DX LISTENING DIGEST 3-037, March 5, 2003 dited 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 afterwards at http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtd3c.html [note change] HTML version of February issues: http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtd3b.html HTML version of all January issues: http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtd3a.html For restrixions and searchable 2003 contents archive see http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldmid.html For restrixions and searchable 2002 contents archive see http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldmid2.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 FIRST AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1172: Wed 2300 on WBCQ 17495-CUSB, 7415 Thu 2130 on WWCR 15825 [ex-9475] Fri 1300 on WJIE 7490, 13595? Fri 1930, Sat 0130 on RFPI 15038.6 and/or 7445 WRN ONDEMAND [from Fri]: http://new.wrn.org/listeners/stations/station.php?StationID=24 OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO: Check http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html from early UT Thursday: [Low] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1172.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1172.ram [High] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1172h.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1172h.ram (Summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1172.html ** ARGENTINA. 3270.1, Radio Nuestras Raíces (harmonic), Valentín Alsina, Buenos Aires (1090 x 3) 2210+, March 1, Local football transmission: Velez-Huracán, 34343 (Arnaldo Slaen, Chascomus DX Camp, Argentina, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** ARMENIA. DX TARGET: VOICE OF ARMENIA THE NATIONAL RADIO OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA By Richard A. D'Angelo Since the political breakup of the Soviet Union more than a decade ago, many DX'er set their sites on the various former Soviet Republics as new radio country DX targets. Although the NASWA Country List already recognized each of the Soviet Republics as radio countries, many others did not. With the fall of the Soviet Union, the DX map changed and became somewhat unified in many respects. Consequently, attention was given to DX'ing many of the former Soviet Republics as they became new radio countries. This DX Target will take a look at one such radio country, the Republic of Armenia. Then we will be moving on to the Voice of Armenia, the National Radio of the Republic of Armenia. Republic of Armenia The Republic of Armenia is 29,743 square kilometers or 11,484 square miles with a population of 3.4 million. Its capital city, Yerevan, is home to over a third of the country population, some 1.3 million people. The principle language is Armenian although Russian is usually understood, but rarely used. Kurdish is sometimes used in broadcasting because there are over 56 thousand Kurds living in Armenia. Armenia lies on the southern slopes of the Armenian Mountains in the Lesser Caucasus and is bordered by Georgia, Turkey, Azerbaijan and Iran. Its highest peak is Mount Aragats, 4,090 meters, or 13,415 feet, and even its deepest valley lie 450 to 700 meters, or 1,200 to 1,870 feet, above sea level. Its biggest lake is Lake Sevan in the east. An Armenian Apostolic Christian country, Armenia was incorporated into Russia in 1828 and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in 1920. Armenian leaders remain preoccupied by the long conflict with Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh, a primarily Armenian-populated region, assigned to Soviet Azerbaijan in the 1920s by Moscow. Armenia and Azerbaijan began fighting over the area in 1988. The struggle escalated after both countries gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. By May 1994, when a cease-fire took hold, Armenian forces held not only Nagorno-Karabakh but also a significant portion of Azerbaijan proper. The economies of both sides have been hurt by the inability to make substantial progress toward a peaceful resolution. Under the old Soviet central planning system, Armenia had developed a modern industrial sector, supplying machine tools, textiles, and other manufactured goods to sister republics in exchange for raw materials and energy. Since the implosion of the USSR in December 1991, Armenia has switched to small-scale agriculture away from the large agro- industrial complexes of the Soviet era. The agricultural sector has long-term needs for more investment and updated technology. The privatization of industry has been at a slower pace, but has been given renewed emphasis by the current administration. Armenia is a food importer, and its mineral deposits (gold, bauxite) are small. The ongoing conflict with Azerbaijan over the ethnic Armenian-dominated region of Nagorno-Karabakh and the breakup of the centrally directed economic system of the former Soviet Union contributed to a severe economic decline in the early 1990s. By 1994, however, the Armenian Government had launched an ambitious IMF- sponsored economic program that has resulted in positive growth rates in 1995-2001. Armenia also managed to slash inflation and has privatize most small- and medium-sized enterprises. Armenia's severe trade imbalance has been offset somewhat by international aid, domestic restructuring of the economy, and foreign direct investment. Voice of Armenia The Voice of Armenia commenced daily shortwave broadcasting on 10 September 1947. Early broadcasts from Yerevan were targeted to reach Lebanon, Iran, Syria, Kuwait, Turkey and Cyprus. It was a program dedicated to Armenians living abroad to fulfill the wishes of the Armenian people living in the Republic and out of the country. Over the years, the station expanded its scope, languages and content. The Arabic department opened shortly thereafter enabling the station to reach the Middle Eastern Arabic world. The daily Arabic program was 45 minutes with a goal of spreading Armenia's voice to the Middle Eastern cultures while informing millions of listeners about Armenia and Armenian-Arab relations. The Voice of Armenia's mission is to inform Armenian's living abroad about the social, economic, scientific and cultural life, history of Armenia and expatriate relations with the homeland. Daily transmissions from the station are in excess of ten hours. In addition to Armenian languages, the station broadcasts in foreign languages to listeners in more than 60 countries in English, French, Spanish, German, Russian, Georgian, Arabic, Farsi, Turkish, Azeri, and Kurdish languages. Today, the station has a staff of close to 70, up from its humble beginnings of only 11. The Voice of Armenia broadcasts in English at 2040-2100 UT on 4810 kHz to the Middle East and 9960 kHz or 11625 kHz to Europe Monday through Saturday and at 0910-0930 UT on 4810 kHz to the Middle East and 15270 kHz to Europe on Sunday. A German language transmission precedes the English language program. Spanish language broadcasts directed to South America can be heard at 0330-0345 UT on 9965 kHz. The international service hopes to familiarize listeners with the history of the Armenian people and the domestic and foreign policy of the country. The station is very appreciative of the numerous letters they receive from around the world. It is not unusual for listeners letters to be read over the air during the "Our Mailbox" program. The Voice of Armenia continues to be a good, reliable verifier of shortwave listener reception reports. The station responds with a QSL card, station information, and a form letter from Armen Amirien, General Director. English language postal reception reports with return postage can be sent to the station at: Voice of Armenia, National Radio Station of Armenia, Alex Manukyan Street, 5, Yerevan, 25, Republic of Armenia As always, remember to send in those interesting Voice of Armenia logs to Edwin Southwell for the Shortwave Logbook. Of course, those Voice of Armenia QSL verifications should be sent to Mark Hattam for inclusion in the QSL Report column. Good luck with this DX Target (Richard A. D`Angelo, March World DX Club Contact via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. R. Australia, 5994.82, March 1 0950-1005+, new time for English? Slightly off nominal 5995. Asian-Pacific service with Au financial news, 1000 news. Fair, \\ 9580, 11880 (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRIA. Global initiative of listeners' associations: RADIO AUSTRIA INTERNATIONAL MUST SURVIVE http://www.radio-portal.org/roi/votum.html (Wolfgang Bueschel, DX LISTENING DIGEST) AWR A-03: see USA [non] ** BRAZIL. R. Nacional da Amazônia, 6180, March 1 0840-0905+ Portuguese talk, phone talk, ID, Brazilian ballads, very good-strong, weaker on \\ 11780 (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. A Rádio RGS, de Porto Alegre (RS), foi captada novamente em 11895 kHz. Ouvida em diversos horários, em Jacutinga (RS), por Oséias Fantinelli. Também sintonizada, aqui em Porto Alegre (RS), em 1º de março, às 1745, com palestra sobre as semelhanças e diferenças entre a filosofia de Karl Marx e de José de Paiva Neto, líder da Legião da Boa Vontade, entidade a qual pertence a emissora (Célio Romais, Panorama, @tividade DX March 4 via DXLD) BRASIL - A programação em língua espanhola da Rádio Internacional da China continuará chegando aos países da América do Sul via transmissores da Radiobrás, situados em Brasília (DF). Recentemente, o acordo entre a empresa estatal brasileira e a CRI foi renovado. A informação foi transmitida pelo noticiário A Voz do Brasil, onde ganhou, inclusive, elogios do presidente Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. As informações são de Oséias Fantinelli, de Jacutinga (RS). A CRI é retransmitida, às 0100, em 9665 kHz, com 250 kW. Opinião: ao invés de difundir o Brasil para o exterior, nossos políticos preferem retransmitir a cultura de outros países. Nada contra o ato, mas bem que poderíamos ter a Rádio Nacional do Brasil nesta mesma freqüência e horário melhorando o conceito do Brasil lá fora. Qual o objetivo desta política? Agora, só falta o novo governo também investir na divulgação do país com propaganda nos táxis de Londres! (Célio Romais, Panorama, @tividade DX March 4 via DXLD) ** BULGARIA. Hi Glenn. Re the BULGARIA item in DXLD 3-036 about American servicemen in Bulgaria. Some info at http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/camp-sarafovo.htm 73 (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, March 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) About supporting Kosovo operations, but still funxioning, it seems (gh, DXLD) ** CANADA. SHOULD THE CBC BE PRIVATIZED? A long discussion http://www.canada.com/search/story.aspx?id=d16d564f-46f1-4695-8a65-ed7ef436c05a (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** CANADA. Here's another bit of a disturbing trend which could affect programming at CBC Radio (and therefore Radio Canada International). I was talking to a technician at CBC, he tells me in the interest of savings they're making cuts and contracting out the transmitter/tech jobs to private companies --- there'll probably be job losses (Sue Hickey, Grand Falls-Windsor, Newfoundland, Canada, GRDXC via DXLD) ** CANADA. ONTARIO ASSOCIATION OF BROADCASTERS NAMES AM 740 'RADIO STATION OF THE YEAR' http://www.newswire.ca/releases/February2003/28/c5829.html (via Jilly Dybka, KF4ZEO, DXLD) ** CHECHNYA [non]. RUSSIA: Effective March 2 Radio Free Chechnya/ Radiostation Chechnya Svobodnaya in Russian again on SW as follows: 0300-0700 on 9450 (55544) ||||| instead of Radio Rossii in Russian 0725-1400 on 15355 (44554) ||||| instead of Radio Rossii in Russian 0725-1500 on 12025 (55544) 1400-2100 on 5905 (54454) ||||| instead of Radio Rossii in Russian 1500-2100 on 5985 (53433) \\ 171 LW 0300-2100 (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, March 5 via DXLD) ** CONGO DR. Bunia is stable on 5066.32 at present, whilst