Kim Andrew Elliott
discussing
International
Broadcasting and
Public
Diplomacy
Kim's articles and papers
VOA
transmission schedule for A-05
season, 27 March-29 October 2005.
BBC URDU LAUNCHES MARKETING CAMPAIGN IN PAKISTAN. Will use commercials on Pakistan television to promote its flagship radio program "Sairbeen." "...as TV becomes an increasingly available and popular medium, we want to reinforce our listener base in Pakistan." BBC World Service Press Release, 28 February 2005. Release curiously does not mention BBC's FM rebroadcaster in Pakistan. BBC Urdu also available on medium wave via Oman and on shortwave.
DEUTSCHE WELLE'S ARABIC CRUSADE. Oops, maybe not the best choice of word. DEUTSCHE WELLE'S ARABIC BLITZ. No, that's not good, either. DEUTSCHE WELLE ADDS ARABIC TELEVISION BROADCAST. Boring, but at least it will keep me out of trouble. Says DW Director-General Erik Bettermann: "DW-TV is the first European television broadcaster to present news with Arabic-speaking anchorpersons." DW, 28 February 2005. Well, actually, BBC had an Arabic television service 1994-1996, that ended when its Saudi partner objected to its content. DW's Arabic television, via Nilesat 101, joins its new Arabic website, DW press release, 14 January 2005. And DW news available on mobile phones in Arabic, English, German, Spanish, Portuguese for Brazil, Russian and Chinese. DW, 16 February 2005.
EUROPEANS SEEKING AMERICAN NEWS PERSPECTIVE SHOULD LEARN ARABIC. Arabic language Alhurra to begin broadcasts to Europe. Reuters via Boston Globe, 28 February 2005. See also CNN, 27 February 2005. Meanwhile, no more VOA international broadcasts to Europe in English, at least nominally. "'VOA has retargeted its English programming and the revised services are no longer intended for listeners in Europe. Thus VOA is not part of the YLE Capital FM schedule any longer. All VOA NewsNow programs are now targeted to audiences in either Africa, East Asia or South Asia', VOA told us." Announcement on website of YLE Capital FM, which carries programs for international community in Helsinki.
RFE/RL LOSES OUTLET IN KYRGYZSTAN. As elections on 27 February approach, "RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service lost its local broadcasting capability on 24 February when the state-run radio authority unexpectedly announced it would be holding a new tender for the frequencies used by RFE/RL." RFE/RL, 25 February 2005. Committee to Protect Journalists protests. CPJ, 25 February 2005. Reporters sans frontières protests. RSF 25 February 2005. Turns out that RFE/RL lost its medium wave outlet on 1323 kHz, 30 kW, in Bishkek, but remains on the air on three private FM stations in Kyrgyzstan, as well as into the country via shortwave. RFE/RL News, 1 March 2005.
THE DANGEROUS PROFESSION OF INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING (CONTINUED). AFP reports that Alhurra reporter Mohammed Sherif Ali was badly wounded, and his driver killed, by gunmen south of Baghdad. AFP via Channel NewsAsia International, 27 February 2005. Committee to Protect Journalists protests this and killing of reporter for U.S. funded Al Iraqiya. CPJ, 28 February 2005.
THE BUREAUCRACY THAT WON'T STAY DEAD. Four former directors of U.S. Information Agency write that elimination of USIA in 1999 was a "major mistake." Washington Post, 26 February 2005. Similar thoughts by former USIA associate director John Hughes: Christian Science Monitor, 15 December 2004.
RFE/RL EXPANDS REBROADCASTS IN ST. PETERSBURG. Now eighteen hours a day on Radio Baltika in St. Petersburg, 71.24 MHz on the old OIRT FM band. RFE/RL press release, 26 February 2005. Russian human rights activist criticizes revamping of Radio Liberty Russian Service: "The whole idea of short-wave radio was to keep broadcasters out of the reach of the governments they criticize. By moving the station to Moscow this advantage would be totally surrendered and would put Radio Liberty at the complete mercy of the Kremlin." FrontPageMagazine.com, 25 February 2005.
