroe for a forfeiture in the amount of nine thousand dollars ($9,000).[2] Monroe filed a response to the NAL on July 10, 2002. II. BACKGROUND 3. On March 21, 2002, the Atlanta Office received two complaints alleging that WRKQ was not reducing power at sunset or identifying by call sign, and that WRKQ's transmitter had spurious emissions which were interfering with the reception of other stations, including the reception of WWV[3] on 2.5 MHz. WRKQ is licensed to operate on frequency 1250 kHz. Its second harmonic of 2.5 MHz falls on WWV's authorized frequency of 2.5 MHz. On May 14, 2002, an agent from the Atlanta Office monitored WRKQ's signal. WRKQ's authorization specifies daytime power of 500 watts and nighttime power of 84 watts. Field strength measurements taken by the agent indicated that WRKQ did not reduce power at sunset ... (more at http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-03-1033A1.doc ) (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** U S A. Hi Glenn, here's some news --- and yes, I am almost certainly a woman. ;) I thought the Grand Ole Opry was the longest running radio show in history... (re: Unshackled in DXLD 3-061) (Jilly Dybka, Nashville, DX LISTENING DIGEST) SPEEDING TRAIN'S WHISTLE WAS ONCE WSM'S SIGNATURE SOUND I remember as a child some 60 years ago we would stop playing and come in and turn on the radio to WSM at about 5:15 every afternoon. The transmitter was located beside a railroad track. The engineer at the transmitter would turn on a microphone outside the window and we would listen to the Pan American as it passed by ... Since WSM had a fairly low frequency of 650 kilocycles, to get the most coverage the tower would have to be almost 1,000 feet tall. I heard there were no towers that tall. Is it true two towers were put together, the lower one upside down, to get that height?(Ray A. Eddings, Manchester, TN) http://www.tennessean.com/learn-nashville/archives/03/04/31346829.shtml?Element_ID=31346829 (via Jill Dybka, MSIS, DXLD) ** U S A. CLEAR CHANNEL RADIO ACCUSED OF PAYOLA-LIKE PRACTICES Company Agrees To Stop Working With Independent Music Promoters POSTED: 7:56 a.m. EDT April 10, 2003 SAN ANTONIO -- Clear Channel Communications Inc., the nation's largest radio owner, said Wednesday that its stations will stop working with independent music promoters after members of Congress raised questions about the practice http://www.themilwaukeechannel.com/news/2103162/detail.html (via Jilly Dybka, DXLD) ** U S A. POWELL: 'RISING ANXIETY OVER RADIO OWNERSHIP' -- FCC CHAIRMAN SAYS HE'S UNEASY WITH REGULATING EXPLICIT RADIO, TV CONTENT News From RTNDA/NAB By Al Tompkins Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell yesterday sent clear signals to broadcasters that he has little interest in more strict regulation of explicit radio and TV content. He also told the joint Radio and Television News Directors Association and National Association of Broadcasters convention in Las Vegas that there is "a rising anxiety over radio ownership." http://www.poynter.org/content/content_view.asp?id=29240&sid=8 (via Jilly Dybka, DXLD) ** U S A. RADIO ICON WNEW-FM CHANGES FORMAT The Associated Press Thursday, April 10, 2003; 3:56 PM NEW YORK - Once the nation's foremost rock station, WNEW-FM announced a new format Thursday, creating an identity as "102.7 Blink" with a mix of music, entertainment news and celebrity gossip. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A4177-2003Apr10.html (via Jilly Dybka, KF4ZEO, TN, DXLD) ** U S A. MUSINGS ON THE CHANGING FACE OF NAB By Frank Wells, Apr 10, 2003, 10:28 PST By far the lightest traffic is in the radio and audio hall; conversely, there is heavy traffic in the multimedia hall, where digital audio workstations, networking and mass storage systems are on display. http://www.uemedia.com/CPC/article_7061.shtml (via Jilly Dybka, KF4ZEO, TN, DXLD) ** U S A [non]. ESTADOS UNIDOS VIA CHILE - Atenção para o novo horário do programa Altas Ondas, que é emitido, nas sextas e sábados, pela Voz Cristã. A partir de 18 de abril passa a ser irradiado às 1500, pela habitual freqüência de 21500 kHz (Célio Romais, Panorama, @tividade DX Apr 12 via DXLD) That`s strange; you`d think they would have shifted April 11-12, the first Fri/Sat of DST in NAm --- not that that is of any relevance in Brasil or Chile (gh, DXLD) ** VATICAN. VATICAN RADIO BACK IN THE DOCK Vatican Radio now falls under Italian jurisdiction Last Updated: Thursday, 10 April, 2003, 18:26 GMT 19:26 UK Vatican Radio has denied allegations that its transmitters have been putting lives at risk in a Rome suburb by violating restrictions on electromagnetic emissions. On Wednesday, Italy's Supreme Court ruled that three officials from the broadcaster would have to stand trial over the charges. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/2937031.stm (via Jilly Dybka, KF4ZEO, TN, DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. Radio Voice of Mujahedin on 720 kHz -- I heard an Arabic -speaking station on 720 kHz on 11th of April at 1618-1630 UT. It gave its ID clearly as 'Huna idha'at Sawt til' Mujahedin' several times. Words 'shawra til' islamiya' repeated also. What is it? There is a shortwave station called Voice of Mujahedin targeting Iran and transmitting in Farsi. But this was speaking Arabic and (probably) targeting Iraq. There are couple of powerful transmitter in Iran on this frequency. The word 'Mujahedin' means 'Freedom Fighter', so it can be deployed by many oppositional organizations. Could this be pro-shia -mouslim station targeting Iraq sponsored by Iranians? Or a title of a new 'radio channel' of IRIB? 73 de (Pentti Lintujärvi, April 13, DXing.info via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. Heard Christian Voice in English tonight (Sat 12 April) on 3200 and 3240 kHz in parallel, with the same programming (but a slight time delay) from their usual channel from Zambia of 4965 kHz. Audible at 2115 tune-in to past 2240 UT. Programming mainly of pop music and mentioned website http://www.christianvoice.org 3240 slightly stronger here than 3200 but both fairly weak. No mention of these 3 MHz frequencies in their A03 schedule on their website. 3200 is scheduled by TWR Swaziland in English (but only to 2045) and 3240 has also been used by TWR Swaziland so wonder if Christian Voice is being relayed via Swaziland? (Alan Pennington, BDXC-UK, Caversham UK AOR 7030+ / longwire, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 4864.95 unID religious Spanish, unknown QTH. Feb/April 2003 - 1115/ 2330 UT. In SWB issue 1505 I reported for the first time about this as it seems 100% religious station. Weak signal and I can only hear separate words and phrases. After many hours of listening finally the signal could be heard also in the evening, April 10 I listened from 2320 until close down 0102 UT. They broadcast all the time "La Voz de la Salvación" with the same male preacher. ID at 2330 UT by YL: "Cadena........", then two frequencies were mentioned and I am quite sure of one of them: "730 AM". The other frequency I also think is MW but I am not sure. I have not heard any geographical name. The only relation, somewhat far-fetched, is that on 730 kHz there is a listed "R. Cadena Dial, Santa Bárbara" in Honduras. I don’t think the two listed Bolivians have been reported for a long time(?). Is there any relation between these two and "LV de la Salvación"? Weak, hard worked signal but I keep urgently on listening! Keep in touch if you have any info about this station (Björn Malm, Ecuador, SW Bulletin, translated by SWB editor Thomas Nilsson) UNIDENTIFIED. 9795.45, 2237 April 3 with Viet type songs followed by very long talks in Vietnamese or local language. Closed at 2256 with hymn. Could not find any ID. Signal S1 best in SSB (Zacharias Liangas, Thessaloniki, Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I see FEBC Manila in previous seasons. But I don't know the 'NOL IUM MWW' lang shortings, like Hmong-Blue / -White. LATER: Yes, I see on their homepage these FEBC entries: http://www.febc.org/phptest/p_stations.php3 2919 NOL LAO Laos 9795 31 2230-2300 ALL 3.5 PHL 2917 MWW HMONG-WHITE Laos/N.Thai 15335 19 2300-2330 12346 2.5 PHL 2918 BLU HMONG-BLUE Laos/N.Thai 15335 19 2300-2330 57 1 PHL 73 (Wolfgang Bueschel, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ PORTUGUESE & SPANISH SW BROADCASTS Uma lista completa das emissoras internacionais que emitem em português e espanhol já está disponível na página do colega radioescuta e dexista Sarmento da Rocha Fernandes Campos, do Rio de Janeiro (RJ). Vá em: http://planeta.terra.com.br/arte/sarmentocampos/PortFreq.htm (Célio Romais, Panorama, @tividade DX Apr 12 via DXLD) PERÍODO A03 Novo esquema de transmissoes. Disponibilizei na minha página o esquema de transmissões atualizado A03 (período que se inícia em Abril 2003). Filtrei as emissões em espanhol e português exibindo como páginas html. A relação completa em formato texto compactado também está disponível para copia e pode ser importada para outros formatos. http://radioescuta.aminharadio.com (Sarmento F. Campos, Rio de Janeiro - Brasil, @tividade DX via DXLD) http://planeta.terra.com.br/arte/sarmentocampos/OndasCurtas.htm RECEIVER NEWS +++++++++++++ BRASIL - A Semp Toshiba voltou a fabricar receptores de ondas curtas portáteis analógicos. Conforme Sarmento da Rocha Campos, do Rio de Janeiro (RJ), os dois novos modelos já estão à venda em alguns magazines. O interessante é que no encarte promocional do produto, a referência principal é: "capta a Rádio Aparecida". Você pode conferir os novos receptores no sítio da empresa, que é o seguinte: http://www.semptoshiba.com.br (Célio Romais, Panorama, @tividade DX Apr 12 via DXLD) ETON/GRUNDIG ANNOUNCES AVAILABILITY OF BATTERY-FREE EMERGENCY RADIO http://www.tinyurl.com/9g7n (via Jilly Dybka, DXLD) COMMENTARY ++++++++++ QSLing, BELLABARBA A very large file of discussion on this issue has accumulated, but is being held over to avoid issuing another double issue just yet (gh) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ ARTIGO INTERESSANTE DX FM Um amigo achou na rede um artigo interessantissimo (PDF, em inglês) sobre a propagação transequatorial nas altas freqüências. Ele explica por exemplo o que acontece quando emissoras FM do Caribe são escutadas no Sul do Brasil http://www.ips.gov.au/Category/Educational/Other%20Topics/Radio%20Communication/Transequatorial.pdf (Rocco Cotroneo, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil, @tividade DX Apr 12 via DXLD) ###