R. Kahuzi is on 6209.8 with programming that includes relays of VOA English (Chris Greenway, Nairobi, March BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) ** CROATIA [non]. V. of Croatia, 7285 via DTK Germany, March 1 0406- 0412 English ID and news, very good (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA [non]. HACKER DISRUPTS CUBAN MEDIA WEB SITES At 1100 gmt on 4th March the following Cuban web sites: AIN http://www.ain.cubaweb.cu Granma http://www.granma.cubaweb.cu and Granma Internacional http://www.granma.cu displayed a hackers' page and message in capital letters: "NO WAR FUCK BUSH FUCK USA". The hacker identified himself or herself as "Serial Killer" and included an e-mail address and the names of other hackers taking part in the action. The site added: "s3r14l-k1ll3r Owns You!" The site contains an animated file of a beating heart with the colours and emblem of the Brazilian flag. No other Cuban sites were observed to have been affected by the hacker. By 1300 gmt, the above Cuban web sites were off-line and remained so at least until 1518 gmt, when this report was prepared. Source: BBC Monitoring research 4 Mar 03 (via DXLD) ** DENMARK [non]. Norway has decided to run the transmitters at 250 kW the rest of the YEAR to save electricity (and money). Our schedule is also available in Danish and English at http://www.dr.dk/rdk (Erik Køie, R. Denmark, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ECUADOR. A programação em português da HCJB, A Voz dos Andes não vai deixar de confirmar os informes de recepção, neste momento. De acordo com a apresentadora do programa DX HCJB, Eunice Carvajal, a emissora irá enviar aos ouvintes cartões QSLs com vistas e fotos já utilizadas no passado. A medida visa a economia interna promovida pela estação. Portanto, basta enviar um informe, tanto por correio tradicional como pelo e-mail, que o QSL será expedido. As próximas edições dos cartões serão de imagens utilizadas pela emissora no ano de 1986 (Célio Romais, Panorama, @tividade DX March 4 via DXLD) ** ECUADOR. HCJB WORLD RADIO A03 BROADCAST SCHEDULE (30 March 2003 - 26 October 2003) Language Begin: End: (kHz.) (kW) (Degrees) Region SMTWTFS 7 dpw u.o.s. ENGLISH 0000 0300 9745 100 351 N. Amer. (E) 0000 0600 21455 1 35/225 Eur./S. Pacific 0300 0600 9745 100 324 N Amer. (W) 0600 0800 9860 100 42 Europe 0600 0800 21455 1 35/225 Eur./S. Pacific 1100 1430 12005 75 43 Caribbean 1100 1430 15115 100 352/128 N/S America 1100 1430 21455 1 35/225 Eur./S. Pacific 2000 2200 15185 100 41 Europe GERMAN (High) 0500 0530 9780 100 42 Europe 0500 0530 21455 1 35/225 Eur./S. Pacific 0930 1000 6010 100 155 S. America 0930 1000 21455 1 35/225 Eur./S. Pacific 2000 2030 15590 100 42 Europe 2000 2030 17795 100 38 Europe 2000 2030 21455 1 35/225 Eur./S. Pacific 2300 2400 11980 100 131 S. America GERMAN (Low) 0530 0600 9780 100 42 Europe 0530 0600 21455 1 35/225 Eur./S. Pacific 1000 1030 6010 100 155 S. America 1000 1030 21455 1 35/225 Eur./S. Pacific 2230 2300 11980 100 150/330 N/S America 2230 2300 17660 100 340 N. America HUARANI 1030 1100 6050 50 18/172 S. America KIKONGO 0500 0515 12005 100 100 W. Africa 0111110 PORTUGUESE 0800 0930 9745 100 100 N. Brazil 0800 0930 21455 1 35/225 Eur./S. Pacific 1530 1800 15295 100 139 Brazil 2300 0230 11920 100 126 Brazil QUICHUA 0830 1000 6125 100 155 S. America 0830 1030 690 50 000/180 Ecuador 0830 1400 3220 8 90 (Vert.) S. America 0830 1400 6080 8 90 (Vert.) S. America 2100 0300 3220 8 90 (Vert.) S. America 2100 0300 6080 8 90 (Vert.) S. America 2130 0000 9745 100 155 S. America RUSSIAN 0330 0430 11865 100 34 W. Russia SPANISH 0100 0500 9525 100 325 Mexico 0600 0630 9655 100 42 Europe 1030 1100 21455 1 35/225 Eur./S. Pacific 1030 0500 690 50 000/180 Ecuador 1100 0500 6050 50 18/172 S. America 1100 1300 11960 100 355 Cuba 1100 1500 15140 100 150 S. America 1300 1500 11960 100 323 Mexico 1430 1530 21455 1 35/225 Eur./S. Pacific 2030 2130 15590 100 50 Europe 2100 2300 15140 100 150 S. America 2030 2400 21455 1 35/225 Eur./S. Pacific 2300 0100 15140 100 160/330 N/S America (via Swopan Chakroborty, Kolkata, India and via Alokesh Gupta, DXLD) Incomplete? Note this does not cover the few transmissions from HCJB Australia; nor e.g. Arabic via Canada 12025 2000-2130 (gh, DXLD) ** FRANCE. RADIO FRANCE INTERNATIONALE CANCELS NEWS BULLETIN OWING TO STRIKE Radio France Internationale's service in French for Africa carried the following announcement at 0730 gmt on 5 March: "In view of a strike by some RFI journalists, we will not be able to carry the full news bulletin scheduled for this hour. Kindly accept our apologies. RFI will present a musical programme. Thank you for your understanding." Source: Radio France Internationale, Paris, in French 0730 gmt 5 Mar 03 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** FRANCE. 15 French AM stations would be allowed to broadcast soon. The French Audio-visual Higher Council will study the answers of the 37 candidates next week. All the new MW channels are known so we can hope that the frequencies will be allotted during the spring. Several stations are ready to broadcast. "Superloustic" made a test transmission from Monaco last month ... It's a challenge with the future Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) project on MW and SW! 1 kW for some stations in the most important cities. Good luck Dxers! don't miss the Dx News Many of you need help to identify French MW stations. I put some MP3 samples from Radio Bleu and France Info on my SFx demo page at http://audiomaniac.multimania.com/fx.htm See Radio France ID Jingles for DXers at the bottom of this page. More files will be added when the private stations will be on the air (Pascal, Tours, France, March 4, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** GERMANY. Dear friends, Don't forget, today, DW technical dept. is shifting from Cologne to Bonn. New address for technical dept: Deutsche Welle Technical Advisory Service Kurt-Schumacher-Str. 3 53113 Bonn Germany 73s (Swopan Chakroborty, Kolkata, India, March 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. AWR A-03: see USA [non] ** GERMANY [non]. RUSSIA - 7300 kHz, Radio SANTEC, partial data QSL card in German (site not given), card shows 'a dove, station name and address', no v/s, personal letter from Johanna Limley, she explains "the stations name is Radio Santec (since 1999), the names 'The word- the cosmic wave-the universal spirit' or simply 'Universal Wave' are only subtitles in order to give a hint to the content of the broadcasts", in 7 days for a report with no rp to Das Wort - die kosmische Welle, Postfach 5643, 97006 Würzburg, Deutschland. Return address : Radio Santec GmbH, Marienstraße 1, 97070 Würzburg, Deutschland. (Martin Schoech, Merseburg - Deutschland Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** GUATEMALA. Glenn, R. Cultural, 0303 UT March 2, 2003, 3300 kHz. Music, ID and "Back to the Bible" program. SIO 352. Following is an email reply from Wayne Berger. email address is tgna@guate.net "Thanks for your report. We never really have required return postage but as the book mentioned, it is appreciated. Yes many times the envelopes with the $1 bill seems to get here OK. Yours is the first report since I put the 3.3 MHz back on the air. We went so long with no reports that we had it off for almost a year to save electricity. It is now on a reduced schedule. 4-7:30 AM and 5-9:30 PM [1000-1330, 2300-0330 UT]. The abrupt end of transmission at 9:30 our time was what the operator was supposed to do. Check our website http://www.radiocultural.com Keep listening, Wayne (engineer/ manager)`` 73, (-.. . Kraig Krist, KG4LAC, Annandale, VA, March 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Wayne, I wonder if you are using less power on 3300 now than before and if so how much? Thanks, (Glenn Hauser) The power is the same as in the past. 10 kW with a horizontal dipole antenna. There are plans to drop to 1 kW in the near future. This frequency is not for DX but for coverage within the country (Wayne Berger, TGNA, March 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 3299.97, R. Cultural/TGNA, 1057- March 3, Pleasant Ranchera music, 1059 M with timecheck for 4:59, then more Ranchera music with W vocals. 1104 M with timecheck again, then canned promo for Christian program by different M, and back to music. 1112 canned ID and program intro by M ending with greeting. Nice signal. Glad to see Wayne Berger has decided to keep this outlet on, at least for the time being (Dave Valko, PA, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** GUYANA. Apparently off the air again; heard on 3291 Feb 22, but no sign of them March 1 at various checks on 3290 and 5950 between 0100 and 0900+ (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** HONDURAS. R. Litoral, 4832.0, March 1 0230-0430+, mostly continuous Spanish religious talk, some religious music. 0400 ID. Poor-weak but some fading up to fair level at times (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAN [non]. INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING TO IRAN To appear online at http://meria.idc.ac.il Hansjoerg Biener, "THE ARRIVAL OF RADIO FARDA: INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING TO IRAN AT A CROSSROADS," 9 pages MIDDLE EAST REVIEW OF INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS (MERIA) JOURNAL MERIA JOURNAL Volume 7, Number 1, (March 2003) Editor, Prof. Barry Rubin, Assistant Editors, Cameron Brown, Elisheva Rosman-Stollman, Joy Pincus, Ehud Waldoks ----*****----*****----*****----*****----*****----*****----**** MERIA is a project of the Global Research in International Affairs (GLORIA) Center, Interdisciplinary University. Site: http://meria.idc.ac.il Email: gloria@idc.ac.il All material copyright MERIA. Credit if quoting; ask permission to reprint. ----*****----*****----*****----*****----*****----*****----**** Abstract: On December 19, 2002, Radio Farda, the new U.S. external service in Persian, officially started regular broadcasts on shortwave, mediumwave and satellite. With the reformatting of existing services into a 24-hour news and entertainment channel, external broadcasting to Iran has recently received more attention. Iran, however, has always been the target area of various international broadcasting services. In its first worldwide press-freedom index published on October 23, 2002, Reporters Without Borders ranked Iran 122nd among 139 countries surveyed. So, the need for independent reporting seems obvious, while some question the need for embedding news and information in a music and entertainment format. This article examines the question in the broader context of international broadcasting to Iran, including clandestine and even religious stations (Dr. Hansjoerg Biener, Germany, March 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAQ. [Rfpi-announce] Anti-War Petition Dear friends, I'm hoping you can join me on an emergency petition from citizens around the world to the U.N. Security Council. The petition's going to be delivered to the 15 member states of the Security Council on THURSDAY, MARCH 6. If hundreds of thousands of us sign, it could be an enormously important and powerful message -- people from all over the world joining in a single call for a peaceful solution. But we really need everyone who agrees to sign up today. You can do so easily and quickly at: http://www.moveon.org/emergency/ The stakes couldn't really be much higher. A war with Iraq could kill tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians and inflame the Middle East. According to current plans, it would require an American occupation of the country for years to come. And it could escalate in ways that are horrifying to imagine. We can stop this tragedy from unfolding. But we need to speak together, and we need to do so now. Let's show the Security Council what world citizens think. Thank you, -joe ===== The people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders . . . All you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism - Hermann Goering "You can bomb the world to pieces, but you can't bomb it into peace." -- Michael Franti, Hip Hop artist The Lord giveth; the warpigs taketh away.... Visit Radio For Peace International http://www.rfpi.org (Joe Bernard, March 4, Rfpi-announce mailing list via DXLD) ** IRAQ. Hello DXers, well, praying to God no war will take place though some politicians do insist on going through it [icon evil gif] I started monitoring Baghdad radio on the MW frequencies. On 846 kHz it was clear around 2020 with the news with a full detailed report of the moves of the UN inspection team. // 909 kHz having QRM from Yemen on the same Frequency. More MW frequencies to come. All the best. Let`s Pray for PEACE! (Tarek Zeidan, Cairo, Egypt, March 4, DXing.info via DXLD) I noticed Iraq on 909 last weekend here in Finland during a couple of evenings. Good signal (Jari Lehtinen, Lahti, Finland, March 4, ibid.) You may take this with a huge grain of salt, but... A senior producer who shall remain nameless, at a major cable television news operation based in the southeastern United States which shall remain nameless, told me today (with a wry confidence I found quite amusing) that "the war is scheduled for the evening of March 19th." Well, then, I guess that's that. Lets see, Tuesday, movie, Wednesday, war, Thursday, soccer... Synchronize your Palm Pilots.... (Tom Roche, GA, March 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAQ [non]. U.S. PSYOP RADIO SHIFTS FOCUS By Nick Grace, CRW Washington [Mar 4] The United States Central Command quietly shifted its psychological operations (psyop) broadcasts from the Iraqi military based in Southern Iraq to the Iraqi public. The shift, which went unreported by the mainstream press, signals a major development in military strategy that underscores the resolve of the Bush administration in seeking Baghdad's disarmament. Information Radio, which is broadcast from the EC-130E Commando Solo aircraft, now targets the general public of Iraq. Approximately 360,000 newly redesigned leaflets advertising the program and its broadcast schedule, according to the Central Command, were dropped over the cities of An Nasiriyah, Rumaylah, and Al Basrah on March 1. The cities are located south of Baghdad within the southern "No Fly Zone" enforced by U.S. and U.K. coalition jets. "In times of crisis," one of the new leaflets states, "Tune into 'Information Radio' for important news and information. Coalition Forces Support the Iraqi people in their desire to remove Saddam and his Regime. The Coalition wishes no harm to the innocent Iraqi civilians." Says another, "The Coalition stands with the Iraqi people against Saddam. For your safety stay in your homes away from military targets. The Coalition does not target civilians. Listen to Information Radio for more information." Information Radio broadcasts, which began in mid-December 2002, previously aired messages urging Iraqi soldiers to "make the decision" and support efforts to halt the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Its broadcasts, CRW has noted, were not intended for a civilian audience. Listeners can monitor Information Radio on the following frequencies: *1500-2000* 756, 693, 9715, 11292 kHz, 100.4 MHz The new leaflets can be seen on ClandestineRadio.com (CLANDESTINE RADIO WATCH March 4, 2003 via DXLD) ** ISRAEL. Kol Israel, 6280, new for this time period, 0500-0515 English news, weather, ID, 0515 French news. Very good (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IVORY COAST. COTE D'IVOIRE: RFI, BBC, AFRICA NO 1 FM RELAYS BACK ON AIR "Broadcasts of Radio France Internationale [RFI], the BBC and Africa No 1 were again being heard this afternoon [28 February] on the FM band in Abidjan, after being interrupted for more than five months," the French news agency AFP reported on 28 February. On that day, the three stations were monitored on the following FM frequencies: RFI - 97.6 MHz; BBC - 94.3 MHz; Africa No 1 - 91.1 MHz. Source: BBC Monitoring research 28 Feb 03 (via DXLD) CÔTE D'IVOIRE: INTERNATIONAL RADIOS ALLOWED TO RESUME FM BROADCASTING | Text of press release by Paris-based organization Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF) on 3 March Reporters Without Borders today welcomed the decision of the Abidjan authorities to allow three international radio stations, RFI, BBC and Africa No. 1, to resume local retransmission of their programmes on FM frequencies after a five-month interruption. But it urged the Marcoussis accords follow-up committee, which announced the decision on 28 February, to maintain pressure on the government. "Restoring the international radio stations is an encouraging initial measure, but it must not be used to mask almost daily violations of press freedom in Cote d'Ivoire," Reporters Without Borders secretary- general Robert Menard said in a letter to the president of the Marcoussis accords follow-up committee, Albert Tevoedjre. As an example of the constant violations, Menard noted that on 1 March, the day after the follow-up committee announced the decision, a TV crew with the French TV channel France 2 and reporters with Agence France-Presse (AFP) were insulted and manhandled by soldiers and civilians when trying to cover a press conference by President Laurent Gbagbo in Abidjan. Accused of being the "enemies of Cote d'Ivoire" and of "selling out" the country, they were forced to leave the site of the press conference. Menard urged the committee to pursue its efforts and, in particular, "to do everything possible to obtain protection for journalists who request it and stop certain Ivorian newspapers from carrying messages of hate and xenophobia." Menard also asked the follow-up committee to take up the case of Kloueu Gonzreu, the correspondent of the Agence Ivoirienne de Presse (AIP) news agency in Toulepleu, in the west of the country, who was reported missing on 11 January after being detained that day by Liberian militiamen, according to his family. Several persons arrested at the same time, including his 19-year-old son Thierry, were later found dead. The FM broadcasts in Abidjan by the three international radio stations were halted by the government on 19 September 2002. Source: Reporters Sans Frontières press release, Paris, in English 3 Mar 03 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** JORDAN. R. Jordan, 10000, Feb 13 at 2031, spurious \\ 9830; phone- in in Arabic; weak and clear until co-channel STF station became apparent at 2040; 9830 off at 2045 and no spurious signal heard after that; SIO 242 (Tony Rogers, Birmingham, March BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) ** LUXEMBOURG. 6095 DRM: I noted the racket again today at 1310, nothing at 1210, and maybe the time in my previous message should have been 1310 instead of 1210. Too bad they show no respect for existing assignments. Will other DRM users do the same when they need to find more space for their transmissions? 73 (Olle Alm, Sweden, March 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OMAN. 15140 kHz, Radio Oman in English, 1400 UT, with female, likely news, then into music. Very weak and poor under dominant HCJB on the same frequency in Spanish, on March 3. Likely HCJB would dominate this in my upstate New York location virtually all the time. (very similar situation to 9715 kHz and Radio Nederland's Spanish domination of Radio Tashkent in English at 1200 UT) (Roger Chambers Utica, NY, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAKISTAN. 5080.67, R. Pakistan, 1735 March 1, in English referring to India/Pakistan relations and terrorism. And also about Kashmir (in a strongly Hindi toning) 1800 with Qur`an then s/off. SINPO most times is 31332 from 5078 (ute) and 5081.3 USB (Ampitude compadored chatters) (Zacharias Liangas, Thessaloniki, Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. 4856.22, Radio La Hora, 1038-1045 March 4, Noted both a man and woman in either Aymara or Quechua comments for a while, then woman gives ID and TC in Spanish. Finally, man resumes comments in one of the above languages. Signal was blasting me away. In other words, the signal was good as well as the conditions, this morning (Bolland, Chuck, FL, March 4, 2003, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. 4750.16, Radio San Francisco Solano, 1030-1045 March 3, Noted Huaynos music preceded by TC and plenty of IDs. Signal was good (Chuck Bolland, Clewiston, Florida, DX LISTENING DIGEST) You mean March 5? ** PERU. Radio Santa Mónica logged tonight in Europe after many attempts on 4965 at 2320 with a weak but clear ID, best in LSB to avoid Utility QRM (Stuart Austin, Blackpool, England, March 4, hard- core-dx via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. New additional transmission for Voice of Russia in Arabic to N Af: 1600-1700 on 7215 (55555) MSK 250 kW / 285 deg 9800 (55444) S.P 100 kW / 190 deg (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, March 5 via DXLD) ** SLOVAKIA. Nuestro colaborador Adalberto Marques de Azevedo, de Brasil informa lo siguiente: O colega Juan ignacio Gutiérrez informou na lista (Foro AER), da espanha, que a Rádio Eslováquia irá iniciar transmissões em espanhol, fui até o site da emissora no endereço: http://www.slovakradio.sk/rsi/abaixo e confirmei a notícia que reproduzo tal qual estava no referido site: Estimados oyentes, Rádio Eslováquia Internacional, a partir del 30 de marzo de este año, se transmitirá también en lengua española. Esperamos que los miles de radioöyentes en el mundo ahora se sumen los de España y Latinoamérica, para informales de las noticias más importantes en el diario acontecer de nuestra República. Manténganse en contacto con nuestra página web, desde la que les estaremos informando acerca de los horarios y periodicidad de las transmisiones (via Arnaldo Slaen, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** SPAIN. A Rádio Exterior de Espanha informou que a decisão de não mais emitir cartões QSLs é temporária. Por sua vez, o programa Amigos de la onda curta está efetuando concursos ao final de suas edições. Basta responder a pergunta feita pelo apresentador. É apresentado às 0100, dos domingos, em 9620, 11940 e 15160 kHz. Confira! (Célio Romais, Panorama, @tividade DX March 4 via DXLD) ** SUDAN [non]. VOICE OF SUDAN OPPOSITION RADIO HEARD AGAIN Broadcasts are being heard once again from the shortwave radio station of the Sudanese opposition grouping, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). This Arabic-language radio uses the same station identification as before: "Voice of Sudan, voice of democracy and peace, radio of the National Democratic Alliance" (Arabic: sawt al-sudan, sawt al- dimuqratiyah wa al-salam, itha'at al-tajamu al-watani al-dimuqrati). It is currently being heard at 1530-1600 gmt on 8000 kHz (a frequency it has used in the past). In the past, Voice of Sudan was known to transmit from Eritrea and it is believed that these latest broadcasts are also from Eritrea. The use of a frequency that is an exact multiple of 1 MHz, such as 8000 kHz or 10000 kHz (the latter has been reported recently by shortwave hobbyists) was in past years a characteristic of some shortwave transmissions from Eritrea (both from the Eritrean government radio and from Sudanese opposition broadcasts hosted by Eritrea). Our monitors recognize the newsreader currently heard on Voice of Sudan as one who broadcast on it in the past, thus giving a further indication that the present series of broadcasts are a renewal of the station's previous operations. Voice of Sudan began broadcasting from Eritrea in August 1995. Its transmissions appeared to be suspended or at least reduced for a while when relations between Sudan and Eritrea improved in 1999 and 2000. This rapprochement also led to a cessation of broadcasts from Sudan by various Eritrean opposition groups. Source: BBC Monitoring research in Arabic Feb-Mar 03 (via BBCM via DXLD) They have been talking