RFE/RL AIRBRUSHES A PRESS RELEASE. "Being interviewed by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty can place journalists in peril." Lead from RFE/RL press release, via Payvand, 24 February 2005. That lead was eliminated later: RFE/RL press release, 25 February 2005. Yes, well, I also revise my website post hoc if I don't like the way I wrote something the first time.
NOT MANY BOOKS ABOUT INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTERS. But here is one, in Japanese, about Chen Zhen, broadcaster on the Japanese Service of Radio Peking (later China Radio International). Asahi.com, 25 February 2005.
THE ARAB WORLD'S 150-CHANNEL UNIVERSE. An examination of al-Jazeera and its competitor -- "not al-Hurra" -- al-Arabiya. The Economist, 24 February 2005. BBC "Newsnight" looks at the "television revolution" in Iraq. BBC News, 25 February 2005.
TRYING TO KEEP THAT AMERICAN SOUND. India unlikely to lift its prohibition of news on private FM stations. Financial Express, 25 February 2005. U.S. commercial FM stations are mostly bereft of news, but not because of any government restrictions. Indian prohibition means no rebroadcasting of international radio stations' newscasts on FM, and continued incentive to tune to those foreign newscasts via shortwave or satellite.
ANOTHER CONSERVATIVE WHO WOULD SPEND LIBERALLY. On public diplomacy. Or as James K. Glassman calls it, PD. Tech Central Station, 24 February 2005.
CANADIAN MUSIC, ART AND MOVIES OVERSEAS. Canada will spend $40 million (Canadian) over five years for public diplomacy and cultural programs. Globe and Mail, 24 February 2005.
GOOD MORNING ZIMBABWE. Voice of America adds morning English airplay of its Studio 7 program, for Zimbabwe, beginning 21 February, 0330-0400 UTC, on 909, 4930, and 6080 kHz. VOA press release, 14 February 2005. "The breakfast show ... has fast gained popularity." newzimbabwe.com, 24 February 2005. VOA opens reporting center in Kano, Nigeria. VOA press release, 16 February 2005.
DIDN'T CHARLOTTE BEERS TRY SOMETHING LIKE THIS? New U.S.-purchased ads on Pakistan radio offer rewards for capture of Osama bin Laden. Chicago Tribune via Columbia (Missouri) Tribune, 12 February 2005. But "most respected station in tribal areas is the BBC World Service - which does not carry advertising" writes The Guardian, 24 February 2005. Commercials on international television channels will encourage use of mass transportation. UN News Centre, 9 February 2005.
IT'S A BIRD! IT'S A PLANE! IT'S DEUTSCHE WELLE! U.S. commentator Michael Reagan (son of Ronald) thinks Deutsche Welle is a newspaper. FrontPageMagazine.com, 14 February 2005. Committee to Protect Journalists describes DW as a news agency. CPJ, 22 February 2005. DW is one of the many international broadcasters that started with radio and is now a radio/television/web combo.
SO I WROTE TO LORD CARTER OF COLES. Which was a bit intimidating, because where I come from, people have names like "Ed." Lord Carter is head of the U.K. Foreign Office Public Diplomacy Review Team. They solicited opinions about BBC World Service and U.K. public diplomacy. Kim's letter...
AL MANAR NO LONGER AVAILABLE TO U.S. TELEVISION VIEWERS. Hezbollah's Al Manar, recently added to U.S. terrorist list, no longer part of Mosaic television program, because no longer relayed via Globecast satellite television service. But State Department spokesman says "Companies broadcasting [Al-Manar's] signal are not subject to penalties." San Francisco Bay Guardian, 23 February 2005. Also, that newspaper's editorial about this.
