DX LISTENING DIGEST 3-088, May 22, 2003 edited by Glenn Hauser, ghauser@hotmail.com Items from DXLD may be reproduced and re-reproduced only if full credit be maintained at all stages and we be provided exchange copies. DXLD may not be reposted in its entirety without permission. Materials taken from Arctic or originating from Olle Alm and not having a commercial copyright are exempt from all restrictions of noncommercial, noncopyrighted reusage except for full credits HTML version of this issue will be posted later at http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtd3e.html For restrixions and searchable 2003 contents archive see http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldmid.html NOTE: If you are a regular reader of DXLD, and a source of DX news but have not been sending it directly to us, please consider yourself obligated to do so. Thanks, Glenn NEXT AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1183: RFPI: Fri 1930, Sat 0130, 0730/0900, 1330/1500, 1730, 2330, Sun 0530, 1130, 1830, Mon 0030, 0630, 1230, Tue 1900, Wed 0100, 0700/0830, 1300/1430 on 15039 and/or 7445 WWCR: Sat 0600, Sun 0230 on 5070, 0630 on 3210, Wed 0930 on 9475 WJIE: Sat 0930, Sun 1030, 1630 on 7490 and/or 13595 (maybe) WBCQ: Mon 0445 on 7415 WRN ONDEMAND [from Fri]: http://new.wrn.org/listeners/stations/station.php?StationID=24 OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO: Check http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html [Low] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1183.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1183.ram [High] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1183h.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1183h.ram (Summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1183.html [Is anyone having trouble downloding from k4cc.net site?] SOLICITED TESTIMONIALS MONITORING REMINDERS CALENDAR http://www.worldofradio.com/calendar.html Just to let you know I am checking your site 3 or 4 times per week, and it's my main choice for listening options (along with individual broadcasters' sites) ef (Eric Flodén, Vancouver BC) ** AFGHANISTAN. See the IBB schedule dated today (May 20) at http://sds.his.com:4000/fmds_z/schedules/cur_freqsked.txt It notes the operation by IBB on 1296 at Kabul (Pol e Charki). Also operating is 1107 kHz Afghan government. Both 400 kW omni. Ydun Ritz (21/5-2003) (Ydun`s MW news via DXLD) See also USA [non] ** AFGHANISTAN. HISTORY -- Details of Clandestine CIA Radio Broadcasts to Soviet Troops in Afghanistan During 1984/5 Crile, George. Charlie Wilson's War: The Extraordinary Story of the Largest Covert Operation in History. New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 2003. Pages 278-9. The man tapped to run psychological warfare was Paul Broadbent, a second-generation American who had grown up in a Russian neighborhood of Cleveland. "He was the 'hearts and minds' expert," (CIA Case Officer and head of the Afghanistan operation) Gust Avrakotos says, "the kind of guy who pulls the wings off of flies, dangerous if you don't channel him properly. I told him, 'The first time I see you treating any of my people mean, I'll fire you. Take it out on the Russian cocksuckers.' Paul knew the Russian mind. He kept trying to get me to give him twenty portable radio stations that he could program with demoralizing psychological broadcasts. He finally got two portable man packs to beam stuff into the Russian troops. The problem is that none of the mujahideen wanted to do it. They didn't think it was manly. Who would want to carry a radio transmitter when you can fire a missile?" Art Alper, the grandfatherly demolitions expert, was one of the team's more idea-filled members. Along with developing demolition kits, special fuses, and new techniques to smuggle weapons and ordnance into enemy territory, he helped develop portable amplifiers and devices to spread Broadbent's psychological war. The inspiration for this effort came from North Korean radio broadcasts to U.S. troops: "Hey G.I., we're fucking your sister." The CIA's idea was to place powerful amplifiers on hills across from Soviet garrisons. When the mujahideen turned them on, a Russian voice would boom out: "While your wives and mothers and sisters are sleeping with political commissars and you are dying on the battlefield, we mujahideen laugh at you" or "We Dushman (the Russian name for the mujahideen), we herders of goats and sheep, challenge you women to come up to this hill and fight." "I thought the portable broadcasts were ridiculous, but it hit my funny bone," says Avrakotos. "And it did promote fear. If you get some fucking Dushman without shoes challenging you to fight and you go up there and get bushwhacked or sniped, you realize this guy is clever. You start fearing him." Alper's amplifiers would broadcast at irregular intervals, even after the mujahideen had left their positions. When the Soviets discovered that the equipment was on automatic pilot, it spooked them further; the mujahideen were a more sophisticated foe than they had previously thought. Some of the other psychological-war efforts weren't quite as successful. The sinister messages that Broadbent had dreamed up for leaflets rarely made their way to the Red Army troops. Each pamphlet had a different pitch. One said, "If your commanding officer is a real Communist who want you to fight many battles, frag (kill) him. Otherwise, eventually we're going to get you." But the mujahideen, who didn't understand the concept of propaganda, tended not to be very helpful. Avrakotos says they found it far too tempting to treat Broadbent's leaflets as if they were exotic CIA-issued toilet paper (via N. Grace May 12, 2003 for CRW May 22 via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. 5924.1 USB, 2148 May 22. Ordinary well behaved men (not amateurs) chat on this frequency every morning calling in from all over N.S.W. Presume to be using Codan etc. transceivers, some from home and others from their vehicles, this morning they were chatting away over the top of a broadcast station on 5925 and complaining that this station was causing QRM with them! Strong signals, most of them in excess of S-9 (Michael Stevenson, Port Macquarie, N.S.W., Australia. Receivers: Sangean ATS-909, Kenwood R-2000; Accessories: bhi NES10-2 DSP noise reducing speaker. Antenna: 15 metre longwire. EDXP via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. ABC radio journos strike --- May 22, 2003 JOURNALISTS at the ABC Radio newsroom in Sydney today walked off the job to protest a colleague's demotion. . . http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,6476303%255E1702,00.html (via Jilly Dybka, TN, DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. AUNTY'S BUDGET BLUES By Errol Simper, May 22, 2003 BNStory/Technology/ THE board of everyone's ABC will meet in Sydney today and inevitably funding, or a perceived lack of it, will rate a sombre mention. It is, of course, an intensely sensitive political issue. That's why politicians are so often so solicitous about applying a favourable spin to monies granted, or not granted, to the national broadcaster... http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,6469858%255E7582,00.html (via Jilly Dybka, DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. 5953, Radio Pio XII in Quechua OM, without any musical fragments from 2330 to 0000, 33333 right in urban Moscow (Artyom Prokhorov, May 22, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. Next Sunday (May 25th) Radio Canção Nova will turn 23 year on the air. If you want to make part of the celebration send us an e- mail to: alemfronteiras@cançãonova.com so that you can participate of the raffle, only answering How long have you listened to Radio Canção Nova? If you have received our QSL inform us too. We confirm radio reports on the air and 100% QSL back. Program: Além Fronteiras (Beyound Boundaries) Every Saturday: 2200 to 2300 (GMT) AM 1020 kHz - SW 49m 6105 kHz - SW 60m 4825 kHz - SW 31m 9675 kHz (Eduardo de Moura, May 22, dxing.info via DXLD) ** CANADA. RCI`s dropping of 13670 for 2200-2400 UT is bad news out here; that was a good frequency, as would be expected at this distance; 9590 is audible but rather noisy, and new 6140 useless as of 2230 UT May 22. Fortunately we still have 15455 which is best (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. CBC MERGES WEB, RADIO, TV NEWS OPERATIONS By MICHAEL POSNER, ARTS REPORTER UPDATED AT 2:40 AM EDT, Saturday, May. 17, 2003 TORONTO -- Making a major move to consolidate resources, the CBC announced yesterday that it is integrating all of its radio, television and CBC.ca news-gathering operations. In a memo to staff signed by executive vice-president of television Harold Redekop and executive vice-president of radio Jane Chalmers, the public broadcaster said it is creating two new positions to effect the change: editor-in-chief of CBC News and deputy editor-in-chief. The posts will be filled by Tony Burman and Esther Enkin, respectively. Mr. Burman had already carried the editor-in-chief title, but his purview until now had extended only to journalistic policy matters, not content. Ms. Enkin, who has worked in both radio and TV, is currently interim program director of CBC Radio. CBC spokeswoman Ruth-Ellen Soles said yesterday that there would be no new layoffs as a result of the measures. Rather, she called the change simply another step in a process begun more than a year ago. In the past year, the three services -- radio, television and the Web site -- have co-operated in the development and presentation of major news stories, including the Romanow Report on Canada's health-care system, the Iraq war, and the VancouverPickton murder cases. Still, going further will require significant reassessments of both financial and personnel resources, a job that has been handed to a task force headed by Joan Anderson, director of radio in British Columbia. Ms. Anderson will report to a steering committee made up of Mr. Redekop, Ms. Chalmers, Mr. Burman, and Cathy Sprague, CBC human resources director. Five working groups made up of representatives from radio, TV and CBC.ca are being established to assess the impact of integration. A memo to staff noted yesterday, "Obviously, there are many details to be worked out, and many questions to be answered." Suanne Kelman, professor of broadcast journalism at Toronto's Ryerson University, said the initiative might help the CBC fend off critics who charge it with wasting public tax dollars. "Instead of sending four people to a press conference, they'll send one or two. But radio and television are not the same animal, and if the result of this is the cannibalization of the radio service, making it an afterthought, that's not good." (Globe & Mail via Daniel Say, alt.radio.networks.cbc via Mike Cooper, DXLD) Ms Kelman is quite correct in her assessment that CBC's plan to integrate TV and radio news will result in the eventual destruction of CBC radio service as we know it today. From grumblings inside the CBC ranks, I know this decision is not being taken to heart by the folks within the CBC who care about radio and it's content. The current philosophy bandied about by executive management at the CBC seems to be that the integration will result in better efficiency and synergy between the two organizations. It's rather like saying coffee and tea should be combined in order to eliminate additional teabags. There is a huge cultural element that will be lost here. Sending only two journalists instead of four on a story may save CBC some money, but it will not result in better information or content. And what will suffer? radio. Let's think about why. Jane Chalmers, the newly appointed VP of radio, has a background in TV not radio, and was sent in from the prairies to organize the same type of cost-cutting integration that left many CBCers jobless out in those stations. Her goal is not to