about this for quite some time. Their website is at http://www.ndasudan.org (Hans Johnson, Cumbre DX via DXLD) In this moment (1549 UT, March 5) here in south Italy weak signal with much noise but comprensible (Roberto Scaglione, Sicily, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Presumably on 8000 ** TAIWAN. Star Star Broadcasting Station --- I received 4 CBS/Radio Taipei International no-data (except ``This is to verify your reception report``) cards for a report to PO Box 12587, Taipei, Taiwan. I was surprised to receive a card for each of the frequencies I reported: 9,735, 11,430, 13,750, and 15,388. This was for a report for loggings I made near their target area—Bao Lôc, Vietnam. I checked these non-parallel frequencies over a period of over two weeks and was able to send a detailed report comparing signal strength, interference, etc., for almost every hour of the day (Wendel Craighead, Bao Lôc, Vietnam & Prairie Village, Kansas, USA Mar 1, 2003 for CRW via DXLD) Why would they be targeting Vietnam; do they specify that? (gh, DXLD) ** TANZANIA. OVERVIEW OF THE TANZANIAN MEDIA Tanzania boasts a varied and relatively liberal media, which has emerged since the political and economic liberalization of the early 1990s. This guide looks at both the mainstream and Islamic media. The mainstream press The exact number of newspapers, magazines and periodicals published in Tanzania is not known. They are, however, estimated to run into hundreds with most of them owned by private establishments. The majority of the mainstream papers are owned by two local media houses, one of which, IPP Group, has extensive interests in the broadcast media. The papers include dailies, weeklies and monthlies and are published either in English or Swahili. According to the government's web site http://www.tanzania.go.tz accessed in January 2003, the country's registrar of newspapers has 350 names of registered publications. However, the site adds, only 15 per cent of these appear regularly. This makes it hard to make a reliable estimate of their readership, business performance or impact. The majority of the papers are published in Dar es Salaam, Dodoma, Zanzibar, Arusha, Mwanza or Morogoro. Unlike in neighbouring countries, leading Tanzanian papers are published as broadsheets. Profiles of some newspapers 1. The IPP Group of newspapers The IPP Group is a local business conglomerate owned by prominent media magnate Reginald Mengi. Nearly three-quarters of the country's leading independent English and Swahili newspapers are published by The Guardian Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of the IPP Group. The 10 papers published by this group are hosted on its web site: http://www.ippmedia.com Most of these are national papers and some are sold in Kenya. IPP's flagship is The Guardian, an English broadsheet established in 1994 and said to be the country's leading daily. It carries local and foreign news and reports on business, music and sports. The group's other English titles are The Sunday Observer and The Financial Times, a business weekly which comes out on Wednesdays. IPP's Swahili papers include Nipashe (Tell Me), a daily tabloid that covers a wide range of local and foreign news. It has a weekly edition, Nipashe Jumapili, which comes out on Sundays. There is also the evening news daily Alasiri (Afternoon). The group's top gossip paper is Kasheshe (Gossip), which is a Friday weekly. Taifa Letu (Our Nation) is another Swahili weekly that comes out on Sundays with investigative reports, while Lete Raha (Entertainment) is another Sunday entertainment tabloid. 2. Business Times newspapers These papers are published by the Dar-based Business Times Ltd. They are the English business weekly, Business Times, which comes out on Fridays and two Swahili dailies - Majira (Seasons) and Dar Leo (Dar Today). The three publications are hosted on the firm's web site: http://www.bcstimes.com 3. State-owned newspapers The Daily News, an English daily published since 1972, is the main paper in this category. It benefits substantially from government advertising. Also published by the government is the weekly Sunday News founded in 1954, and Nuru (Light), a Swahili weekly in Zanzibar. The Daily News and Sunday News are hosted on the site: http://www.dailynews.co.tz which has not been updated in the last few months. The Zanzibar Department of Information and Broadcasting Services also publishes a daily bulletin Kipanga. The ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (Revolutionary Party) publishes two papers, a Swahili weekly, Mzalendo (The Patriot), and a daily, Uhuru (Freedom). The latter's web site is: http://www.uhuru.co.tz 4. Other newspapers Other English papers of national significance include Arusha Times, a weekly published every Saturday in the northern town of Arusha. The paper's web site is: http://www.arushatimes.co.tz/ The Dar-based Media Holdings Ltd publishes another English business weekly, The Express, which comes out on Thursdays. Its site is http://www.theexpress.com/ There is also The African, an English daily published by Habari Corporation. Zanzibar got its first independent paper in 40 years last December when a former journalist in the vice-president's office launched Dira (Compass). He told the UN news agency IRIN on 16 December 2002 that the Swahili weekly would seek to create a Zanzibari identity by giving locals "confidence" in their country. Mwananchi newspaper is owned 60 per cent by Kenyan-based Nation Media Group. News agencies By the end of 2002, Tanzania had two news agencies, the state-owned TIS (Tanzania Information Services) and the private PST (Press Services of Tanzania) owned by IPP. Their operations are regulated by the News Agency Act of 1976 amended in 1992. TIS is a replacement of the defunct Tanzania News Agency (TNA) also known by its Swahili acronym, Shihata, which was established in 1976 but disbanded in 2000. It falls under the prime minister's office, which now deals with the media after the abolition of the Ministry of Information in 1995. The TIS is an important source of news for other state-owned media. The independent PST, based in Dar es Salaam, supplies news to IPP publications, and claims to have correspondents in every regional headquarters in mainland Tanzania. TV Television came late to mainland Tanzania due to opposition by the country's founding president, the late Julius Nyerere. Though Nyerere stepped down in 1985, a decade elapsed before the mainland got its first TV station. In Zanzibar the semi-autonomous government had been running a state TV, Televisheni Zanzibar, since 1972. This serves the island's two million inhabitants. The signal is also received in the mainland's coastal strip and Kenya's south coast areas. Despite financial and technical hitches, the growth of TV in Tanzania has been tremendous in the past decade. The director of Africa Media Group Ltd (AMG), Franco Tramontano, recently challenged TV stations to cooperate, merge or unite: "Time has come for TV mergers and unions to happen. This market has no room for many TV stations, given the small advertising cake" (The Guardian web site on 1 March). 1. Televisioni Tanzania (TVT) - the sole nationwide TV broadcaster TVT was established in March 2000 as the mainland's first state-owned TV station. According to the Broadcasting Services Act 1993, which regulates the broadcast media in the country, TVT is the only TV station permitted to broadcast nationwide. The act limits broadcasts by its privately-owned rivals to five administrative regions out of the country's 20. The launch of TVT, based in Dar es Salaam, came six years after its private rivals had started broadcasting. TVT's low popularity may be due to the focus of its news coverage being on the president, government officials and senior members of the ruling party. It gives relatively little coverage to opposition figures and their organizations. 2. Independent Television (ITV) This claims to be "the undisputed market leader". It was started in 1994 by the IPP Group and broadcasts from Dar es Salaam. ITV claims on its web site (http://www.itv.co.tz) to be the only Tanzanian station linked by satellite to the rest of Africa. By the end of 2002 it was broadcasting terrestrially in five regions - Dar es Salaam, Arusha, Kilimanjaro, Mwanza and Dodoma. Its signal is also received in Zanzibar. Most of ITV's programmes consist of local and international news, locally-produced dramas, Western soaps, comedies and cartoons. The station also has agreements to rebroadcast programmes from the BBC, CNN, Deutsche Welle and France's CFI. 3. Dar Television (DTV) This is another Dar-based station, also started in 1994. It is managed by Africa Media Group, which is owned by Kenyan and Tanzanian investors. DTV broadcasts Western programmes, but also local programmes and news. Its signal initially used to be received in Dar alone, but is now available in Mwanza, Arusha and Tanga. This was after DTV launched a second channel in 2000 in association with South Africa's TV Africa. In 2002 DTV entered into partnership with another Dar station, Coastal Television Network (CTN), in a bid to expand its signal to the central and southern Tanzanian areas of Morogoro, Iringa, Mbeya and Mtwara. Other TV stations Mwanza: Star TV, a private station, was started in 2000 by a deputy minister in the government. It broadcasts from Mwanza to nearby areas of northwestern Tanzania. Morogoro: Abood TV seeks to cater for central Tanzania. It was started in 1998 by a local businessman. Sokoine TV is owned by Sokoine University http://www.africafilmtv.com/pages/profiles/Tanzania.htm Dar: Cable Entertainment Network (CEN) is mostly confined to the coastal strip. Radio In the past 10 years, Tanzania has seen a proliferation of privately- owned FM stations in almost every major town. Most of these target young people and offer continuous music and other entertainment programmes. Occasionally they have snippets of news, but news is not their main stock in trade. They broadcast in both English and Swahili and feature mostly American music, and Western and local gossip and jokes. Four radio stations with national reach These are the state-owned Radio Tanzania Dar es Salaam (RTD) which says it covers 85 per cent of the country, and three privately owned stations: Radio One, Radio Free Africa and Radio Uhuru. Radio One (owned by the IPP conglomerate), which is available in Dar on 89.5 FM and 1440 AM, claims on its web page http://www.ippmedia.com/radio1.htm that it is the "the most popular private FM/AM radio station in Tanzania". Radio Free Africa broadcasts on 89.8 FM and 1377 AM in Mwanza. Radio Uhuru (Freedom) is supportive of the ruling party and broadcasts on 95.2 FM. The station is owned 51 per cent by Mwananchi Communications Ltd and 49 per cent by Kenyan-based Nation Media Group http://www.nationaudio.com/News/EastAfrican/30122002/Regional/Regional29.htm Other leading FM stations are the Dar-based station, Clouds FM, which broadcasts on 88.4 FM, Metro FM (89.0 in Dar and 88.7 in Mwanza), the government station Parapanda Radio Tanzania (PRT) on 94.6 FM, and East Africa FM on 87.8. There are also some religious stations with most of these owned by the Catholic Church. They include Radio Tumaini (Radio Hope, 96.3), Radio Maria (89.1) and Radio Kwizera, which broadcasts in western Tanzania on 97.9. The Lutheran Church runs its Moshi-based Sauti ya Injili (Voice of the Gospel) on 97.2 FM. A Muslim station, Kor`an FM, has also started broadcasting in Dar recently (see below). The Zanzibar government operates its own radio - Sauti ya Tanzania- Zanzibar. BBC World Service, the Voice of America and Radio France Internationale are relayed by various private stations. Islamic media One of the by-products of the freeing up of the media in Tanzania is the rise of what can be termed the Islamic press. This media interprets issues from a Muslim angle, and highlights a range of issues affecting Muslims, and