PUBLIC DIPLOMACY IN REVERSE. New State Department campaign to listen to Muslims' opinions. Xinhua, 23 February 2005. Borrows (consciously?) from the idea of two-way communication behind U.S. International Communication Agency (USICA), as the U.S. Information Agency (USIA) was renamed by Carter Administration in 1978. USIA name was restored in 1982, by Reagan Administration, and old placard "Telling America's Story to the World" was again placed at the entrance.
EURONEWS BEYOND EUROPE. Television news channel to compete globally with BBC and CNN in seven languages. Expatica, 23 February 2005. Website: www.euronews.net
MW RADIO AFRICA? Zimbabwe opposition station SW Radio Africa, until recently, per its name, relying on shortwave, has added medium wave 1197 kHz at 0300-0500 UTC. newzimbabwe.com, 23 February 2005. Article does not specify relay site, but Lesotho has a 100 kW transmitter on that frequency, used by U.S. based evangelical Family Radio during evenings.
WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO ALL THOSE SHORTWAVE FREQUENCIES? Televangelist Gene Scott dies at age 75. He spoke to his audiences through television, satellite, and on many, many shortwave radio frequencies, some leased, some from his own transmitters in Costa Rica and Anguilla. AP by MyrtleBeachOnline.com, 22 February 2005.
DOES AFRICA WANT ITS MTV? MTV launches pan-African channel, via Multichoice satellites. Multichoice press release, 21 February 2005.
FROM OUR ILLINOIS DESK. Chicagoland Lithuanian Americans call for resumption of VOA and RFE Lithuanian broadcasts, closed last year. Chicago News Sun, 19 February 2005. Spanish language program on University of Illinois low power AM station uses content from VOA, BBC. AP via Belleview (Illinois) News Democrat, 20 February 2005. No, this is not domestic dissemination, prohibited by Smith-Mundt Act, if station uses VOA content on own initiative, without VOA facilitation, per Gartner v. USIA, 1989.
VOA, BBC PLAY CUPID TO PAKISTAN. From reader's letter lamenting fundamentalist backlash against the holiday: "As for Valentines Day, BBC World and Voice of America ensured we did not forget this landmark in growing up, in wanting and being wanted. Such were the innocent joys and pleasures of life." Daily Times, Pakistan, 19 February 2005.
AMERICA CALLING EUROPE. Heritage Foundation says Europe should be "main focus" of U.S. public diplomacy "as nowhere else in the world will safeguarding American goodwill make such a practical difference." Authors do not suggest a media mix to do this. Heritage Foundation research (i.e. opinion) article, 18 February 2005.
BROADCASTING TO A POTENTIAL AUDIENCE OF, WELL, A THOUSAND. Evangelical HCJB adds programs in Cofán language, spoken by indigenous community of same name in Ecuador and Colombia. Will transmit on 6050 kHz on radios pretuned to that frequency. HCJB press release, 17 February 2005. Let's hope HCJB does not have to shift frequency to escape interference.
IN NEPAL, BBC NEPALI SERVICE OFF FM, BUT ENGLISH CONTINUES. International Federation of Journalists writes: "Interestingly, BBC radio (Nepali service) has not been banned." But then contradicts itself: "The IFJ has reports of people buying up new radios to be able to listen to BBC (the FM radios they had cannot catch the short wave BBC transmission)." IFJ, 17 February 2005. BBC press office tells me: "The BBC World Service is one of the few global news services still transmitting in Nepal and the only international broadcaster transmitting in Nepali. Its extended 45-minute Nepali service news programme is now broadcast at 1500GMT [2054 local time] daily on shortwave across the country with approximately one million listeners. The World Service English language service is broadcast on BBC Kathmandu FM 103, for 23 hours a day. Before the enforcements, BBC's Nepali service was transmitted on eight rebroadcasters across the country. All news programmes, domestic and international have since been stopped. The BBC Nepali and English rebroadcasts on the Radio Sagarmatha 104.2FM service in Kathmandu have also ceased. The web traffic to bbc.co.uk/nepali has increased from 7,000 to 90,000 page impressions a day since the ban was enforced on February 1."