improve the content of radio, but to tow the corporate line of budget-cutting at all costs while providing the same sub-standard service that been plaguing the CBC ever since the previous grand idea of her predecessor Alex Frame and the whole radio one schedule redesign fiasco. Mills is out and most in the ranks feel that was good step, but the question remains whether Chalmers has enough savvy and wherewithal to protect the quality of the radio service while at the same time preventing Mr. Burman and company from riding roughshod over the current CBC radio culture. The jury is still out and some say the Chalmers just doesn't have the experience required for the task at hand. Whatever the case there can be no doubt that something will be lost in the process of homogenizing the CBC service. Maybe we should all just watch TV with no display if we want radio in the future. Hmmm --- could save some money (radioman, ibid.) ** CROATIA [and non]. Dear Glenn, Referring to WOR 1183 I was told the following schedule of Voice of Croatia: 0200-0220 English on 9925 kHz (//1125, 1134 MW) 0230-???? Spanish on 9925 kHz (//1125, 1134 MW) 0600-0603 English on 9470 and 13820 kHz 2200-2220 English on 1125 and 1134 kHz MW 2330-???? Spanish on 1125 and 1134 kHz MW. 73, (Erik Køie, Copenhagen, May 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA [non]. Radio Martí, after debuting on 6050 kHz yesterday, is now on 6040 kHz, having left a jammer behind from when heard earlier at 0645z. 6030 & 5980 remain unchanged (Paul Ormandy, ZL4TFX, May 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) And I believe I heard Radio Martí last night on 9.295 mhz at 0125-0145 UTC 22 May under heavy jamming. I did not have this frequency previously in my records. I kept comparing the man speaking on 9.295 to the man speaking on 6.030 and they seemed to be the same (Wayne Leman, KL7FDQ, Busby, Montana, hard-core-dx via DXLD) Well, Padula had both 6040 and 6050 yesterday. Another new R. Martí frequency: 9795 (not 9295) around 1245 UT May 22 with jamming, \\ 9805; after 1300 9795 continued but 9805 shifted to 9815, along with the Castro Cuban Commie jammers. The supposedly current IBB schedule on May 22 does NOT show 9795 or 9815, nor 6040 and 6050 as reported in last issue! Suspect this has something to do with Cuban Independence Day festivities around May 20; see stories below, as usual woefully lacking in detail re frequencies, but I seriously doubt the 49mb additions come from Commando Solo. With all the power at ground-based US SW sites, it`s ridiculous to use Commando Solo to reach Cuba on SW, except as a publicity stunt (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) A small article in the Tampa Tribune's 22 May edition, bylined Rafael Lorente and Vanessa Bauza of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, states that on or near the Cuban Independence Day (apparently 20 May), the U.S. gov't began using a satellite and an Air Force EC-130E, flying in U.S. airspace, to get Martí programming past the jammers and "into living rooms of ordinary people" on the island. The "extra frequencies" were beamed for several hours beginning at 6 p.m. in a first test that was quietly begun, once policy matters in the U.S. administration were settled and the test authorized by Bush, fulfilling a promise he made last year. The article, having no technical details, did not explain the role of the satellite (unless it was to get programming to the aircraft). Whether this is any relation to the recent 6050 and 6040 Martí activity reported here in hcdx is unknown. Possibly the satellite is sending TV (Bob Foxworth, Tampa, Florida, May 22, hard-core-dx via DXLD) Viz.: U.S. AIRCRAFT BROADCASTS RADIO, TV TO CUBA Posted on Wed, May. 21, 2003 BY RAFAEL LORENTE AND VANESSA BAUZA, South Florida Sun-Sentinel WASHINGTON - (KRT) - While President Bush did not announce any new initiatives aimed at toppling Fidel Castro on Cuban Independence Day Tuesday, the United States did quietly begin using a military aircraft and a satellite in an effort to get Radio and TV Marti past Cuban government jamming and into the living rooms of ordinary people on the island. Cuban-American activists have long argued the United States needs to beef up its transmission of the Marti stations, U.S. government-run operations that are supposed to offer an alternative to the Cuban government programming. But legal questions and disagreements within the administration had prevented action until recently. "When it got to the president of the United States, it was no sweat," said a senior administration official, who called Tuesday's flight just the first test. Tuesday's extra frequencies were beamed for several hours starting around 6 p.m. from a satellite and an Air Force EC-130E, also known as Commander [sic] Solo, flying in American airspace. Officials in Washington said the effort will continue in order to fulfill a promise made last year by Bush to get the signals past Cuban jamming. Cuba reacted with a front-page editorial in Wednesday's Communist Party daily Granma. Dripping with sarcasm, the article thanked Bush for his "sweet and moving" May 20th message in which he expressed hope that the Cuban people would "soon enjoy the same freedoms and rights as we do." The statement said a known "Miami terrorist" had transmitted Radio Martí signals in "shameful violation of international norms." The statement was apparently referring to José Basulto of Brothers to the Rescue, who did indeed fly a mission Tuesday morning to test a signal. His flight was not coordinated with the government's beaming, Basulto said. Cuba's statement also acknowledged TV Martí signals were transmitted for two hours Tuesday night. "In reality, these transmissions did not constitute a technical success to be proud of," the statement read. "Very few heard their noises." The Air Force plane that flew Tuesday beamed two short-wave signals of Radio Martí and a VHF TV Martí signal. The satellite beamed a signal that could be viewed by an unknown number of Cubans on the island who have legal or illegal DirectTV satellite dishes. Elsa Morejón, wife of Óscar Elías Biscet, a medical doctor and pro- democracy activist sentenced recently to 25 years in prison, said she was able to hear the special TV Martí broadcast Tuesday night, though the pictures were blocked by gray stripes. She said Radio and TV Martí programs offer a different perspective of the news in a society where the government controls what's in the media. "People can't go to the Internet, they can't travel, they don't know what's going on in the rest of the world," Morejón said. But Morejón gave the Martí stations' programming mixed reviews, saying its credibility suffers from false reports generated by Martí collaborators on the island. Basulto remained skeptical about the government's commitment to transmitting to Cuba, saying he would not be satisfied until the United States is doing it regularly. "We're not asking for one transmission," he said. "We're asking for 365 transmissions a year." --- (South Florida Sun-Sentinel correspondent Madeline Baro contributed to this report.) --- © 2003 South Florida Sun-Sentinel. (via Mike Terry, DXLD) PLANE BEAMS BROADCASTS TO CUBA BY TIM JOHNSON, Thu, May. 22, 2003 http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/5916045.htm WASHINGTON - On orders from the White House, the Pentagon deployed a special airplane this week to beam the signals of Radio and TV Martí to Cuba, using a technology that one administration official said ''breached the wall'' of Cuban jamming efforts. ''The political green light is on'' to make the controversial U.S.- operated stations more effective at reaching Cubans, said the senior official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. An Air Force EC-130 plane conducted the transmissions between 6:30 p.m. and 10 p.m. Tuesday, several officials said. It operated within U.S. airspace, not passing into Cuban territory. Cuba acknowledged that the United States had altered its normal transmissions of the two stations, but said they were ineffective and hinted that the Castro government might retaliate. ''Those transmissions did not constitute a technical success to be proud of. Very few [Cubans] heard the noise,'' an editorial in the Communist Party newspaper Granma said. ''The government of the United States should not forget that Cuban radio might be heard on standard frequency in many American states,'' the editorial added. The statement appeared to suggest that Cuba might consider boosting the power of its own radio stations, a move that could disrupt the broadcasts of commercial radio stations in South Florida. Radio and TV Martí have been controversial endeavors, popular with many Cuban Americans who want Cubans on the island to receive alternative sources of information. But the two stations have been plagued by morale problems. They get little congressional oversight and are generally seen as ineffective in penetrating the jamming by the Castro regime. Radio Martí began broadcasting in 1985 on medium wave and short wave. In the past several years, criticism has soared that its programming had become stale -- sometimes lacking in elemental news judgment. In May 2002, Radio Martí delayed a broadcast of a historic speech in Havana by former President Jimmy Carter calling for political change. On April 1, the White House replaced Radio Martí's chief, Salvador Lew, with another executive, Pedro Roig. Among recent changes to brighten the station's programming are broadcasts of Major League baseball games. A White House statement said the Tuesday night broadcasts ``used a transmission platform that we believe is not susceptible to Cuban jamming. We are currently evaluating the results of that transmission.'' The administration did not say how often it would use the EC-130 plane to beam the radio and TV signals. ''We may not want to do it every day,'' the official said. ''We realize this puts some binds on the audience.'' But he said the administration will allot the money necessary to make the signals more effective on a constant basis. Both Radio and TV Martí have transmitted from the Florida Keys. The TV Martí signal is sent from a balloon tethered 10,000 feet above Cudjoe Key at a low angle toward Cuba that is easily blocked. The EC-130 aircraft used in the test Tuesday is the same type of aircraft that beamed signals to Iraqis during the war, a Pentagon official said (Miami Herald via Artie Bigley, Jilly Dybka, DXLD) [Another version]: U.S. MEDIA BLITZ ON CUBA ANGERS CASTRO GOVERNMENT gives a few more details including: The United States broadcast on three new radio frequencies -- two shortwave and one medium wave -- and one VHF TV channel to Cuba for four hours on Tuesday by using a C-130 aircraft for the first time, a U.S. official said. José Basulto, who heads exile group Brothers to the Rescue, said the group flew a small plane in the Florida Straits on Tuesday to try to make a television transmission to Cuba. But for technical reasons, the transmission did not work, he said. . . http://famulus.msnbc.com/FamulusIntl/reuters05-21-165829.asp?reg=AMERICAS (Reuters via Artie Bigley, DXLD) U S MEDIA BLITZ ANGERS CASTRO http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s861373.htm (via Paul Ormandy, NZ, DXLD) One such measure is unmasking the lies of the Castro regime. To that end, the U.S. special envoy for Western Hemisphere initiatives, Otto Reich, announced that TV Marti -- which aims to provide balanced news coverage -- yesterday was seen in Cuba for the first time in over 12 years. TV and Radio Marti are produced by the Office of Cuba Broadcasting, a U.S. international broadcasting bureau. . . http://usinfo.state.gov/cgi-bin/washfile/display.pl?p=/products/washfile/latest&f=03052102.llt&t=/products/washfile/newsitem.shtml (via Jilly Dybka, DXLD) TV MARTI TESTS BROADCASTS TO CUBA ON DIRECTV-LATIN AMERICA | Text of report by Mexican news agency