generally seeks to promote an Islamic agenda. Initially this genre encompassed mainly the print media, but it has now expanded to the broadcasting area with the launch of Koran FM. Islamic broadcast media In 2002, the country's main Muslim lobby, the Supreme Council of Tanzanian Muslims (Bakwata), started its own station, Radio Koran FM (The Guardian web site, 13 September 2002). In February 2003 the station was still broadcasting on an experimental basis on 102.0 FM, according to a BBC contact in Dar. The station currently opens at 0800 local time and closes at midnight. It broadcasts almost exclusively in Swahili, with a few programmes in English. According to this source, officials at Radio Koran say the station currently does not broadcast news, but is planning to do so in future. The same source says Radio Koran is reportedly funded by a certain Albert Marwa. The Tanzania Muslim Professionals Association (Tampro), a Dar-based Muslim NGO, was quoted by an Islamic web site as saying that its own plans to launch a station were at an advanced stage http://www.islamicvoice.com/july.2002/news.htm Tampro, a critic of Bakwata, is also the publisher of one of the country's radical Islamic newspapers, Nasaha (see below). Islamic print media Islamic broadcast media are thus still in their infancy, but newspapers are well developed. Two Swahili weeklies, which in recent months have taken a strongly anti-American, pro-Islamic line, are An- Nuur (Arabic: Light) and Nasaha (Swahili: Advice). Both papers are published in Dar, and claim to have extensive links with Islamic news sources all over the world. Their respective web sites are hosted on the web page of the Tanzanian Islamic Organization, http://www.islamtz.org This organization describes the site as "a unique place" to find "authoritative information about Islam and Muslims in Tanzania". An-Nuur's appearance on the web can be traced back to 2000, as can Nasaha's. However, the latter has not updated in the last few months due to "technical reasons". The paper's hard copy comes out on Wednesdays. The circulation of the papers, printed in tabloid format, has largely been confined to the coastal strip and the isles, therefore making it hard to gauge their impact in the largely non-Muslim hinterland. It is unclear how their vocal editorial content has influenced the thinking of the country's Muslim population. Radical Islam is not an established phenomenon in Tanzania, notwithstanding the involvement of a few locals in the 1998 bombing of the US mission in Dar es Salaam. These papers have also attacked the Tanzanian government. In its 20-23 December 2002 edition An-Nuur carried an editorial describing the government as "an American stooge". Profiles of two Islamic papers 1. An-Nuur This tabloid is published every Wednesday by the Islamic Propagation Centre in Dar. This is a local Islamic group, which runs Islamic schools in the country. A few years ago, one of its centres, the Al Maulid Islamic Propagation Centre, was closed by the government after some members started preaching against Christianity. Established in 1993, An-Nuur remained a largely irrelevant publication until it went online in 2000. Its web site address is: http://www.islamtz.org/an- nuur/index.html Since then, it can be described as a militant Islamic publication. It carries articles, commentaries and editorials criticizing in harsh language the USA, especially over its alleged mistreatment of Muslims worldwide, its "war on terror" and moves by the Tanzanian government to enact laws to combat terrorism in the country. A 6 January 2003 editorial accused the USA "under the pretext of its war on terrorism" of having "killed many Muslims and Arabs". An editorial on 6 February described US war threats against Iraq as "stupidity", and called for anti-American demonstrations. Earlier, in a 19 November 2002 article, the paper had claimed that Tanzanian Muslims were ready to "sacrifice their lives" if the country's president signed a new anti-terrorism law. An-Nuur has also carried articles calling for the creation of an Islamic government in Zanzibar. This was its top story in the 20 December 2002 edition in which the writer said the "time has come for the Zanzibar government to Islamize all systems including law, economy, education and politics to make these more Islamic." The article went on urge the Zanzibar government to "start considering the possibility of Islamizing the office of the attorney-general", and issue fatwas against "the proliferation of bars, prostitution and dress codes for women." The call to Islamize the attorney-general's office came eight months after the Zanzibari government had created the office of the Mufti with powers to impose fines or prison sentences on Muslims contravening his directives. An-Nuur had the following to say on the Iraq crisis: "Noise, booing, insults and censure are now being directed at persons better known as the warmongers. These are George W. Bush and Tony Blair - leaders of two powerful nations of this world who are ready to kill millions of Iraqis for their oil" (An-Nuur editorial on 25 February). 2. Nasaha Nasaha also comes out on Wednesdays. It was founded in July 1998 by a Dar-based NGO, Tampro. The NGO says on its web page http://www.islamtz.org/nasaha/index.html accessed in January 2003 that one of its objectives is "to encourage Islamic propagation through various methods like newspapers, radios, TV, etc". This paper, with well-written commentaries and editorials, focuses on Islamic issues, the "war on terror" and the plight of Muslims, especially in the USA. It also takes an anti-US stance. A 13 November 2002 editorial said a terrorism law passed by the Tanzanian parliament was "a fascist American law" and accused the government of passing it to "oppress" Muslims at the behest of the USA. The editorial urged the president to do the "only honourable thing and put the nation's interests first and discard the dictatorial demands of a country that has been the origin of many deaths and suffering in a number of countries world-wide". Nor has the paper spared Bakwata, accusing it in the 18 December 2002 edition of being behind an earlier arrest of a Tanzanian Islamic preacher over claims he had links with Al-Qa'idah. Media list A comprehensive list of media organizations, together with contact and ownership details, can be found at: http://www.darhotwire.com/v2/go/tafuta/general/services/media.html Source: BBC Monitoring research in English 4 Mar 03 BBC Mon AF1 AFEau MD1 Media 040303/cnob/cg/mm (via DXLD) ** THAILAND. BANGKOK'S FAVOURITE RADIO STATION SILENCED | Text of report by Hong Kong newspaper South China Morning Post on 4 March The Thai army has pulled Bangkok's most popular radio station off the air for broadcasting derogatory comments about the army and the government. Critics say the move shows how little freedom Thai broadcasters have to transmit anything that upsets the state. Most stations are leased from the military. The only independent TV station was taken over by Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's family business about the time of his 2001 election. The offending station ran a non-stop talk show called Ruam Duay Chua Gan ("Let's all help each other"). Its smart hosts ran informative and entertaining segments that focused on Bangkok's often nightmarish traffic and permitted callers to voice a variety of complaints. Thepchai Yong, group editor of the Nation newspaper, said: "The euphoria about the 'coming freedom of the airways' that was abroad about five years ago has evaporated. The government and the bureaucrats control the airways - it's perfect for them and they don't want to change it." Taxi drivers - the station's most devoted listeners - gathered over the weekend outside its offices in a show of support. Other listeners slammed as "gibberish" the authorities' reasons for shutting it down. Somchai Sawaengkarn, the chairman of the Independent News Network that ran the station, said: "It is nonsense to say we are anti-government. We perform a public service by providing an outlet for ordinary people's grievances." The network may be able to resume broadcasting its star show if it censored callers, said Lieutenant-General Charnvit Srithammavut, the army reserve commander. It can air music and documentaries until its new format is "fixed". Whatever happens, the station will lose some frequencies. It now will be devoted to programmes about the government, the monarchy and the military, General Charnvit said. The reserve command had been lambasted by a broadcast management committee, chaired by a senior general, for permitting its frequencies to be used for "anti-government" phone-ins. Source: South China Morning Post, Hong Kong, in English 4 Mar 03 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** U A E. AWR A-03: see USA [non] ** U K [and non]. Hello Glenn, Following a mention of BFBS last week, I thought I'd give you some more information on the services. I've just listened to an interview (0155 UT Wed) with a head of BFBS on BBC 5 Live's Up All Night programme. The man interviewed pointed out that the big difference between AFN and BFBS is that all BFBS staff are civilians (although some may well be ex-servicemen and women) and programming is locally sourced rather than coming from studios in the US as with AFN. "We're not told what to say, we tell it how it is" is how the BFBS spokesman described the programming. He also said that two presenters and a manager are currently located in Kuwait with a third presenter is to start when extra equipment is set up. Programming sourced there is sent back to the BFBS headquarters in the UK, repackaged as necessary and then beamed by satellite to the region. Until a couple of weeks ago I'd been living for a year volunteering in North West Germany. The town where I was based was near Osnabrueck, itself a base for the British Army, and within FM range of both BFBS Radio 1 and 2 services. BFBS Radio 1 was largely locally sourced from within the British Forces Germany area with a pop music format and included regular "what's on" information for the barracks in the region. BFBS 2 comes entirely from the UK as far as I could tell. It relays BBC radio 4 and 5 live programming in the morning and evenings, with BFBS's own mixture of programming during the day. The weather forecast for each of the BFBS areas you aired last week is typical for the opt-outs from carried BBC programming --- normally inserted when UK weather or BBC promos would be aired in the UK, which would be irrelevant for servicemen overseas. For those interested in discussion of British defence issues, "Sit Rep" - a round table programme of strategic and defence matters airs Thursdays at 1830 GMT on BFBS Radio 2. Having not yet heard BFBS on SW I can't say for sure what could be heard on this service, but it sounded like BFBS radio 2 from your clip. I hope some of this is of interest or use to you. Best wishes, (Daniel Atkinson, Cumbria, England, March 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. POWELL AIDE QUITS POSITION PROMOTING U.S. March 4, 2003 By STEVEN R. WEISMAN WASHINGTON --- Charlotte Beers, the former advertising executive who has been in charge of the Bush administration's global campaign to enhance the image of the United States among Muslims, resigned today for what she said were health reasons. Ms. Beers's resignation surprised both her supporters and those in the administration and Congress who found some of her ventures ineffective, including a widely publicized video last year featuring American Muslims speaking favorably about their life in the United States. Several Arab countries refused to show the video, and the State Department cut back its distribution. Secretary of State Colin L. Powell praised Ms. Beers for bringing "incredible expertise from Madison Avenue to Foggy Bottom." He said her goal of "reaching 'younger, broader and deeper' audiences," particularly in the Muslim world, would