RADIO FARDA CAUSES STATIC IN CZECH-IRANIAN RELATIONS. Czech delegation to Iran learns "the reason for strained relations between Prague and Tehran was Iranians' objection to U.S.-sponsored Radio Farda," part of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, located in Prague. Radio Farda official says, "We do not consider ourselves as hostile to the Iranian government." Prague Post, 17 February 2005.
PRIVATE PUBLIC DIPLOMACY.
Business for Diplomatic Action website is now up. Mission: "To
sensitize American companies and individuals to the rise of
anti-Americanism in the world and to enlist the U.S. business community
in specific actions aimed at addressing the issue and reducing the
problem." www.businessfordiplomaticaction.org
-- that URL is even longer than www.kimandrewelliott.com!
WESTERN ASSISTANCE TO ARAB
BROADCASTING. U.S. Middle East Partnership Initiative grant to support
Palestinian independent media and production of television news
magazine focusing on "peaceful political participation, social
responsibility and gender equality." U.S. State
Department press release, 10 February 2005. BBC World Service Trust
organizes workshop in which young Syrian women produce audio and visual
stories. U.N.
Integrated Regional Information Networks press release, 10 February
2005. Deutsche Welle Radio Training Center helps organize workshop
for news editors in Yemen. Yemen Observer, 19
February 2005.
CANADA CALLING UKRAINE, LESS OFTEN. Radio Canada
International Ukrainian now weekends only, and only via cable in Kiev.
RCI Action Committee protests
this and also understated
RCI 60th anniversary celebration, both 16 February 2005. An RCI press
release about the anniversary appeared on 17 February. Also, audio
archives, tous en français, at les
Archives de Radio-Canada.
WHERE THE VOA BUDGET
INCREASE WILL GO. But article erroneously reports that Alhurra is part
of Voice of America. Washington
Times, 17 February 2005. Condoleezza Rice tells Senate Foreign
Relations Committee: "We must do a better job of reaching hard to reach
populations, confronting hostile propaganda, dispelling dangerous
myths, and proactively telling a positive story about America." USINFO.state.gov,
16 February 2005.
RADIO WAVES FOLLOW TSUNAMI
WAVES. BBC World Service partner stations in Banda Aceh, destroyed by
earthquake and/or tsunami, back on the air. BBC
World Service press release, 16 February 2005. U.S. based
evangelical Far East Broadcasting Company giving away ten thousand
"high tech" $30 radios to pre-qualified recipients in Indonesia. Agape
Press, 16 February 2005. FEBC asks for donations
to distribute these radios.
RADIO FREE CRUCIBLE. For
full coverage of the death of Arthur Miller, Americans had to tune in
the BBC World Service on their shortwaves. "...the playwright's own NPR
affiliate relegated the news of his death to the fifth item on the
show... ." The
Independent, 17 February 2005. Also mentioned by the Toronto
Globe and Mail, 14 February 2005.
RFI SILENCED IN DJIBOUTI,
CPJ PROTESTS. Radio France Internationale FM was taken off air because
of its report on death of French judge there in 1995. International
Freedom of Expression eXchange, 16 February 2005. Committee to
Protect Journalists letter
to president of Djibouti.
AMID CRISIS IN VENEZUELA,
BBC DEPARTS. BBC World says adiós to 57,000 SuperCable subscribers.
Something about an "ongoing commercial dispute." World
Screen News, 16 February 2005.
TUNE 100.5 FM IN BANGKOK
FOR VOA, BBC, CNN. One of five new "Modern Radio" stations announced by
Thailand's MCOT, 16
February 2005.
TOUGH MARKET. BBC loses
audience share in Prague, as does news programming on former RFE
frequencies. Czech
Business Weekly, 14 February 2005.