Notimex Miami, 21 May (Notimex): A TV Martí spokesman confirmed on 21 May that for the very first time the United States broadcast a clandestine television signal to Cuba by way of the commercial network DirecTV- Latin America. A spokeswoman for the Miami-based station told Notimex that the signal was broadcast on 20 May for four hours, coinciding with the 101st anniversary of Cuba's independence. "Of course" we broadcast to Cuba by way of DirecTV-Latin America, said the spokeswoman for TV Martí, the station that broadcasts US programmes to the island, and whose signal is considered by the Cuban Government as a violation of the country's sovereignty. DirecTV-Latin America, which is based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, confirmed the broadcast but said that it was only "testing" the TV Martí signal. "We were able to support the request on this occasion because we temporarily had the satellite capability to do so," said the television company in a communiqué in which it denied that future broadcast are being discussed. The spokeswoman also explained that "the station knows nothing about any DirecTV equipment in Cuba. Neither DirecTV-Latin America nor DirectTV in the United States have business dealings with Cuba." Under the US trade embargo against Cuba, US firms cannot do business on the island. Estimates indicate that in Havana there are approximately 20,000 satellite antennae or dishes, which illegally receive signals from DirecTV and Dishnet, the leading satellite television networks in the United States. Three Havana residents told El Nuevo Herald newspaper that certain individuals "who have satellite dishes" saw the TV Martí signal by way of DirecTV-Latin America. The special broadcast, which was also carried by channels 13 and 18 on [sic] the island, is part of TV Martí's effort to increase the power of its signal, one year after President George W. Bush promised that Radio and TV Martí would have stronger signals to Cuba. Otto Reich, the White House's special envoy for hemispheric affairs, told the newspaper that "we are currently in an initial testing phase that will be followed by further tests." Radio Martí was created in 1985, and TV Martí in 1998, both for the purpose of broadcasting to the island US programmes that differ from the views of the Cuban Government, which has angered the regime. Both stations began in Washington, but for the past several years have broadcast from Miami, a city that is considered the bastion of Cuban exiles in the United States. Source: Notimex news agency, Mexico City, in Spanish 1745 gmt 21 May 03 (via BBCM via DXLD) TV MARTÍ EFECTÚA TRASMISIONES ESPECIALES PABLO ALFONSO, El Nuevo Herald, Posted on Wed, May. 21, 2003 Un año después que el presidente de Estados Unidos, George W. Bush, prometiera que Radio y TV Martí tendrían mayor potencia para llegar con sus transmisiones a Cuba, la señal de televisión de esta última efectuó ayer una programación de prueba para superar la constante interferencia que tiene en la isla. ''Estamos llevando a cabo la promesa del presidente Bush, con esta fase inicial de pruebas a la que seguirán otras'', dijo Otto Reich, enviado especial de la Casa Blanca para Asuntos Hemisféricos. TV Martí transmitió su señal hacia Cuba el martes desde las 6:00 p.m. hasta las 10:00 p.m. por los canales 13 y 18 y también por la red comercial Direct TV-Latinoamérica. En las primeras horas de la noche había informes contradictorios sobre la recepción de TV Martí en la capital cubana. Tres residentes en La Habana contactados telefónicamente por El Nuevo Herald, poco después que comenzó la transmisión, dijeron que no habían captado la señal en ninguno de los dos canales. Añadieron, sin embargo, que algunas personas ''que tienen platos de satélite'' sí estaban viendo a TV Martí, a través de Direct TV-Latinoamérica, lo que había generado gran expectativa. La trasmisión especial ''es una fase de prueba utilizando un avión y un satélite'', dijo una fuente vinculada a la operación. ''Hemos aumentado la potencia y el alcance del globo y seguiremos probando otras medidas que podemos usar'', indicó la fuente. ``Todo esto forma parte de la modernización de TV Martí, que está en marcha, para lo cual usaremos diferentes plataformas de trasmisión, pero no queremos decirle cuáles al gobierno de Cuba''. Las pruebas son mucho menos de lo que esperaban los exiliados cubanos y residentes en la isla. ''Aunque llegue un año después, es un esfuerzo que ojalá se mantenga, que no se quede en un sólo día'', dijo José Basulto, presidente de Hermanos al Rescate que ha venido pidiendo al gobierno de Bush que incremente la potencia de las trasmisiones a Cuba. Fuentes consultadas por El Nuevo Herald con anterioridad han dicho que en La Habana existen unos 20,000 platos de satélite, que bajan ilegalmente la señales de Direct TV y de Dishnet. Hastiados de la programación de la televisión nacional, los cubanos persiguen como un preciado tesoro las tarjetas de programación y los platos de satélite, la mayor parte de ellos confeccionados clandestinamente en la isla. Por una antena parabólica los residentes en la isla están pagando, aproximadamente, $150 y unos $120 por la tarjeta de programación. La transmisión de TV Martí consistió de un programa especial, con motivo del 20 de mayo, que hace un recuento histórico de lo acontecido en la isla en las últimas cuatro décadas. (TOMADO DE "EL NUEVO HERALD" 21 DE MAYO DEL 2003. Cordiales 73's via Oscar de Céspedes, FL, Conexión Digital via DXLD). REACCION DEL GOBIERNO CUBANO A EMISIONES DE TV-MARTI Y NUEVAS FRECUENCIAS DE RM. http://www.granma.cubaweb.cu/2003/05/21/nacional/articulo12.html Publicado en la edición Electrónica de "Granma Nacional", República de Cuba, fecha 21 de Mayo del 2003. Unicamente se inserta debajo lo referente a Radio y Televisión. Para leer el articulo completo hacer "click" en Gracias Führer. ============================================================= Desde luego que ayer mismo la emisora subversiva, pérfida y ultrajantemente bautizada con el nombre de José Martí, salía al aire con cuatro nuevas frecuencias, y un connotado terrorista de Miami volaba libremente en alta mar, más allá de las 12 millas, a lo largo de la franja marítima entre Boca de Jaruco y Matanzas, ensayando transmisiones televisivas hacia Cuba, en violación desvergonzada de las normas internacionales que rigen la materia, con plena tolerancia de las autoridades de Estados Unidos. Un sujeto como este y otros que actúan al servicio del gobierno de Estados Unidos, jamás van a parar a las insólitas jaulas instaladas en el territorio cubano de Guantánamo ocupado a la fuerza por Estados Unidos, donde encierran sin ley o norma alguna a ciudadanos de decenas de países. En horas de la tarde, en adición a esto, como sorpresa especial de la Administración Bush, guardada como gran secreto de guerra, la señal televisiva salió al aire de seis a ocho de la noche, utilizando canales y sistemas usados en varias provincias por Cuba en programas educativos, informativos y recreativos. En realidad, tales transmisiones no constituyeron un éxito técnico del cual enorgullecerse. Muy pocos escucharon sus ruidos. El gobierno de Estados Unidos no debe olvidar que la radio cubana podría ser escuchada por onda media en muchos Estados norteamericanos (Cordiales 73's via Oscar de Céspedes, Conexión Digital May 21 via DXLD) ** CZECH REPUBLIC. HABLANDO DEL 80 ANIVERSARIO DE LA RADIO CHECA... Estimados amigos de Radio Praga, la presente es para realizar un par de observaciones al programa especial --- emitido el domingo 18/05 --- con motivo del 80 aniversario de la radio checa. A pesar del excelente programa y del inmejorable soporte de audio utilizado, hubo dos omisiones imperdonables en el mismo. La primera fue la ausencia de la señal de intervalo que caracterizó a Radio Praga por muchos años y es la marcha titulada --- si mal no recuerdo --- "La izquierda a la vanguardia" [``Forward, Left``]. Esa señal fue con la que me topé a mediados de los ochenta y por la cual comencé a sintonizar las emisiones de Radio Praga. La segunda omisión fue el cese de transmisiones de Radio Praga el 1ero. de abril de 1990 --- por primera vez en su historia, desde los tiempos de la ocupación nazi. Por un largo tiempo estuvimos sin nuestra emisora gracias a la "reestructuración" o "purga política" dentro del personal de la estación. Otro rasgo característico de la denominada "Revolución de Terciopelo", que después de todo ni tan de "terciopelo" fue. En cuanto a la Primavera de Praga, la estación debería profundizar más en el análisis de ese movimiento y consagrar un programa completo para su explicación. Sin más qué agregar y esperando que mis humildes sugerencias sean tomadas en cuenta, me despido de ustedes, Atentamente, (Adán González, Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA, to R. Praga, cc to DX LISTENING DIGEST) I liked ``Forward, Left`` too, but for aesthetic, not political reasons, just as ``Gymn Sovyetsokovo Soyuza`` and for that matter ``The East Is Red`` and ``Viva la Revolución`` (gh, DXLD) ** CZECH REPUBLIC. CZECHS HALT PROSECUTION OF AGENT WHO [allegedly] PLANNED BOMBING US RADIO | Text of report in English by Czech news agency CTK Brno, south Moravia, 22 May: The Brno City Court today halted the prosecution of Pavel Minarik, a former communist secret service (StB) agent suspected of having planned a bomb attack on the Munich headquarters of the Radio Free Europe (RFE) in the mid-1970s. "No is able to prove what damage could have been caused by the attack. This is also the main reason why the prosecution has been halted," Ales Dufek, the judge in charge of the case, told CTK. Source: CTK news agency, Prague, in English 1327 gmt 22 May 03 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. 5009.82, 2256-2320 21/5 R. Cristal Int. Loud and clear with MLB and local baseball results. Promos from "Canada Import" supermarket (Renato Bruni, Dxing policy in accordance with: http://www.faiallo.org/manif.html Parma, Italy, Rx JRC 525, Lowe HF- 150 Ant. Longwire 70m 195 , hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** GERMANY. DEUTSCHLAND RADIO TO JOIN DRM`S INAUGURAL BROADCASTS ON JUNE 16, 2003 Geneva – DeutschlandRadio`s live, daily Digital Radio Mondiale( (DRM() broadcasts on the medium-wave/AM band will be a part of DRM`s Inaugural Broadcasts event on June 16th, 2003. The event will take place at the Château de Penthes in Geneva, debut during the International Telecommunications Union`s (ITU) World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC 2003). It marks the moment at which leading broadcasters transmit local, national and international DRM broadcasts simultaneously. Deutsche Welle, Radio Netherlands, Swedish Radio International and T-Systems Media & Broadcast will also participate. DeutschlandRadio`s test transmissions have been part of DRM`s field tests process since 2001. ``The Inaugural Broadcasts event in Geneva gives us an important signal, to boost our activities in DRM with the goal of implementing this technology, which is full of prospects, in the existing AM Network (8 MF, 3 LF and 2 SW) of DeutschlandRadio,``(``Quote from DR,``) says Dietmar Boettcher, (DeutschlandRadio spokesperson). DeutschlandRadio has been a member of the DRM consortium since (year)1999. DeutschlandRadio will broadcasts news and information, including special broadcasts for elections and major sporting events, in German terrestrial on medium-wave/AM DAB, FM, LF, MF, SW and additionally via cable and satellite, 24-hours-a-day. The DRM broadcasts on MF 855 (2.7 kW) will reach Berlin and its surrounding regions, as well as parts of Central Europe. DRM is the world`s only non-proprietary, digital system for short- wave, medium-wave/AM and long-wave with the ability to use existing frequencies and bandwidth across the globe. With clear, near-FM quality sound that offers a dramatic improvement over analogue, DRM will revitalize radio. With its