continue. In an interview, Ms. Beers said that her health problems, though not life-threatening, would consume too much of her time and leave the office "rudderless" on the eve of a possible war in which communicating the American message to Muslims was of paramount importance. "I have some uncertainties in front of me with tests and doctors' visits," said Ms. Beers, who is 67. She declined to be specific but added, "It's not clear how things will come out, but it does need attention." Ms. Beers won many awards in the advertising field and headed two advertising agencies, J. Walter Thompson and Ogilvy & Mather. At the State Department, she sought to use her expertise to promote American interests. Over the last year, her office has produced videos, pamphlets, booklets and other materials promoting its view of the United States as a place hospitable to all religions and of Saddam Hussein as an evil dictator compiling lethal weapons. The "Shared Values" campaign, which featured a video about the favorable view of American Muslims toward the United States, was both praised and derided within the administration. Ms. Beers said it helped inform Muslims around the world that Islam flourished in a tolerant United States. The criticism focused on the charge that the advertisement did not address the main problem with America in Muslim eyes its policies toward Iraq, Israel and the Middle East generally. Some officials said today that Ms. Beers also had difficulty getting the message to hundreds of public affairs officers in embassies around the world. A Republican aide in Congress said there was a "cultural problem" between her office and the bureaucracy she tried to influence. More recently, some officials said, there was resentment in her office over the role of a rival Office of Global Communications at the White House. Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) STATE DEPARTMENT US IMAGE-BUILDER IS RESIGNING, THOUGH SHE CALLS THE JOB UNDONE By Anne E. Kornblut, Globe Staff, 3/4/2003 WASHINGTON - Charlotte Beers, a former advertising executive who took charge of US public diplomacy after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, intends to leave her State Department post in two weeks for health reasons after a difficult 17-month tenure, administration officials said yesterday. Beers, 67, came to government in 2001 with a sweeping mandate to help reshape negative world opinion about the United States, particularly in the Muslim world. Through a series of unusual initiatives, such as helping fund an Arabic version of ''Sesame Street'' and producing an 18-minute documentary about rebuilding Afghanistan that ran on Pakistani state television, Beers sought to renew the State Department's focus on reaching out to Muslim communities. But she acknowledged as recently as last week that the long-term work of changing international opinion had barely begun. ''The gap between who we are and how we wish to be seen, and how we are in fact seen, is frighteningly wide,'' she said Thursday during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing. ''We need to talk to so many people around the world who do not even know the basics about us. They are taught to distrust our every motive. Such distortions, married to a lack of knowledge, is a deadly cocktail.'' Beers was also frustrated by repeated criticism of her approach, which focused almost exclusively on trying to explain life in American communities rather than Bush administration policies. Some critics have said flatly the effort failed. Among her most controversial ideas was a public relations campaign, called Shared Values, that featured videotaped testimonials from American Muslims about their positive experiences in the United States. Designed for Muslim audiences overseas, the tape was aired during Ramadan last year in four countries, and reached 288 million people, Beers said. But critics said it did not spread far enough around the world and they took Beers to task for trying to adapt flashy Madison Avenue techniques to the subtle art of diplomacy. ''I keep stretching my patience about how this is being read, because I think there's a very important goal here,'' she said in an interview last month in her office. She cited her long-term efforts, including cultural exchanges and educational programs overseas, as evidence that she was not simply transferring advertising methods to the State Department. ''Often, when I'm interviewed, especially in Washington, which is a very sophisticated press corps, they have what I consider to be the wrong question, which is, `Why are you bothering to do this [ad campaign] when you need to explain the policy?' And the answer is we really have to do both well. We really can't afford to have the only conversation we're having with people about policy,'' she said. Asked if too much had been made of her past career, Beers replied, ''I'll say. No one can give that up.'' She had served as chairman of two top ad firms, J. Walter Thompson and Ogilvy & Mather. Last month, she said that she did not know how long she would remain in her government post. Beers will be temporarily replaced as undersecretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs by Patricia Harrison, currently director of the State Department's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. A State Department official said the White House would name a permanent replacement soon. Beers's departure comes at a critical juncture, as Bush officials prepare for a war in Iraq and attempt to convey a positive image to win support from Muslim countries. Secretary of State Colin L. Powell praised her work and promised to continue it once she is gone. ''Charlotte brought incredible expertise from Madison Avenue to Foggy Bottom,'' Powell said in a statement. ''At a critical and stressful time for our nation, she and her team sharpened our policy advocacy and took our values and our ideas to mass audiences and countries which hadn't heard from us in a concerted way for many years.'' He continued: ''She helped us find new ways of making our case to policy makers, while expanding her outreach efforts to make connections with ordinary people, particularly in Muslim nations. Her goal of reaching younger, broader, and deeper audiences will remain with us as she departs.'' This story ran on page A7 of the Boston Globe on 3/4/2003. (c) Copyright 2003 Globe Newspaper Company (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. RADIO SAWA`S WEBSITE EXPANDS TO PROVIDE NEWS, INFORMATION AND ENTERTAINMENT ROUND-THE-CLOCK Washington, D.C., March 3, 2003 – Radio Sawa, the 24-hour-a-day Arabic-language station broadcasting to the Middle East, has expanded its website http://www.radiosawa.com to provide updated news and information round-the-clock. Newscasts, broadcast twice an hour, are posted on the Radio Sawa website, as well as feature programs such as "Ask the World Now," a discussion with U.S. policymakers, and "The Free Zone," a program about democracy. In addition, streaming audio allows listeners to download Radio Sawa. "The success of Radio Sawa, which ranks as the Number One youth radio station in many Middle Eastern cities, will be greatly enhanced by our new website," said Norman J. Pattiz, chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors’ (BBG) Middle East Committee. "Using the Internet to further connect with our audience is completely consistent with our plan to employ proven, 21st century communications techniques to attract the largest possible audience to our news and information programming." Radio Sawa`s Internet site has interactive features that allow people to send their comments and views to the station. The station`s motto is: "You listen to us, We listen to you." (BBG press release march 3 via DXLD) ** U S A. A programação em português da Voz da América para a África leva ao ar, nos domingos, às 0430, o programa Sua Carta. São respondidas as cartas dos ouvintes pelos jornalista Filipe Vieira e João Santarita. Contatos pelos endereços eletrônicos: voaluanda@ebonet.net lvieira@voanews.com (Célio Romais, Panorama, @tividade DX March 4 via DXLD) ** U S A. 9330, WBCQ 'The Planet' has now been heard on 9330. On 28.2 was 9329.8 with religious program at 2115 and maximum signal of S2 or 14223 and QSB to fade off. On 1/3 at 2213 nothing could be heard. Instead of it at 2330 it has been heard with S2-3 or SINPO 12222 with QRM from RFE/RL Iranawila [Sri Lanka, 9335]. On 3-3 signal was marginal at 2106 having splatter from 9345 (S9+40 db). On 2.3 at 2009 signal was S3 using 10 db preamplification but splatter from R P`yongyang [9325?]. Later signal was 34433 on USB And finally on 3.3 something nice happened. Planet has turned in to LSB! At 2106 signal was again just marginal (and with relatively insignificant QRM) with nearly 33333 at 2130. Nice program with old rock songs (Zacharias Liangas, Greece, March 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Sure enough, UT March 5 at 0120 check, WBCQ was on 9330-LSB plus carrier, instead of USB. Doesn`t make much difference here (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [and non]. After almost 3 months, a new WJIE Update is airing weekdays at 1330 following WORLD OF RADIO on 7490. As monitored March 5: Second transmitter on 13595 has been testing since March 3, aimed at Buenos Aires; reports wanted. Deadline to go into regular service is March 7. At first will simulcast 7490 but by end of March separately programmed. Doc Burkhart made no mention here of acquiring FEBA Seychelles transmitters (and note previous report that they now plan to close down by the end of March), but he does talk of upgrading WJIE and the Liberia station (which isn`t even on the air yet), in order to reach as far as Afghanistan. The Marshall Islands MW station should be on air by April; there is a wreath(? Or reef?!) antenna there which could be used for SW, but the logistics are difficult. However, it`s a great location for broadcasting to China and Southeast Asia. With all this activity, WJIE is looking for a fulltime corporate engineer (WJIE Update March 5, notes by gh for DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [non]. Summer A-03 Adventist World Radio via Moosbrunn: 7165 1500-1530 MOS 300 kW / non-dir German 7230 0700-0730 MOS 300 kW / non-dir German 9660 1530-1600 MOS 300 kW / non-dir English 9775 0730-0800 MOS 300 kW / non-dir English 9820 0200-0300 MOS 500 kW / 090 deg English/Urdu 11710 0300-0330 MOS 500 kW / 045 deg Oromo 11730 1900-2000 MOS 500 kW / 190 deg Arabic 11925 2000-2200 MOS 500 kW / 215 deg Dyula/French/English 11965 0330-0400 MOS 500 kW / 100 deg Persian 15470 0400-0500 MOS 500 kW / 115 deg Arabic 15470 0500-0600 MOS 500 kW / 145 deg Arabic 15470 0600-0700 MOS 500 kW / 190 deg Arabic 15535 1800-1900 MOS 500 kW / 115 deg Arabic 17660 1700-1800 MOS 500 kW / 145 deg Arabic 17725 1630-1700 MOS 500 kW / 100 deg Persian 17780 0730-0930 MOS 500 kW / 215 deg Dyula/French/English (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, March 5 via DXLD) ** U S A [non]. Summer A-03 Adventist World Radio via Juelich: 7125 0400-0500 JUL 100 kW / 115 deg Bulgarian 11880 0900-1000*JUL 100 kW / 145 deg Italian 15160 0600-0730 JUL 100 kW / 200 deg Arabic/French 15235 1700-1800 JUL 100 kW / 115 deg Bulgarian 15360 1600-1700 JUL 100 kW / 115 deg Romanian 15485 1900-2030 JUL 100 kW / 200 deg Arabic/French * Sat/Sun only (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, March 5 via DXLD) ** U S A [non]. Summer A-03 Adventist World Radio via Al-Dhabbaya: 9720 0000-0100 DHA 250 kW / 100 deg Hindi/English 9810 0000-0100 DHA 250 kW / 075 deg Hindi/English 11945 0230-0300 DHA 250 kW / 045 deg Persian 11945 0300-0330 DHA 250 kW / 225 deg Tigriana 11975 0300-0330 DHA 250 kW / 230 deg Amharic 12015 0330-0400 DHA 250 kW / 205 deg Somali 15160 0300-0400 DHA 250 kW / 045 deg Russian/English 15320 1300-1330 DHA 250 kW / 085 deg Bangla 15320 1330-1400 DHA 250 kW / 060 deg English 15320 1400-1500 DHA 250 kW / 060 deg Urdu 15460 1630-1800 DHA 250 kW / 225 deg Somali/Amharic/Tigrina 17630 1400-1430 DHA 250 kW / 105 deg Telugu 17630 1430-1500 DHA 250 kW / 105 deg Kannada 17630 1500-1600 DHA 250 kW / 075 deg Punjabi/Hindi 17630 1600-1700 DHA 250 kW / 090 deg Marathi/English 17700 1400-1430 DHA 250 kW / 100 deg Hindi 17700 1430-1500 DHA 250 kW / 120 deg Sinhala 17700 1500-1530 DHA 250 kW / 075 deg Nepali 17700 1530-1600 DHA 250 kW / 105 deg Malayalam 17740 1300-1400 DHA 250 kW / 045 deg English/Russian 17835 1100-1300 DHA 250 kW / 060 deg Mandarin Ch 17865 1330-1400 DHA 250 kW / 105 deg Tamil 73 from (Ivo and Angel! Observer, Bulgaria, March 5 via DXLD) ** U S A. Today's March 3, 2003 FCC daily digest contains at http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-03-39A1.pdf In the Matter of Amendment of Parts 2, 73, 74, 80, 90, and 97 of the Commission`s Rules to Implement Decisions from World Radiocommunication Conferences Concerning Frequency Bands Below 28000 kHz ET Docket No. 02-16 REPORT AND ORDER Adopted: February 25, 2003 Released: March 3, 2003 By this action, the Commission reallocates 1640 kilohertz of spectrum from the fixed and mobile services to the broadcasting service. This action provides exclusive availability to broadcasting service in the HFBC bands. The Commission is making consequential changes to various service rules that will update the Rules for bands below 28000 kHz, so that they better comport with international regulations. Finally, this action will clarify the status of services in the AM Expanded Band (1605-1705 kHz). Adopts (effective after Federal Register Publication) WARC 92 and WARC 79 shortwave broadcast frequency bands and other allocation changes, essentially as proposed in Feb 2002 (Donald Wilson, DX LISTENING DIGEST) FCC TO CHANGE ALLOCATIONS BELOW 28 MHZ This is from FCC Daily Digest. I believe you can cut and paste to see document(s) AMENDMENT OF PARTS 2, 73, 74, 80, 90, AND 97 OF THE COMMISSION'S RULES TO IMPLEMENT DECISIONS FROM WORLD RADIOCOMMUNICATION CONFERENCES CONCERNING FREQUENCY BANDS BELOW 28000 KHZ. Amended rules in this proceeding. (Dkt No. 02-16). Action by: the Commission. Adopted: 02/25/2003 by R&O. (FCC No. 03-39). OET http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-03-39A1.doc http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-03-39A1.pdf http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-03-39A1.txt (Radioman via John Norfolk, OKCOK, DXLD) The text version is a bit of a mess; well over 100 pages when downloaded, with double spaces between words and whatnot. The .doc version (583 kb) was at least 60 pages, which I managed to reduce to about 50 with 8 point type. I cannot read .pdf files, so I have no idea how long that one is (Norfolk) This is a 54-page pdf document, but full of valuable info, including a frequency allocations table from 9 to 28000 kHz not only for US private and government, but also for the three ITU regions (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. THE U.S. IS ON THE RIGHT WAVELENGTH LIBERALISM DOESN'T GET A HEARING ON AMERICAN RADIO OR TELEVISION Matthew Engel in America, Comment, Tuesday March 4, 2003, The Guardian You are white, male, and old enough to vote but probably too young to have been forced into combat. You are most likely somewhere west of New Jersey but east of California. You may well be driving a pick-up truck while imagining it is one of those tank-like things known as Hummers. You are not very well-educated and certainly not well- travelled. You don't harbour doubts. You are the target audience for American talk radio. De Gaulle wondered how you could govern France when it has 246 kinds of cheese. You might more pertinently wonder how you govern a country like the US that has 13,000 radio stations. The answer is that it's simple, provided they all say the same thing. Of the 1,000 or so commercial stations in the US that actually deal in words rather than music, the overwhelming majority rely on a handful of syndicated hosts, all rightwing, all skilful, all ferocious. Some of the names are familiar, led by Rush Limbaugh, who defined the genre in the late 1980s and early 1990s and soared to glory the moment Bill Clinton became president and gave him an irresistible target. But Limbaugh, who supposedly reaches 20 million listeners a week, now has many rivals, like G Gordon Liddy (the ex-Watergate burglar-in-chief), Bill O'Reilly (the star of Fox News on TV), Sean Hannity (the only man who can say "I gotta tell you" five times in a single minute) and Michael Savage, who defines liberalism as "Trojan-horse fascism without the jackboots". There is a sub-genre of family-oriented hosts, whose programmes are aimed more at stay-at-home women. The leaders here are the Christian conservative Dr James Dobson, and the bleak advice-giver, Laura Schlessinger, a doctor unpleasant enough to empty a crowded NHS waiting-room. Despite all these rivals, Limbaugh has no opponents. Rich pinkos are trying to put together a scheme to start a liberal talk-show, but it is doomed because the essence of liberalism is that it does not deal in the slashing handed-down certainties of the radio shows. More thoughtful people listen instead to the quiet debate of the non- commercial and small-beer PBS stations. Only last week, Phil Donohue, who had been trying to run a much publicised "liberal" TV show in opposition to O'Reilly, was finally euthanased by his bosses at MSNBC after being crushed in the ratings. Obviously there are consequences of this for the alleged debate over war in Iraq. ("You disagree? Too bad. We're invading.") But in fact the Limbaugh-demographic represents the one group in the US which is unhesitatingly pro-war. And in any case the secret of media influence is far more complex and insidious than is often believed. It doesn't actually matter which side of the Iraq fence the New York Times leader writers (who have spent months impaling themselves) land on. No one will change their minds as a result. What makes a difference is a slow drip-drip-drip, seeping into the body politic and ultimately flooding it. Neil Kinnock's leadership of the Labour party was destroyed because, over a nine-year period, Britain's top-selling paper, the Sun, successfully portrayed him as an inadequate. American talk radio's great achievement is more general than that. With individuals, the hosts have not yet had a major success. In spite of everything, they could not quite get rid of Bill and Hillary. They tried to demonise the mild-mannered Tom Daschle, the Democrats' leader in the Senate (the word "demonise" is used advisedly - Limbaugh calls him "El Diablo"), but it was his opposite number, the Republican Trent Lott, who fell. No, the Limbaugh gang's real triumph is altogether more breathtaking, something that makes one want to rewrite the ancient explanation of the Yiddish word chutzpah (traditionally defined as the boy who murders his parents and begs for mercy because he's an orphan). These guys have taken over the airwaves and persuaded America that the media are dominated by lefties. If that were ever true, it is emphatically untrue now. Radio obviously belongs to the right. So, by default, does TV, because the agenda is set by the White House, and Bush, Rumsfeld, Fleischer etc get massively more exposure to promote their agenda than anyone gets to counter it - especially at a time when there is no clear, credible and confident opposition leader. And the same applies in the newspapers, where the rigid notions that govern mainstream journalism demand "objectivity". Effectively that means that the front pages are dominated by government assertions, uncritically relayed. Hannity said on his Friday show that three-quarters of Americans believe the left dominate the media. That was a little lie: the poll he quoted showed that 45% believe that and 15% don't, which is not the same thing. The idea itself is a much bigger lie - I gotta tell you. http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,906875,00.html (via Dave Fisher, DXLD) ** U S A. ADS RUSHING OUT OF LIMBAUGH SHOW? (Progressives take aim at radio program's sponsors) By William Spain, CBS.MarketWatch.com Though still in its infancy, a letter-writing campaign aimed at advertisers on "The Rush Limbaugh Show," has already claimed a few choice scalps - and hopes to soon have other marketers saying "ditto." Kicked off last week on the website of a group called Take Back The Media, the effort is generating a growing buzz among online progressives (or, if you prefer, "liberals") -- along with hundreds of angry e-mails to companies that sponsor what it calls Limbaugh's "hateful chortling and guffawing." Micheal Stinson, a Vietnam-era veteran, is co-founder of Take Back The Media. Obviously never a Rush fan, Stinson and his cohorts were content to largely ignore the king of reactionary talk radio -- until he weighed in on the recent anti-war protests, calling participants "anti-American," "anti-capitalist" and "communists," among other terms. "He just went too far," said Stinson. "Don't call me anti-American. I served this country." When he decided to go after Limbaugh, Stinson said "we were told we would have to nip at his heels, to start by contacting local advertisers." He ignored that advice, however, and posted a list, complete with contact information, of top sponsors. "Within 18 hours, Radio Shack had folded. Within 36 hours, Amtrak was gone and Bose told us they were no longer advertising on the show," Stinson said. Oddly, Stinson's group is not only telling the rest of the world which companies advertise on Limbaugh's show but, apparently, even the companies themselves. In Radio Shack's case, the company maintains that it does not buy ads on Limbaugh's show and any that did air were the result of an "error made by the radio network or local affiliate." Radio Shack, the company continued, "strictly adheres to a policy of not intentionally buying advertising space on programs that might be political or socially controversial or that promote any one individual's agenda or point of view." Amtrak says the ads aired as part of a complicated barter deal involving, strange but true, the San Francisco Convention and Visitors Bureau. It does not sponsor political shows and "'in the future...will communicate [that] practice to" other partners. Although Stinson said he has reports of its ads appearing during the show, a spokeswoman for Bose told CBS.MarketWatch that its does not advertise on the program, "and has no intentions of doing so." Other advertisers targeted by Take Back the Media include Darden Restaurants ) Red Lobster chain, Pfizer, AutoZone, and online retailer Overstock.com -- none of which would comment. Limbaugh is syndicated by Première Radio Networks, a subsidiary of radio behemoth Clear Channel Communications. While not addressing whether the show had lost any advertisers as a result of the boycott, Premiere issued the following written statement: "There have been many times in the 15 year history of 'The Rush Limbaugh Program' when national and world events have generated increased listening as well as increased communication with individuals who have opposing points of view," said company president Kraig Kitchin. "The kind of compelling radio that generates opposition also causes Rush Limbaugh's weekly 20 million listeners to tune in that much more and listen longer." That audience number is likely exaggerated (other estimates put it closer to 15 million) but there is no question that Limbaugh is big, big, big and one of medium's biggest single stars. So, can a few scrappy liberals really hurt him? Depends. A lot of radio time is bought pretty much on a commodity basis, with advertisers looking for dayparts and regions rather than specific programming. Many may not even know where their ads appeared until after the fact. And, unless they have given their buyers up- front marching orders to avoid him (already not uncommon), Limbaugh's powerful ratings