ALHURRA CELEBRATES FIRST
ANNIVERSARY WITH PRESS RELEASE. Pattiz: "I want to congratulate each
and every member of the Alhurra staff, most of whom are from the
region, who joined Alhurra to work in a professional news environment
that is free of government control." Alhurra
press release, 14 February 2005. Not in the birthday mood, Sunni
group in Baghdad say "Alhurra is not allowed" to attend its press
conference. Mother
Jones, 16 February 2005.
IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE
IRAQ'S "BBC." Don North, former adviser to Iraq Media Network says
station was, instead, Iraq's "Voice of America." AP via
Houston Chronicle, 14 February 2005. He was witness at hearing of Senate
Democratic Policy Committee.
THE DANGEROUS PROFESSION
OF INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING. Alhurra reporter Abdul-Hussein Khazal
and his son were killed by gunmen in Basra. Statement
from Broadcasting Board of Governors, 10 February 2005. Alhurra creates
memorial
fund. RSF condemns "Horrible act," Reporters sans
frontières, 10 February 2005. BBC producer Kate Peyton shot and
killed while working on a series of reports in Mogadishu. BBC, 9 February
2005. Also, BBC
tributes. BBC World Service reporter Manik
Saha, killed in January 2004 in Bangladesh by homemade bomb,
nominated for Free Expression Award from Index
on Censorship, 10 February 2005.
AL-JAZEERA THE NEW SAWT AL-ARAB? Latest review of High Miles book about Al Jazeera likens station to Nasser's radio service Voice of the Arabs of decades past. The Guardian, 12 February 2005. U.K. title of book is Al-Jazeera: How Arab TV News Challenged the World (Abacus). Also reviewed in Times Online, 9 January 2005. U.S. title is Al-Jazeera: The Inside Story of the Arab News Channel That is Challenging the West (Grove Press). U.S. reviewers are less upbeat about Al Jazeera than is the author: Dennis Ross in Washington Post, 30 January 2005 and Brendan Conway in Washington Times, 30 January 2005.
LESS MONEY FOR THE
ENVIRONMENT. LESS FOR HEALTH CARE. LESS FOR NATIONAL PARKS. WHICH FREES
UP MORE MONEY FOR PUBLIC DIPLOMACY AND INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING. Bush
Administration's proposed 2006 budget calls for 21 percent increase for
public diplomacy. Budget for U.S. international broadcasting would be
$652 million, up ten percent from 2005. "The Voice of America will
increase the number of hours it broadcasts to countries in the broader
Middle East, with significantly increased television programming in
languages such as Persian, Dari, Pashto, and Urdu." Office
of Management and Budget. And if you can download this
3.4 MB pdf file, read pp. 326-361 to see why U.S. international
broadcasting is rated "moderately effective."
RADIO TAIWAN INTERNATIONAL
EXPANDS ROLE TO SERVE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY IN TAIWAN. In English,
Japanese, Indonesian, Vietnamese and Thai. Taipei
Times, 10 February 2005. For listeners abroad, RTI drops Korean,
Burmese, Arabic, Mongolian, and Tibetan. CNA
News, 25 January 2005. Which precipitates labor action. Taiwan
News, 27 January 2005. Mongolian and Tibetan were dropped perhaps
because Taiwan no longer claims Mongolia and Tibet. RTI continues
Chinese, English, French, German, Indonesian, Japanese, Russian,
Spanish, Thai, and Vietnamese. Station was originally Voice of Free
China, part of KMT controlled Broadcasting Corporation of China. Then
it was placed under Central Broadcasting System, changed its name to
Radio Taipei International, and finally to Radio Taiwan
International. Meanwhile, parent Central Broadcasting System, for
decades responsible for broadcasts to the Mainland, has disappeared,
leaving Radio Taiwan International
to do this. All fraught with geopolitical implications.
NEW DEUTSCHE WELLE WEBSITE
FOR SOUTH ASIA. Nice publicity for DW, but article gets the URL wrong. Bangladesh
Journal, 9 February 2005. Correct URL is www.southasia.de -- "southasia.de
wants to promote co-operation between South Asia (India, Pakistan,
Bangladesh) and Germany." Indeed, site seems to blur the distinction
between international broadcasting and public diplomacy.