inaugural broadcasts drawing near, the DRM consortium`s membership is higher than ever – 81 members from 30 countries. DRM reached an important milestone in January 2003, when the International Electrotechnical Committee (IEC) gave the DRM on-air system its highest stamp of approval – International Standard. Commercial DRM- capable receivers are expected to be available in markets worldwide in the next few years. About DeutschlandRadio (standard descriptive information here)DeutschlandRadio offers two programmes, one of them with a focus on information and news and the other focusing on culture and art. Deutschlandfunk is the number one information programme in Germany, modern and service-oriented. DeutschlandRadio Berlin broadcasts a national metropolitan programme specialising in culture. On both programmes DeutschlandRadio broadcasts 2740 minutes of information programmes weekly, including 795 minutes of news coverage. It broadcasts 38 features per month, 390 radio plays per year and 600 concerts (450 of them from Germany). The claim of DeutschlandRadio on nationwide frequencies has been registered in 11 broadcasting laws of the individual states. The number of FM frequencies has increased from 37 in 1994, to 236 in May 2003 (Deutschlandfunk 119, DeutschlandRadio Berlin 117). DeutschlandRadio has approximately 8.5 million regular listeners (Deutschlandfunk 6.3 million, DeutschlandRadio Berlin 2.2 million). On a daily basis, an average number of 1.4 million people listen to DeutschlandRadio (Deutschlandfunk 1,16 million, DeutschlandRadio Berlin 243.000). DeutschlandRadio cooperates closely with public broadcasting corporations ARD and ZDF. Its administration, such as personnel, finance, royalties and licences and purchasing, is linked with ZDF. In 2001, nearly 120 features and radio plays have been co-produced with ARD. With regard to public events and radio series, DeutschlandRadio cooperates with German newspapers such as FAZ, Handelsblatt, Frankfurter Rundschau, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Berliner Zeitung, Tagesspiegel, Die Zeit and regional newspapers as well as TV companies ``Phoenix`` and ``3sat``; museums such as ``Haus der Geschichte`` (Bonn), the marketing company ``Partner für Berlin``, as well as the German Parliament, the House of Representatives in Berlin and the Dresdner Bank for example. DeutschlandRadio runs 18 correspondent offices in the states of the Federal Republic of Germany, and seven foreign correspondents work in Moscow, London, Washington, Brussels (2), Paris and Los Angeles. In cooperation with ARD, correspondents are sent to Rome and Tel Aviv. (DRM press release via DXLD) ** GUYANA. 3291.2, G. B. C., 0010 news in English, fair signal, 0100 repetition of five numbers, three or more times by yl; lottery numbers? From 0800 - 0920, G B C ID, chorale music 0830-0837, followed by subcontinent music as is their usual eclectic mix, 0850 - 0916 birthday greeting read by om announcer, "very happy birthday greeting to...", into pop music. Tnx Grayland, WA DXpedition log and Rich D'Angelo log (Bob Wilkner, FL, Drake R7 and on the ground antenna 10 meter antenna, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. THE RADIO COMEBACK -- by Srinand Jha* These days all good things are being said about the radio. That it is the 'second coming' or the 'rebirth of the radio' that the present generation is witnessing. That it is today's fastest-growing medium - steamed off on a journey of regeneration and resurrection. That the other communication mediums, such as print and audio visual, cannot hope to replicate the unique medium of radio at any point of time in the future. Of course, not entirely without basis are such assertions being made. Television needs time 'by appointment', while the radio can be heard anywhere. While jogging, driving or conversing. Besides, does not a music concert seem so much trivialized on television screens? Isn't it so much better to have soulful music wafting out of anonymous radio sets? Don't good things of life somehow lose value and get de-energized when stated as the obvious? One hardly needs too great imaginative skills to find answers to these. Today lives are running along much fast tracks. In the coming years, time will be much more at a premium - and television might find its space shrinking. Also, technological innovations have made radio- enabled mobile phones possible. The radio can also be heard on televisions or on personal digital assistants (PDAs). Certain companies have started marketing 'wind and play' transistor sets - requiring no battery or power connection. Besides, a radio or transistor set is also so much more inexpensive in comparison. These are among the arguments put forward in support of projections concerning the bright outlook for the radio. Since the 1999 decision of the Central Government in liberalizing regulations for setting up private radio stations, a good deal of activity has been happening on the ground. More than a dozen private radio stations have started operations at big and small centres including the four metros with Delhi, Chennai and Kolkata having got wired up last month. Public Relation (PR) agencies have been taking a serious look at prospects of radio advertising, while manufacturers have been racking their brains for developing more innovative models of radio sets. Also, for equipment vendors from Australia or the United States, it has been Destination India - with these companies hawking an array of antennas, cable and studio equipment. On its own part, the Indian Government has been considering possibilities of floating the second round of bids (for the setting up of private FM stations at 70 additional cities throughout the country). But these continue to remain somewhat troubled times for the Indian radio industry. The facts speak for themselves. In early 1999, 23 companies had bid for 108 frequencies in 40 cities. Now, just 22 stations remain in 12 cities. In Mumbai, five of the 10 players remain, and eight operators have dropped out of the Delhi circle with just three remaining. As of now, the radio business is not as viable as one might want. From the viewpoint of private broadcasters, the problem is with the license auction agreement as decided in the first round of bids. Bids went for fabulous amounts between Rs. 7.5 crore to Rs.10 crore in most centres. According to the agreement, the private players are required to pay correspondingly higher sums after the completion of each year of operations. The private players have been clamouring for the waiver of this clause as the revenue generation has been marginal. As they have pointed out in a memorandum to the Information and Broadcasting Minister, Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad, five private stations in Mumbai are required to pay an auction fee amount of approximately Rs.10 crore this year as against Rs.8.5 crore last year, although the total revenue generated by them has totalled only Rs. 2.2 crore. Upon the suggestion of the Minister, the private parties have presented to him a copy of their separate balance sheets. The Government is presently considering ways for providing the radio with a more congenial growth environment. Radio ad-spend in India has remained pegged at a lowly 1.5 per cent as against 12 per cent in Australia, 12-15 per cent in US and between 7 to 10 per cent in some South Asian countries. Operators believe that the share of radio ad-spend can increase only in the event of the participation of a greater number of players. Television provides the example, ad-spend generated by the television in 1992, Doordarshan's sole monopoly days, totalled 15 per cent of the ad-pie. Ten years down the line in 2002 it was 38 per cent. The radio operators want a migration from the present license auction option to the revenue-sharing model. They feel this would enable the industry to generate an increase in ad-spend up to 3-5 per cent in the short run and about 7-8 per cent in the long term. Community or campus radio is another enterprise that the Central Government is interested in promoting. Presently, the offer holds good for recognized institutions and colleges (IITs, universities and registered residential schools) and several institutes including IIT, Kanpur have shown interest. The Government does not levy charges for the setting up of such Low Power Transmitter (LPT) station, although the customary charge of spectrum fee has to be deposited. Several institutes have been pursuing plans of setting up campus radio stations. The Government's plans are to enable about 100 institutes wired up to campus radio within the next one year. Two autonomous bodies-the Broadcast Engineers Corporation of India Limited - BECIL and the AIR Resources - a wing of the Prasar Bharati have been offering turnkey solutions for setting up campus radio stations. It would cost between Rs. 10-12 lakh to set up a campus radio station. Besides, foreign equipment manufacturers have been eyeing the Indian market. Given the fact that there are more than 400 recognised institutes and colleges in India, the market size is estimated as being huge. Initial estimates are that the size of the services market would not be less than Rs. 60 crore. (PIB Features) *Senior Freelance Writer, Press Information Bureau, Govt Of India ---------------- Regds, (via Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, India, DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. WORLDSPACE LAUNCHES GOVERNMENT SALES UNIT Satellite radio service provider WorldSpace has launched a sales unit to take advantage of the growing satellite demand in the government market. This unit will enable government agencies to extend communications into markets with limited telecommunication infrastructures. In addition, it will provide Washington, D.C.-based WorldSpace with more revenue channels for its subscription-based services. The company plans to announce its first contract with the U.S government in the upcoming months. 73 (Satellite Today 21 May 2003 via Kim Elliott, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Like, VOA? As a minor midlevel functionary, I would not know if any deal between VOA and Worldspace is in the works. However, Lyngsat has reported that Radio Sawa is testing on Afristar. See http://www.lyngsat.com/afristar.shtml 73 (Kim Elliott, DC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAN. Saludos colegas diexistas. Para todos un buen dia jueves. La siguiente información llega de La Voz de La República Islámica de Irán y la comparto con todos ustedes. Atte: (José Elías Díaz Gómez, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: EN EL NOMBRE DE DIOS Muy apreciados amigos oyentes de La Voz de la República Islámica de Irán: Con mucho gusto y placer le dirigimos las presentes líneas para saludarles y hacerles llegar nuestros mejores deseos de salud y bienestar. Por el medio de la presente les informamos que desde hoy pueden acudir a nuestra página web cuya dirección es: http://www.irib.ir/worldservice/spanishradio/ [but see below] Por el momento sólamente pueden utilizar la parte referente a las Últimas noticias y la de los comentarios políticos, sin embargo dentro poco vamos a añadir otras partes también que corresponden a nuestros programas especiales, así como a nuestros espacios semanales. Mucho le agradeceríamos sus comentarios, sugerencias y hasta críticas a fin de subsanar los posibles defectos. En espera de sus prontas noticias, nos despedimos en el nombre del altísimo. Atentamente (La redacción española, de La Voz De La República Islámica de Irán, May 22, via Díaz via DXLD) Ojo, la dirección correcta de la página en español es: http://www.irib.ir/worldservice/spanishRADIO/default.htm Saludos (EA7-0641 José Bueno Jeremías-Córdoba, Noticias DX via DXLD) ** IRAN/IRAQ. RADIO NEJAT - ANALYSIS Radio Nejat (Salvation) was first observed by BBC Monitoring on 2 April 2003. Broadcasting in Persian, the station addresses