guarantee a piece of that action. Of course, there are plenty of other options that can deliver similar numbers. Whether or not the boycott works to any meaningful degree is going to depend on how many more advertisers decide it is easier to switch than fight. According to radio buyers, some companies cave almost instantly in the face of even a little negative feedback while others need to experience a truly sustained and widespread level of complaints before they listen. Still, they don't have to get them all to make a difference: If enough advertisers put out the word that the show is a forbidden zone -- and they are not rapidly replaced -- the program will lose much of its economic value to local stations and station groups regardless of how well its audience numbers are doing. Of course, the already-loaded Limbaugh is never going to have trouble putting food on the table, but he and his fans could end up in less desirable timeslots or on fewer outlets. Historically, the boycott approach has a mixed record. One of the most effective boycotts of recent times was against Viacom unit VH-1's "Music Behind Bars," a program that showcased the jailhouse jams of murderers, rapists and assorted other scum. An outcry from victim's rights groups, law enforcement officials and politicians had advertisers staying away in droves and the cable network quickly pulled the plug on the series. (Viacom is a significant shareholder in MarketWatch.com, the publisher of this report.) The "Christian" right's attack on "NYPD Blue" in the early 1990s, on the other hand, was a complete failure. It initially scared off some marketers, but the program's ratings and demographics were so good that it attracted business from sectors that don't expect to sell to those folks anyway -- including movies, beer, cosmetics, designer clothing, etc. And the effort completely fell apart when the first big package-goods company (Unilever) jumped in. "Blue" eventually went to become one of the most enduring and profitable shows in Disney (DIS: news, chart, profile) unit ABC's prime-time line-up. What makes this attempt particularly interesting is that progressives typically eschew ad boycotts both for free speech reasons and because it is a favorite technique of their ideological opponents. Stinson, however, is unapologetic about tearing a page out of the other team's playbook: "We are going to employ the tactics of those people – and it's already working. We are hitting some nerves." William Spain is a reporter for CBS.MarketWatch.com in Chicago. (via Fred Vobbe, NRC DX Audio Service via DXLD) ** U S A. WHEN A TELEVISION NETWORK CHANGES ITS NAME TO AN ACRONYM, SOMETHING'S USUALLY AFOOT http://wizzer.advance.net/cgi-free/getstory_ssf.cgi?a0472_BC_NetworkAcronyms&&news&newsflash-entertainment (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. KLKE-24-NE SILENT; BLAME THE HIGH COST OF DTV CONVERSION The high cost of the DTV conversion has claimed its first victim: KLKE 24 Albion NE, a satellite of KLKN 8 Lincoln, signed off last night at midnight. http://www.klkntv.com/global/story.asp?s=1148080 Albion was the original COL of the channel 8 facility, which relocated to Lincoln in 1996, at which point KLKE signed on as a drop-in satellite on 24. I wonder how many more of these we'll see, as small stations (the "Citadel" that owns KLKN/KLKE isn't the same Citadel that's in the radio business) try to cope with the unfunded mandate that is the DTV conversion... s (Scott Fybush, NY, March 3, WTFDA via DXLD) Viz.: Channel 24 Will Cease Broadcasting KLKN-TV, Channel 8 in Lincoln, NE has announced plans to cease operation of its satellite station KLKE-TV, Channel 24, licensed to the community of Albion, NE. Citadel Communications, owners of KLKN-TV and KLKE-TV, filed a letter with the Federal Communications Commission canceling the license of the satellite station. Roger Moody, vice-president and general manager, cited the prohibitive costs of continued operation of KLKE-TV and the significant investment necessary, which would have been required, to upgrade it to a digital facility as the reasons for the decision. KLKE-TV will officially cease operation at the conclusion of the broadcast day on Sunday, March 2nd. Please address your email comments to programming@klkntv.com (via Fybush, WTFDA via DXLD) ** U S A [non]. Hi Glenn, You may already have this, but I did a search of the registered domain owner for therebbe.com and came up with the following email address for Mr. Freeman. It was not apparent on the site itself, but I may have just missed it. Domain Name: THEREBBE.COM Administrative Contact: Freeman, Tzvi (TF2392) TzviFreeman@SYMPATICO.CA Tzvi Freeman inc. 114 Esther Crescent Thornhill Ontario L4J 3L4 Canada, 905-709-8811, 509-461-2553. Cheers, (Brent Taylor, VE1JH Doaktown, NB Canada FN66, March 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Re Lubavitcher 1710 ** U S A. WHATEVER HAPPENED TO ROCK 'N' ROLL RADIO? http://www.cnn.com/2002/SHOWBIZ/books/02/07/fm.neer/index.html (CNN Feb 7 via Tom McNiff, VA, DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. Mystery harmonic on 2900. Sounds South American, 580 x 5? There almost every day around 1100 but never strong enough (Hans Johnson, LA, Mar 5, Cumbre DX via DXLD) 1450 x 2 much more likely (gh) UNIDENTIFIED. 4890: I have asked DXers in the US to check if 4890 is heard there. No one has managed to hear this station, which would indicate that the station hardly is in Central America. In Cochabamba the station can be heard weakly, and RFA thus rules out Bolivia. Having listened to a sound file from Samuel Cássio Martins (same as Hauser listened to) and I noted a greeting to listeners in Juliaca and a family in Huanta or maybe Huanchaq (=part of the city of Cusco). But most interesting in Samuel's file is undoubtedly the accent, "Andean", as he points out. But on the brief part I have heard there are two speakers, one probably Peruvian, and the other, the leading speaker, who speaks good Spanish though with a slight accent indicating that he is born in an English speaking country, which is not that easy to say. I have asked both AWR and AWR Juliaca directly, so far without response. No info indicates that Radio Bethel in Arequipa should be using any further shortwave frequency, so could it be that their 5940 has changed to 4890? More info in our SWB Channel at: http://www.hard-core-dx.com/index.php?topic=SWB (Henrik Klemetz, Sweden, SWB, via hard-core-dx March 3 via DXLD) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ MUSEA +++++ AUBURN MUSEUM TO HOUSE TELEVISION MEMORABILIA AUBURN, Ind. (AP) -- A collector of television memorabilia plans to donate more than 2,000 TV Guide magazines and other items to the American Heritage Museum in northern Indiana. The collection grew out of Stephen Hofer's lifelong interest in television. Hofer, an associate professor of public speaking and broadcasting at Chicago State University, said his family was one of the first in Fort Wayne to own a TV set. The collection will become part of the museum's library and will also be woven into World War II and transportation exhibits. "I couldn't have wished for anything better," Hofer said recently. (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) RECEIVER NEWS +++++++++++++ COMPANIES & FINANCE INTERNATIONAL: SAMPO SET TO LOOK BEYOND GRUNDIG By Kathrin Hille in Taipei, Financial Times; Mar 04, 2003 Sampo, the Taiwanese electronics group, is preparing to look for new acquisition targets as its planned takeover of Grundig, the German television [sic] maker, runs into difficulties. The future of Grundig's famous brand and of its 5,380-strong workforce is on the line, with the company on the verge of bankruptcy. Sampo still hopes to revive the deal after Grundig has "sorted out its financial difficulties", according to Felix Chen, Sampo chairman. But it is preparing for the worst and, if the takeover does not materialise, his company will search for other partners, he said. Sampo and Grundig had aimed to complete the takeover by the end of last month. Grundig has EUR31m ($33.6m) of equity capital left, 4.6 per cent of the balance sheet total. Currently, only a EUR45m working-capital loan, guaranteed by the German state of Bavaria, is keeping the company afloat. The guarantee will run out at the end of this month. Under political pressure, the two companies had hammered out a contract in January under which Sampo would buy at least 75 per cent of Grundig shares for EUR100m. But the two sides failed to agree on how to deal with Grundig's reported pensions liabilities of EUR200m. Mr Chen said Sampo expected Grundig's working capital financing to have been taken care of before the deal was closed. His company was not willing to guarantee the EUR45m loan, he said. Some of Sampo's competitors in Taiwan have called the planned deal a mismatch from the beginning. For Sampo, a company lacking international experience and with a turnover of only T$13.1bn ($377m), trying to steer Grundig with its EUR1.3bn turnover would be like "a child trying to drive a car", one executive said (Financial Times via Mike Cooper, March 4, DXLD) DRM +++ Re the `RULES OF PROCEDURE CHANGE` quoted in 3-035: DRM press release, titled Rules of Procedure Change by ITU's Radio Regulations Board Clears The Regulatory Path for DRM in Medium-wave/AM and Long-wave. It was originally released on February 27, 2003. The procedural change by the RRB covers Regions 1 and 3, not Regions 1, 2 and 3 as originally stated. Please accept our sincere apologies for any inconvenience. Best regards, (Siriol Jane Evans, Director, Press & Communications, Digital Radio Mondiale http://www.drm.org March 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) That is, the Americas, Region 2 are NOT included (gh) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ FORECAST OF SOLAR AND GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY 05 - 31 MARCH 2003 Solar activity is expected to be at low levels with a slight chance of moderate activity. Region 296 has the potential for isolated M-class activity until it rotates beyond the west limb on 13 March. After 13 March, activity is expected to be very low to low. No greater than 10 MeV proton events are expected during the forecast period. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux may reach high levels on 05 – 07, 19 – 24, and 27 – 28 March due to returning coronal holes. The geomagnetic field is expected to be at quiet to major storm levels. Unsettled to isolated minor storm conditions are possible on 05 March due to a high speed stream. A large southern coronal hole is expected to return to a geo-effective position on 14 – 21 March and is expected to produce unsettled to isolated minor storm conditions. Two smaller but intense coronal holes are due on 25 – 27 March and 30 – 31 March and are expected to produce active to isolated major storm levels. :Product: 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table 27DO.txt :Issued: 2003 Mar 04 2211 UTC # Prepared by the US Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, Space Environment Center # Product description and SEC contact on the Web # http://www.sec.noaa.gov/wwire.html # # 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table # Issued 2003 Mar 04 # # UTC Radio Flux Planetary Largest # Date 10.7 cm A Index Kp Index 2003 Mar 05 155 15 3 2003 Mar 06 155 12 3 2003 Mar 07 150 10 3 2003 Mar 08 150 12 3 2003 Mar 09 145 12 3 2003 Mar 10 145 10 3 2003 Mar 11 140 12 3 2003 Mar 12 135 8 3 2003 Mar 13 130 15 3 2003 Mar 14 125 15 3 2003 Mar 15 120 15 3 2003 Mar 16 115 12 3 2003 Mar 17 110 15 3 2003 Mar 18 115 12 3 2003 Mar 19 115 15 3 2003 Mar 20 115 15 3 2003 Mar 21 110 10 3 2003 Mar 22 105 10 3 2003 Mar 23 105 10 3 2003 Mar 24 110 10 3 2003 Mar 25 110 12 3 2003 Mar 26 120 15 3 2003 Mar 27 130 15 3 2003 Mar 28 140 10 3 2003 Mar 29 145 15 3 2003 Mar 30 150 15 3 2003 Mar 31 150 20 4 (from http://www.sec.noaa.gov/radio March 4 via WORLD OF RADIO 1172, DXLD) ###