BOOK REVIEWS: The Battle Of Ideas In The War Of Terror,
by Robert Satloff. The
Jewish Press, 9 February 2005. Engaging
the Arab and Islamic Worlds Through Public Diplomacy, William A.
Rugh, ed. Washington
Times, 8 February 2005. Latter available from Public Diplomacy Institute.
FIRST, VOA. NEXT, BOA?
Inspired by the creation of the Voice of America in 1942, technology
columnist suggests "Bits of America" to be transmitted to $100 laptop
computers distributed abroad. USA
Today, 8 February 2005.
BROADCASTING TO EUROPE VIA
SATELLITE. BBC World free-to-air digital on Astra 1E. Infosat,
7 February 2005. Some progress towards Europe-wide satellite
radio service. International
Herlad Tribune, 8 February 2005.
LIKE THE FARMER SAID, YOU
CAN'T GET THERE FROM HERE. I will be on VOA's Talk to America the first
Friday of each month. If you can't hear the broadcast live at 1600 UTC,
you can listen to audio stream of the broadcast on demand. However,
finding that audio at the VOA website is rather a challenge. Click here
for my cheat...
ALMOST, BUT NOT QUITE,
ENTIRELY UNLIKE NEWS. Pentagon funding of information websites for
Southeast Europe and the Maghreb is not revealed on the home pages, but
is stated when you click "About Us." AP
via Columbia (Missouri) Daily Tribune, 5 February 2005. Also, CNN,
5 February 2005. Southeast
European Times is in Albanian, Bulgarian, Croatian, English, Greek,
Macedonian, Romanian, Serbian, and Turkish. Magharebia is in Arabic, English,
and French. PR functions notwithstanding, these sites have useful
material, e.g. links.
BPL LEGAL SHOWDOWN IN AUSTRIA. Electric utility told to operate its "Internet from the Electrical Outlet" so that it does not interfere with shortwave communications. American Radio Relay League, 3 February 2005. Potential interference to shortwave broadcasting and amateur radio from power line communications (PLC), known in the United States as broadband over power line (BPL).New Scientist, 15 January 2005. Even as the United States protests jamming of shortwave broadcasts by China, Cuba, etc., some fear this new system, touted by Bush Administration, could jam all shortwave broadcasts, from all countries, on all frequencies, at all times. ARRL, 1 January 2005 urges radio amateurs and shortwave listeners to file complaints if they experience interference. Meanwhile, commentator Guy Kewney writes, "the problem with shortwave radio is that it is an anachronism." He adds that if enough people prefer to use shortwave for local broadband rather than long distance radio, "existing law will lapse, however many statute books it is written into." eWeek, 18 January 2005.
YOU DON'T NEED TO BE
CATHOLIC TO WORK FOR VATICAN RADIO. But it helps. Director of Vatican
Radio English Service describes the 74 year old station. EBU
Diffusion Online, 2 February 2005.
FRENCH INTERNATIONAL NEWS
CHANNEL (CFII) AWAITS EUROPEAN COMMISSION APPROVAL. France's answer to
CNN and BBC World -- en français, naturellement. AFP
via Expatica, 2 February 2005.
THE IRANIAN EXILE
SATELLITE CHANNEL RANG-A-RANG. "Is it crazy? Effective? A political
front? An exile's folly?" Whatever, it costs $40,000 a month in
satellite fees. Washington
Post, 1 February 2005. It's on Intelsat Americas 5 with other
Iranian channels, per Lyngsat.
CHINA LAUNCHES GREAT WALL TV PACKAGE TO ASIA. Eleven
channels of Chinese television in English, Mandarin, Cantonese, and Min
Dialect (Taiwanese). Xinhua,
1 February 2005.
KimAndrewElliott.com
Last revision 12 April 2005.