Iranians living abroad. While the station mirrors some of the programme content of the Iranian government IRIB (Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting) radio stations, there are subtle differences within the content of Radio Nejat programming. Radio Nejat identifies in Persian as: Radio Nejat, seda-ye hamdeli va peyvand ba kasani keh mehr-e vatan ra dar del darand; Radio Nejat, the voice of sympathy and relation with those who have the love of homeland in their heart. Programme content Radio Nejat does not refer to IRIB radio or television during it's broadcasts. However, there are indications which may attribute the broadcast to IRIB. Radio Nejat programming has included an eulogy that marked the anniversary of the death of the 11th Shi'i Imam. The eulogy included a sad song, poetry and expression of condolence for the Imam's death. This is typical programming for IRIB radio, as it is unlikely that the remnants of the Mojahedin Khalq Organisation or any non-Iranian broadcaster would dedicate broadcast time to a cause only Iranian Shi'i clerics care for. The inclusion of actuality of Iran's Information Minister calling on the Mojahedin to return to Iran is something a non-Iranian broadcaster is unlikely to make. Radio Nejat includes many of the jingles, and the style of presentation that is regularly broadcast on IRIB radio's Payam and Javan. Differences to IRIB programming However, the station has been observed to distance itself from IRIB radio in the following significant ways: the Mojahedin Khalq Organisation are not referred to as "Monafeqin" (hypocrites), and the United States and the American administration are referred to as Washington. Iran is referred to as "Iran" rather than "The Islamic Republic of Iran". Transmission parameters Radio Nejat broadcasts twice daily at: 0230-0430 and 1230-1430, on 675 kHz. After 1430 the frequency of 675 kHz has been observed by BBC Monitoring to be occupied by the SCIRI-sponsored clandestine radio station Voice of Rebellious Iraq. Source: BBC Monitoring research 20 May 03 (via DXLD) ** IRAQ. ELECTRONIC IRAQ HEADLINES SALAM PAX BLOGS Electronic Iraq http://electroniciraq.net/news has now published the photos and latest blogs from 'Baghdad Blogger' Salman Pax, featuring an account of his recent trip to southern Iraq. This is a must see (Andy Sennitt, May 20, Media Network via DXLD) Is it Salam, or Salman? Both appear in the brief item above. I don`t know which one to [sic]. (gh, DXLD) ** IRAQ. WRITER CALLS FOR SALVAGING MATERIAL IN THE BURNT-OUT BROADCASTING HOUSE | Text of report by Iraqi Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) newspaper Al-Ta'akhi on 20 May The phrase "setting on fire again" might astonish you but it is the truth. Soon after the liberation of Baghdad the building was looted in an organized operation that included technical and other equipment. A large part of the archive was set on fire deliberately and only a small part was left intact and was possible to save, and nobody remembered the building. It was set on fire twice last Friday and Saturday [16 and 17 May]. We wandered about in the corridors of the building after I asked permission from the families of those who live there. I call them corridors now without mentioning its real name, because only corridors remained with scattered destroyed equipment everywhere, including audio cassettes, old records, films, books and all kinds of useful material. As we were wandering about, thick smoke was rising from the opposite side of the Tigris, specifically from Rashid Communications building. That building has been set on fire too without anyone paying attention. I returned to the TV and radio building to pick up some recorded tapes off the floor here and there. I read on the wall a sign saying that this was al-Shabab TV and Al-Qur'an al-Karim Radio. A large hall separating them was full of shelves of old records of famous Iraqi and Egyptian Koran readers and old programmes which reminded me of (High Shelves). This was a famous programme presented by the well-know broadcaster Hafid al-Durubi, 40 years ago. It was a reminder that I was not able any more to see something of the history of this cultural entity other than these stolen and burnt shelves. I will not ask who is going to return something that has been burnt, but who will save the remaining material. This is a call to those who are concerned and to those who have experience or ability to save what they can now while it is still possible. There are still some things that we can benefit from and this is part of our national cultural past and our endeavours. We do not need advice at this moment but we need action to provide protection for other cultural centres to save them from getting burnt again. This is a call to the coalition forces to pay attention to these institutions, to those who returned to their positions, including patriotic police staff and officials, to the zealous among our people, some of whom stand against this deluge of destruction. These belong to our coming generations and their history. Therefore, it is our duty. This is a call to the old art cadre in the TV and radio institution to move without waiting for the instructions, and to the cadres of other cultural institutions. Let us agree on a new plan that puts the interests of Iraq and the Iraqi people first. These are not the interests of politicians. Source: Al-Ta'akhi, Baghdad in Arabic 20 May 03 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** IRAQ. The new head of Iraqi state television is Ahmed al-Rikaby, who started the Arabic service for Radio Sweden's Immigrant Languages Department. He succeeds Saddam Hussein's son Uday in the job. After starting the Almadjalla program here in 1992, Ahmed al-Rikaby worked for Swedish public television, before moving to London to work for Radio Free Iraq (TT via SCDX/MediaScan May22 via DXLD) See also LIBYA! ** IRAQ. THE MEDIA IN POST WAR IRAQ - 22 MAY 03 Updates: This round-up of Iraqi media adds the following new Iraqi newspaper sources, give an indication of their allegiance or editorial line where available and includes print run figures from an AFP report of 17 May: - Al-Ayyam (The Days) is an independent newspaper which hopes "to become a daily newspaper and a forum for writers and national educated journalists and which does not "represent any the viewpoint of any party, movement or direction." - Al-Ittihad, the daily newspaper of Massoud Barzani's Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) is reported to be printing 30,000 copies daily in Baghdad. - Al-Naba (Item of News) A self declared independent national paper aiming to report "without ambiguity or bias". An editorial dated 15 May called on coalition forces to leave Iraq. - Al-Sa'ah (The Hour), is backed by Ahmad al-Kubaysi, a rich Dubai- based Sunni Muslim cleric. The editor-in-chief is Adib Sha'ban, a former employee of Uday Husayn. - Al-Sabah (The Dawn), an eight-page, twice-weekly broadsheet, with an initial run of 50,000 copies. It says it is will adhere to international codes of journalism. - Al-Ta'akhi (Brotherhood), 20,000 copies in Baghdad, using a printing press recovered from the former Iraqi Government paper Al-Iraq. This title was banned in 1974. It is run by the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and has returned to Baghdad. - Al-Zaman (Time) An independent Arabic-language daily now prints 2,000 copies daily printed in Baghdad as well as being printed in Basrah, in addition to the UK and Bahrain. Its owner and editor-in- chief is Sa'd al-Bazzaz, a former editor-in-chief of the now-defunct Iraqi government daily Al-Jumhuriyah, who fled Iraq 11 years ago. Local stories are now being edited in Baghdad, the rest are produced in London. Iraq's emerging media scene is one which enjoys freedoms unheard of during Saddam Husayn' s tenure. No foreign newspapers had been allowed in the country and satellite dishes were banned. Since the former leader was overthrown, a host of newspapers and a number of early radio and television stations have sprung up and for the residents of, choosing what to read, watch or listen to is no longer a simple affair. At least 25 newspapers which have appeared in Baghdad and other major Iraqi cities. In particular, they are giving voice to political, religious and ethnic groupings seeking a role in shaping Iraq's political future. Complaints abound about general lawlessness and poor recovery of public utilities are directed at the US-led forces. Shia media openly call for an Islamic state, while secular media say they are representing the disparate political and ethnic groups. The religious media reflect majority Shia opinion and are concerned at the influence of western and secular media. The secular media has been promoting the idea of a pluralistic, democratic government and a free press as a solution to the nation's ills. At a price of 3 to 4 dinars each however, the price of a newspaper is prohibitive to many in a shattered economy. One popular paper is the international Arabic-language paper Al-Zaman. This is now printed in Baghdad and the southern Iraqi city of Basrah, as well as in the UK and Bahrain. The Kurdish-language weekly Khabat or Struggle, published in Arbil, is the mouthpiece of the Kurdistan Democratic Party and has now also made its way onto Baghdad's news stands. Other papers include Al-Dimuqrati, or The Democrat, published by the Iraqi Grouping for Democracy and sold in Baghdad. Or there is Al-Ahrar, describing itself as an independent newspaper for "all Arabs". One recent edition of this paper carried a frontpage headline reading "Iraq is our most precious possession". The broadcast media are also expanding, but at a slower rate than the print media. There is apparently no shortage of paper, supplies have been located and can easily be procured from Turkey and Syria, according to an AFP report. The US plans to create a nationwide TV network, an AM radio channel and an independent newspaper for Iraq. All will be run by previously exiled Iraqis along with journalists recruited from within the country. The US broadcast operations will be funded by American taxpayers and run by the Iraqi Media Project, an offshoot of the Pentagon's Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance. Most people are still dependent on the radio for news and information, former Iraqi opposition groups have recently set up a number of new stations. One common complaint, however, is of the lack of resources, with stations obliged to operate under the most basic conditions, often without a constant electricity supply or access to the telephone network. Politics are still determining the type of information available. News outlets are often linked to certain political, ethnic or religious groups jostling for a say in Iraq's future. Kurdish leaders, for example, have capitalized on the media free-for-all by launching new radio and television stations in Baghdad. Without Iraq's domestic services on the air the worlds' national and international broadcasters are targeting the region. Among Iraq's rich, satellite television has become the new craze. Sales of satellite dishes and receiving equipment have increased as Iraqis seek to open this window to the outside world. However, for the time being satellite television remains a luxury. Meanwhile, the US is said to be winding down its psychological operations in the form of radio and television transmissions from Commando Solo, the aircraft overflying Iraq. Plans are afoot for a new terrestrial television service which is to broadcast first in the Baghdad area and later outside the capital. The choice of foreign news will not be limited to US-backed broadcasters. The Iran-based television station Al-Alam broadcasts into Baghdad from across the border. The station, which carries programmes in both Arabic and English, is the only foreign channel that can be received without the need for expensive satellite equipment. As regards any national Iraqi television station, this will probably have to wait for a new government to be formed in order to coordinate the installation of the technical infrastructure and define the station's aims and objectives. A Swedish-Iraqi, Ahmad al-Rikabi has been appointed by the US Defence Department as the TV's new chief and there have already been attempts to censor it, which were however resolved. Following is research by BBC Monitoring giving further details of the media sources in Iraq or intended for consumption in Iraq: New Press The following newspapers are being published in Iraq. Al-Zaman, an independent Arabic-language daily is now being printed in Baghdad and al-Basra, in addition to the UK and Bahrain. Its owner and editor-in-chief is Iraqi Sa'd al-Bazzaz, a former editor-in-chief of the now-defunct Iraqi government daily Al-Jumhuriyah, who fled Iraq 11 years ago. Local stories are now being edited in Baghdad. Al-Ahrar identifies itself as "the newspaper of all Arabs" and as an "independent political daily" although it is currently being published only on Sundays. Although an Arabic-language paper, its 4 May edition issued a frontpage English-language banner headline: "Iraq Is Our Most Precious Possession." Al-Da'wah is a Shia Arabic-language newspaper published by the Central Bureau of the Islamic Da'wah Party. Chairman of the Board of the Directors is Abd-al-Karim al-Inzi, and the editor-in-chief is Hasan Sa'id. The editorial board consists of Taha al-Alawi, Abd Farhan, and Abd-al-Karim Muhammad. The front page of the 4 May issue features an article about the late Shi'i leader Ayatollah Mohammad Baqr al-Sadr, who was murdered in February 1999 by Iraqi government forces in Najaf. The paper also publishes a statement by Grand Ayatollah al-Sayyid Kazim al-Husayni al-Ha'iri. Al-Dimuqrati [The Democrat] is a weekly newspaper issued by the Iraqi Grouping for Democracy and is being sold in Baghdad, according to Al- Jazeera TV on 4 May. Al-Hurriyah is published by the Arab National Democrats Movement. Its editor-in-chief is Husam al-Saffar. Al-Iraq al-Jadid [New Iraq] - This is an Arabic-language "independent daily" that has appeared on Baghdad newsstands, according to Al- Jazeera TV on 4 May. In an initial editorial it said the new Iraqi media would only gain the trust of its readership if it is not subject to the influence of capitalism or special-interest finacncing which could influence the press. Al-Majd (The Glory) - This is a secular weekly paper which has deplored ack of administration and security in the capital. Al-Nur is a Shia Arabic-language weekly published by the Islamic Cultural Centre in Baghdad. Baghdad is an Arabic-language weekly affiliated with the Iraqi National Accord Movement, led by Iyad Allawi. A report in the 25 April edition stated that the newspaper had transferred its headquarters from London to Baghdad. The web site at http://www.wifaq.com/baghdad_arabic.html has not been updated since 25 April. Fajr Baghdad [Baghdad Dawn] is described by its owners as "the first democratic independent newspaper in Iraq," according to Al-Jazeera TV on 4 May. The paper has been circulating in Baghdad. Its editor-in- chief is Ali al-Nashmi, a professor at the University of Baghdad. Nida al-Mustaqbal is an Arabic-language daily also published by the Iraqi National Accord Movement, appeared recently in Baghdad. Its publisher, Muhammad Khurshid, is a member of the Iraqi National Accord Movement Central Council. Members of the paper's editorial board include Ali Abd-al-Amir, Jalil al-Basri, As'ad al-Aquli and Abd-al- Hamid al-Amari. Al-Sa'ah is a biweekly political newspaper published in Baghdad by the United Iraqi National Movement. The Turkoman Front Arabic-language weekly Turkomaneli on 30 April said the paper was the first to publish in Baghdad after the fall of Saddam Husayn. The paper's initial circulation figure is 6,000 copies. It is headed by Ahmad al-Qubaysi, chairman of the Board of Directors. News editor is Ahmad Diya-al-Din. Managing editor is Muhand al-Salih. Editors are Umar Abd-al-Razzaq, Sharmin Abbas, and Shakir Mahmud. Al-Sabah (Dawn) - Supported by the reconstruction office is an eight- page, twice-weekly broadsheet with an initial run of 50,000 copies. Apparently Al-Sabah will not have editorials or opinion columns and will not print the views of Iraqi politicians. US officials insist they do not want to interfere or compete with free expression and say that such media will eventually be turned over to Iraqis. The KDP has announced plans to reintroduce a paper called Al-Ta'akhi, which was published in Baghdad from 1967 to 1974. Its editor-in-chief is to be Falak al-Din Kaka'i, member of the Kurdistan Parliament, who has promised that the newspaper will be "democratic" and represent different political and ethnic trends. The Iraqi National Congress plans to issue a paper called Al-Mu'tamar. Kurdish Press The following Kurdish papers are available: Brayat is the Kurdish-language daily newspaper of the Iraqi Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP). Govari Gulan is the monthly Kurdish-language KDP magazine. Kurdistani Nuwe is the Kurdish-language daily newspaper of the Iraqi Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK). Regay Kurdistan is the Kurdish-language weekly newspaper of the Communist Party of Iraqi Kurdistan. Kaldo-Ashur is the Arabic-language supplement of Regay Kurdistan. Al-Ittihad is the Arabic-language weekly PUK newspaper. It is now published in Baghdad on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Its 29 April issue carries pro-coalition reportage and cites President Bush as saying "Iraqis will have their say" in the formation of a new government. Turkomaneli, the weekly newspaper of the Turkoman Front, is available in both Turkoman and Arabic. Qardashliq Yolu is the bimonthly newspaper of the Turkoman Brotherhood Party in Turkoman, Kurdish, and Arabic. Tariq al-Sha'b, the monthly Arabic-language newspaper of the Iraqi Communist Party, is now also sold in Baghdad. Hawlati is an independent Kurdish-language weekly newspaper. Komal is the bimonthly newspaper of the Islamic Group of Iraqi Kurdistan in Kurdish. Khabat is the Kurdish-language weekly newspaper of the Islamic Unity Movement, and is now being sold in Baghdad. Jamawar is an independent Kurdish-language weekly newspaper. Hawal is an independent weekly newspaper in Kurdish. Broadcast Media -- RADIO The US is pushing ahead with plans to create a nationwide television channel, an AM radio channel and an independent newspaper for Iraq. The US-taxpayer-funded project is the handiwork of the Iraqi Media Project, an offshoot of the Pentagon's Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance. The New York Times reports: "Radio Iraq - set up by Robert Reilly, a former Voice of America director, is paid for by the Pentagon. 'We are the voice of the new Iraq. We are the foundation of the new national station. We would like to create free Iraqi radio and TV stations and that's where we're heading,' says Ahmad al-Rikaby, Radio Iraq's director of news. Prior to this job, he was the London bureau chief at Radio Free Iraq, a US-funded operation." Iraqi Media Network, Voice of New Iraq - operated by the US Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance; the station is heard on mediumwave 756 kHz and also 909 kHz; A radio station calling itself "the Republic of Iraq Radio from Baghdad" was observed on 12 May on 1026 kHz. It broadcast statements issued by the Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance. "Radio Freedom, from Baghdad" has recently been heard in Baghdad in Arabic on FM 96.5 MHz. The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) recently launched a new radio and television station in Baghdad. Voice of Freedom-Voice of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, affiliated with the PUK, is a radio transmitting from Baghdad daily on FM 95 MHz. The radio broadcasts in both Arabic and Kurdish, and programming includes news bulletins, political analyses and interviews, as well as music and variety shows. Turkomaneli TV and radio was launched in Kirkuk in April 2003 - broadcasts on behalf of Iraqi Turkoman Front. Turkomaneli Radio opened radio stations in Talla'far and Mosul on 6 and 8 May respectively, the Iraqi Turkoman Front newspaper Turkomaneli reported on 11 May. Dangi Komal-Kirkuk radio broadcasts on 1341 kHz in Kurdish, Arabic and Turkish to Kirkuk on behalf of the Kurdistan Islamic Group Karbala - a local TV channel was launched on 16 April, according to United Arab Emirates Abu Dhabi TV on 6 May The Worker-Communist Party of Iraq's "Radio Bopeshawa" is reportedly back on the air. The internet site of the Worker-Communist Party of Iraq http://www.wpiraq.org reports that Ila al-Amam (Forward) Radio [usually rendered as Radio Bopeshawa, meaning "Forward"], voice of the Worker-Communist Party of Iraq, will broadcast for one hour a day from 1100 gmt (half an hour in Arabic and half an hour in Kurdish), to the areas of Arbil, Kirkuk and Mosul. The same programme will be repeated between 0500-0600 gmt the next day. The following are among stations in operation before April 2003 that continue to be heard inside Iraq: Voice of the People of Kurdistan, operated by the PUK KurdSat, the television station of the PUK, has expanded its broadcasts to Kirkuk and Khanaqin Voice of Iraqi Kurdistan, operated by the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) The KDP's television station Kurdistan TV now beams its programmes to Kirkuk and Mosul. Ashur Radio - The station reportedly began operation in April 2000 and is operated by the Assyrian Democratic Movement, an opposition organization in northern Iraq. It broadcasts in Assyrian and Arabic on shortwave, reportedly from a transmitter in Azerbaijan. Voice of the Iraqi Republic from Baghdad, Voice of the Iraqi People - Despite the name, this opposition station has been in existence since 1991 and is thought to transmit from Saudi Arabia. Voice of the Iraqi People, Voice of the Iraqi Communist Party - The station broadcasts from northern Iraq, possibly using Kurdish facilities. Voice of the Mojahed, the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization's radio, may still be located in Iraq, but this seems unlikely. This was previously broadcast via shortwave, satellite and with archive audio files on the internet. Studios were believed to be located in Baghdad. Following the fall of Saddam Husayn the station was observed to have ceased broadcasts for a few days in April. The station recommenced broadcasts only via satellite with archive audio files on the internet and its studio location is unconfirmed. The web site of the radio station is at: www.iranmojedin.org and the satellite is Telstar 12 at 15 degrees west. TELEVISION The Washington Post reported on 11 May that the US planned a nationwide Iraqi TV network to succeed the airborne Towards Freedom TV. The programme, initially for two hours but projected as a 24-hour full-service network, wiould include 30 minutes of news each night, including a local news segment, the report said. The station will be transmitted initially from tower in Baghdad and eventually from Arbil in the north and Umm Qasr in the south and via satellite. The station began broadcasts on Tuesday 13 May amid squabbling between its US and Canadian advisers, and complaints from its Iraqi journalists about "American censorship", international agencies reported. The station opened with a picture of the Iraqi flag and the playing of a pan-Arab nationalist anthem. But because of the censorship claims, the launch of the live news programme was postponed. "As journalists we will not submit to censorship," said Dan North, a Canadian documentary maker advising Iraqis at the station, which plans two hours of programming a night for viewers in Baghdad. "This whole idea was about starting the genesis of an open media so we will not accept an outside source scrutinizing what we produce." According to North, the Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance (ORHA) had requested that the station's news programmes be reviewed by the wife of Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani, leading to a decision to postpone it for a for a week because of the wrangling that ensued. But Robert Teasdale, a US adviser to the network said: "This is not American propaganda. This is the first time in 25 years Iraqis are getting TV that is not propaganda." The station did air verses from the Holy Koran, against the wishes of the ORHA, after Iraqi staff threatened to walk out if they were dropped. Another last-minute change was a decision not to broadcast an address by US official Jay Garner. A Swedish-Iraqi from Swedish TV and Radio, Ahmad al-Rikabi has been appointed by the US Defence Department as the TV's new chief and there have already been attempts to censor it, which were however resolved. Talking about the attempt to censor broadcasts, he said that he threatened to go straight to the the Palestine Hotel and hold a news conference over the matter. Home-grown TV news has not yet commenced. Freedom TV [Al-Hurriyah TV] is a PUK-sponsored television station that began test transmissions from Baghdad on 30 April. A PUK statement said viewers can access Freedom TV on UHF channel 38 at 1700-2200 gmt. Mosul TV was the "first station" to resume transmission in Iraq after the overthrow the Saddam Husayn regime, Dubai-based news channel Al- Arabiya TV reported on 10 May. Kirkuk TV channel started broadcasts on 23 April "under the supervision of the coalition forces", according to a report by the Iraqi Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) newspaper Brayati on 25 April. Turkomaneli TV and radio was launched in Kirkuk in April 2003 - broadcasts on behalf of Iraqi Turkoman Front. Turkomaneli Radio opened radio stations in Talla'far and Mosul on 6 and 8 May respectively, the Iraqi Turkoman Front newspaper Turkomaneli reported on 11 May. Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization's (MKO) "Vision of Resistance TV" (Sima-ye Moqavemat) which was relayed by the former Republic of Iraq Television before and after normal broadcasting hours has not been reported on the air recently. Reportedly the studios were in Ashraf, North of Baghdad in Central Iraq. The only MKO TV programmes being traced at present are via satellite on the station "Simaye Azaidi Iran National TV" (Vision of Freedom National Iran TV), which is not located in Iraq but which the sat-address.com web site gives UK-based contact details. The web site is http://www.iranntv.com and satellites are the trans-Atlantic Telstar 12, Telstar 5 for North America and Atlantic Bird 3 covering all of Europe and the Middle East. IRANIAN BROADCAST MEDIA ACCESSIBLE IN IRAQ -- Television The Iran-based Al-Alam satellite TV channel in Arabic and English is a 24-hour news channel transmitted on four satellites (Arabsat, Asiasat, Telstar and Hot Bird satellites) and can be received in Europe, the Middle East, Asia and America. Al-Alam broadcasts into Baghdad from a powerful transmitter about 150 km away, just over the Iran-Iraq border. It is the only foreign channel that can be viewed by Iraqis without a satellite dish. That has sent its viewership soaring among ordinary Iraqis, who cannot afford the average 200-dollar cost of a satellite dish and receiver. The Arabic channel began broadcasting in February 2003. English content currently is limited to horizontal news subtitles or news tickers. The station has a web site at http://www.alalamnews.com Sahar Universal Network 1 and 2 television, Iran's external satellite TV service on the Hot Bird 1-6 satellites, is viewable across Iraq and includes Arabic proragramming. Its web site is located at http://www.sahartv.com. Resistance Channel - this TV channel is called "Al-Estiqamah TV" in Arabic; in April 2003 it was reported to be using the facilities of Iranian radio and TV, including the aerial of Iran's Education Channel, to broadcast to Iraq. The station was inaugurated in early April 2003 by Ayatollah Hakim, the head of the Supreme Assembly for Islamic Revolution in Iraq [SAIRI], according to the Tehran-based Baztab web site. Also available via satellite in the Middle East via Iran's digital multiplex. Radio Voice of the Mujahidin First observed on 17 April, the station's content suggests that it is operated by the Iranian-backed Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI). In addition, the station is transmitting on one of several frequencies used by Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting for its external transmissions. Has been heard on 90.1 MHz FM, in parallel with 720 kHz. The content generally parallels that of the main SCIRI web site located at http://www.majlesaala.com. Voice of the Islamic Republic of Iran (VIRI) external service in Arabic can be heard on mediumwave and shortwave inside Iraq as well as via the Internet at http://www.irib.com. Voice of Rebellious Iraq - supports the Iranian-sponsored Shi'i group, the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI); believed to transmit from Iran. International media Major international radio and television stations, such as pan-Arab satellite television stations, the BBC's Arabic and World service radio and TV, US Radio Sawa, the Paris-based Radio Monte Carlo Middle East and US-sponsored Radio Free Iraq are available in Iraq in principle. However, access to all broadcast media is limited both by the availability of electricity, radio and TV sets and the lack of satellite TV suppliers, the price of equipment or cable infrastructure. Source: BBC Monitoring research 22 May 03 (via DXLD) ** IRELAND. GARDAI SHUT DOWN PIRATE RADIO STATIONS http://www.online.ie/business/latest/viewer.adp?article=2018342 Business & Finance 22 May 2003 Gardai have shut down a large number of pirate radio stations operating in Dublin city. In a joint operation with the telecom watchdog, ComReg, the Gardai raided the premises of the illegal broadcast operations and seized their equipment. The regulator has declined to comment on how many stations were shut down, but a swift spin of the dial reveals that Phantom FM, Jazz FM, Choice FM and Premier FM - some of which have applied for radio licences in the past - have all been removed from the airwaves. In response to the sudden crackdown, the pirate stations claim that they are providing services to markets that are not being served by the commercial stations. "The Broadcasting Commission has consistently failed to understand the importance of this service and its popularity amongst Dublin listeners," Phantom FM said in a statement on its website. "In the meantime, it continues to reward existing license holders with additional franchises which fail to provide listening choice." The station added that it provides an important service by giving local artists valuable access to the airwaves and affordable media space to promote their gigs and recordings. (Ireland online via Artie Bigley, DXLD) What`s Gardai? ** ISRAEL. ISRAEL RADIO GETS NEW BOSS - ITS DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENT By Anat Balint Yonni Ben-Menachem, Israel Radio's diplomatic correspondent for the past six years, was elected as the new director of Israel Radio last night by a 7-2 majority of the Israel Broadcasting Authority's tenders committee. The stormy committee meeting was interrupted early on when members realized the two representatives sent by the Journalists' Associations in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem were Israel Radio workers, a clear conflict of interest. The IBA legal adviser, Hannah Metzkovich, insisted on their replacement before the vote. Before the meeting, committee member Dr. Ilan Asia sent a vehement letter to Industry Minister Ehud Olmert, the minister with the IBA portfolio, charging IBA Chairman Avraham Natan was not qualified to chair the tenders committee. Asia claimed that Natan announced at the last session of the tenders committee that he'd "make sure no observers attend to this affair, so the tender can be conducted in an orderly fashion." He was referring to an observer from the Attorney General's Office at the last appointments tender, which selected the director of Channel One TV. After the vote, the attorney general's envoy sent a letter to the state attorney charging that some of the votes for Ben-Menachem were not cast for professional reasons. Asia wrote to Olmert that "it seems Natan wants to hold the tenders committee sessions in the dark, out of the public eye, and that raises suspicions about his motives." Ben-Menachem's close ties with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon have raised fears among many journalists in Israel Radio that he will serve as the prime minister's proxy at the news station (Ha`aretz via Bill Westenhaver, DXLD) ** ISRAEL. IBA BUDGET CUT TO BE LESS SEVERE THAN FEARED The joint Finance and Economics Committee of the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, has decided to to reduce the scale of the proposed cut in the budget of the Israel Broadcasting Authority (IBA). Instead of 450m Shekels (about US$100m) the cut will be 200m Shekels (about US$44m), and will be spread over three and a half years for TV and four years for radio. The committee said it had decided not to harm public broadcasting in Israel. The IBA had earlier announced that the cut originally proposed would have forced it to axe a number of radio channels, including the Overseas Service. But the Committee has decided to proceed with the phasing out of the TV and car radio licence fees beginning on 1 Jan 2004. On that date the TV licence fee will be cut by 10% to 465 Shekels (approx US$100), and similar cuts will be made annually until the fee is abolished by the end of the decade. The car radio licence fee will be cut by 5% per year beginning in April 2004 (© Radio Netherlands Media Network 21 May 2003 via DXLD) ** ITALY. See QSLing, BELLABARBA, below ** ITALY. RADIO SPERANZA IN MODENA: FM TO THE PROVINCE, SHORTWAVE TO THE WORLD Modena, May 3 (CRU) --- Modena is an unlikely place for a Catholic shortwave station. Or maybe not. To the east, in Forlí province, the Adventists run their shortwave station Adventist World Radio Europe. Perhaps that is what motivated Padre L. Cordioli to found Radio Esperanza on shortwave. Open the website http://www.radioesperanza.com and there he is, holding a baby. Since one does not expect to find the homepage of any Catholic institution, let alone a radio station, occupied almost entirely by a photograph of the founder, the first impression can be off-putting. Padre Cordioli has a sense of humor: ``Navigando -- navigando -- sei arrivato anche da me. (``Surfing . . . surfing . . . you have arrived finally to me.``) Welcome! I hope that my company will be a help to you and a joy to you, and encouragement to continue with life. Since you do not know me, let me introduce myself. My name is Padre Luigi Cordilo, born in Mantua in 1919. I am an old missionary, I have circled the world and I have encountered so many experiences that at any moment I put myself at the disposition of those who need me. In my magazine you will find so much peace and serenity because I have put into it all that is beautiful and good that life has given me. ``From 1976 I have offered a radio station to which I have given the name of ``Speranza,`` symbolized in the baby that you can see on the `home-page`; from 1988 on I publish a monthly periodical to which I have given the name ``Speranza.`` From this I have blessed the progress that has given me the possibility of extending my apostolate and arriving almost in every corner of the world to give it all the energy and courage.`` Radio Esperanza —It means Radio Hope which, ironically, is the name the Seventh Day Adventists usually give their stations— broadcasts on four FM frequencies in Modena: 96.2 FM, 105.5 FM, 106.2 FM, and a fourth, new one. The shortwave transmitter runs 100 watts on 6231 kHz, but it has been received as far away as Russia, although exceptionally (see related article). The language is Italian, and there is no effort made at an international service. Apart from HVJ Radio Vaticano, Radio Esperanza is the only Catholic shortwave station in Italy; long ago Radio Maria Italia abandoned its activity on the former Radio Spoleto International on 7140 kHz. Radio Speranza is not a diocesan station. There is no diocesan station or any other local Catholic station, for that matter. Visitors to the website will see that it is a simple and small one. ``La radio on-line`` is not audiostreaming, but the day`s schedule (reproduced below). Radio Speranza is not an InBlu affiliate; it is strictly a catechetical and liturgical station, as are several we have seen in northern Italy. The program titles are so simple that one does not need to know Italian to know what they mean. Presumably, the sometimes large gaps found in the schedule are filled with some sort of religious music. The reader should note that there are several lengthy newscasts a day (``Notiziaro``). Whether that news comes from a network or is locally produced is unknown. ``Archivo della radio`` are the pages in which one can hear or order past programs, grouped under the categories the Bible, catechism, fables, literature, music, the Gospels and Epistles, the Poem of the Man-God, the lives of the saints, and authors. Past copies of Father Cordioli`s monthly magazine, Il Giornalino, can be read there, but these archives have not been updated since March 2002. Perhaps he no longer publishes the journal. There are brief pages asking listener support and suggestions with the appropriate e-mail forms and information. Radio Speranza audiostreams using Windows Media Player. In regard to the Diocese of Carpi, there is no diocesan website and no local Catholic station, although it is served by Radio Speranza and Catholic stations in nearby provinces. My guess is that this small diocese will be merged with the much larger Diocese of Modena to the east and south. Radio Speranza 96.2 FM, 105.5 FM, 106.2 FM & 6231 kHz shortwave 6:00 Notiziario 7:00 Ora spirituale (Spiritual Hour) 8:00 Notiziario 8:15 ``Spigolando`` 9:30 Rosario 10:00 S. Messa 14:00 Notiziario 17:00 Rosario 17:30 Catechesi 18:00 Vespri (Vespers) 18:30 Rosario 19:00 S. Messa (Holy Mass) 20:40 Rosario 21:00 Notiziario 21:30 Compieta (Compline) 21:45 In ascolto e ``Buona notte!``Segue il programma notturno (Good Night; Night Program follows) Database: Modena: Radio Speranza 96.2 FM, 105.5 FM, & 106.2 FM and 6231 kHz shortwave (100 watts). Largo S. Giorgio, 91 – 41100 Modena, Italy. Tel. & Fax: (059) 230373. E-mail: radiosperanza@radiosperanza.com Padre L. Cordioli, CSSR, director. Website: www.radiosperanza.com. Audiostreams on Internet. Founded 1976. Audiostreams using Windows Media. RADIO SPERANZA: A GNAT AMONG EAGLES by Giampiero Bernardini, writer, Avvenire, the Italian Catholic daily. From the May 27, 2001, issue. Ó Copyright 2001 by Avvenire, and translated and reprinted with the permission of the author. Reprinted from Catholic Radio Update #142, September 24, 2001 Modena, May 27 (Avvenire) --- In the epoch of globalization and concentration in the sector of the mass media there is still space for the small. Nonpowerful voices but capable of touching the heart and the intelligence. It was 25 years ago, in that pioneering time of private radio, that in Modena a station was born, Radio Speranza, which has a characteristic that renders it special in the panorama of national stations: It is the only Italian Catholic Radio station that broadcasts on shortwave, on the frequency of 6231.5 KHz. ``It began at home, with few means and a cassette player,`` recalls the founder and director, Father Luigi Cordioli, a Redemptorist who wears his 82 years with enthusiasm. Today I have 4 FM repeaters that permit me to cover the Province of Modena and Reggio Emilia. Besides this, every morning from 7 until 8 o`clock we are on the air with two television programs from Telestudio Modena and Studio Europa, a satellite channel received all over Europe. More appropriate in these days,`` he continued, ``another initiative is taking off– the Internet site of Radio Speranza. We are archiving 1,600 hours of audio material and it will be possible to listen to the broadcasts directly`` (That website is up and running at http://www.radiosperanza.com —editor). The flower in the lapel of his small but efficient multimedia holding is nevertheless the presence on shortwave, a field forgotten by Catholics in Europe, the exceptions being, naturally, RadioVaticana, comparable to a ``battleship,`` and the dynamic Radio Maria Polska. The Modena station transmits with a power rather reduced, 100 watts, nothing in comparison with the radio broadcasting colossi ``firing out`` kilowatt and kilowatt. The antenna is a simple dipole, in practice a simple wire attached to a pole. The technical staff is composed of only two volunteers, Roberto Barbolini and Alessandro Cavicchioli. These are really poor means, but Radio Speranza con count on faithful listeners in various countries. Many letters have come from northern Europe, but also from South Africa, from the Far East and Siberia. Padre Cordiolli remembers one in particular: that one arrived from Peking with a photo of four Asian young men who are listeners. ``I have thought of testing a shortwave transmitter also to try and cover so large a territory without repeaters,`` explains the religious. ``It has cost me a lot of work, but when one speaks of spreading the Good News I believe it is worth the trouble, no matter how few or how many are the listeners.`` (Catholic Radio Update May 19 via DXLD) But has anyone heard them lately on 6231.5??? ``To the World``, indeed (gh, DXLD) ** JAPAN [non]. Adjunto el texto de la página web de Radio Japón sobre el cese temporal de transmisión desde Sri Lanka Temporary Cessation in Relay Transmissions from Sri Lanka and its Alternative Broadcast --- The following NHK World Radio Japan's broadcasts via Sri Lanka have been suspended now, because of the transmitter trouble of relay station. To Middle East & North Africa from Ekara [sic] Relay Station: Persian / UT 2:30-3:00 / 15240 kHz Japanese / UT 3:00-4:00 / 15240 kHz Arabic / UT 4:00-4:30 / 15240 kHz English / UT 14:00-15:00 / 17755 kHz These services are broadcasted alternatively via Woofferton relay station in the U.K. Please tune in the following frequencies. Persian / UT 2:30-3:00 / 9565 kHz Japanese / UT 3:00-4:00 / 11940 kHz Arabic / UT 4:00-4:30 / 15240 kHz English / UT 14:00-15:00 / 17870 kHz Listeners can have access to Radio Japan news through "Radio Japan Online", the internet service of NHK WORLD.URL: http://www.nhk.or.jp/rj/ Saludos cordiales, (via Tomás Méndez, May 22, Noticias DX via DXLD) ** KAZAKHSTAN. 17485, Deutsche Welle. Full data QSL card including transmitter site (Alma Ata [sic]) in 7 weeks for a postal report. Also included were program schedules and a form letter explaining their elimination of direct shortwave broadcasts to the Americas. v/s Horst Scholz, Transmission Management (George Maroti, NY, May 22, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** LIBERIA. LIBERIA SEEN AS ICON OF WORLD'S NEGLECT OF AFRICA LETTER FROM AFRICA By SOMINI SENGUPTA . . .For nearly 150 years, Liberia remained a virtual American colony, and during the cold war it ranked among Washington's most useful allies. The memory of that strategic alliance sits on the outskirts of the capital. It is called the V.O.A. refugee camp, named after the Voice of America radio transmitter that once stood there. . . http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/21/international/africa/21LETT.html?ex=1054094400&en=63adae3647da8e65&ei=5062&partner=GOOGLE (via Jilly Dybka, TN, DXLD) ** LIBYA. Re new Iraqi service, 3-087: I checked the site of Libyan Radio & TV; there was nothing there. They claim that they have only 3 networks: Great Jamahirya Radio, V Of Africa Radio, The Holly Qur`an Radio. All the best, guys (Tarek Zeidan, Egypt, May 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Please note that reception of the unknown station Libya to Iraq in Arabic was very bad to worthless between 1200 and 1300 gmt. Source: BBC Monitoring research in English 21 May 03 (via DXLD) LIBYAN RADIO BROADCASTING TO IRAQ 2100-2200 GMT - PICTURE BULLETIN [Libyan official radio broadcasting to Iraq]. Reception: very poor in parts - The radio station has been heard on the following frequencies: 11660 and 7245 KHz - The radio addresses at first greetings to the land of the two rivers, Iraq and the Iraqi people. The radio then said: "This is a message we address to the fraternal people of Iraq as a contribution to putting an end to their sufferings and achieving and ensuring their stability and establishing security on their land..." The radio went on to say: "This is a message for protecting the vital interests of Iraqi society and its territorial integrity so as its people are masters of their own destiny as this era is that of the masses." The radio criticizes the old political systems and advocates a system, similar to the Libyan one, where people's congresses decide and people's committees implement. The radio then criticized the capitalist system and recalled the social, economic and other crises in the West. The radio says that the political party is today's dictatorship and talks about old political systems and the need to set up a system where people's authority prevails and people rule themselves by themselves. - Songs -A researcher specialized in African affairs talks about old political systems and the need to set up a system where people's authority prevails and where people rule themselves by themselves. Song. - Announcement: General centre for radio stations broadcasting from the Great Jamahiriyah. A message to the people of the two rivers, Iraq. - Music. - Item defining what is a constitution and criticizing the old political systems where people vote for parties and officials to represent them and take decisions for them instead of doing this themselves in a system where people's authority prevails. - The radio station invites people to write with their suggestion to the station at the following address: General centre for radio stations broadcasting from the Great Jamahiriyah P.O. Box 4677 [Same as Libyan External Service's post box] Tripoli Great Jamahiriyah Fax: 00 218 2144 49 857 The radio said that listeners can phone the station on the following two numbers: 00218 2144 49 106 and 00218 2144 49 872 - Music. - Announcement: "We draw the attention of listeners in Iraq that we broadcast to them this programme on the following short-wave frequencies: 11660 KHz; 7245 KHz ; at the following transmission times: from 2200 to 2300 in the evening and from 0100 to 0200 [2200 to 2300 gmt], in the morning, Iraqi time And on the following frequency: 9745 KHz at the following transmission times: From 2200 to 2300 in the evening, and from 0100 to 0200, in the morning, Iraqi time. We point out that we repeat daily the transmission of the evening session the following day at 1600 Iraqi time." [All times as heard]. The station has been heard here at Caversham at the following times: From 1800 to 1900 and from 2100 to 2200 gmt. - Music. - Closing announcement. Source: BBC Monitoring research in English 21 May 03 (via DXLD) ** LITHUANIA. Hi Glenn, re your question about the Sitkunai cancellations: the relays of Barabari (7470), Avaye Ashena (9710) and FBN (9710) were discontinued by these radio stations. I do not have information whether they are now transmitting from other sites. 73s, (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, May 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Let`s see, all those brokered by TDP? (gh) [continued as 3-089!]