Phil Taylor's papers
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BACK TO : INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING (see also Public Diplomacy)
Peace Radio from Radio Netherlands 
This page last updated: Friday, September 05, 2003 In times of crisis international broadcasters are frequently asked by their governments to increase the volume of their programmes in certain languages, or even to set up new services, a somewhat rather complicated and lengthy undertaking. For instance, during the August 1991 abortive coup in the USSR, the BBC World Service Russian service increased its weekly output from 46 hours to nearly 125. During the Gulf war its Arabic service boosted the volume of its daily broadcasts from nine to 14 hours. In the past four years VOA has boosted its output in the languages of the former Yugoslavia from some 12 hours a week to more than 42 now. International broadcasters have a major impact due to their very large global audiences: the BBC broadcasts in 44 languages to an estimated weekly audience of some 138m, VOA broadcasts in 52 languages and claims a weekly audience of some 83m, both Deutsche Welle and RFI are estimated to have around 30m regular listeners. In recent years the main western international broadcasters have also launched a number of special programmes and services for regions or countries in transition or facing civil war, or health programmes for developing countries. These have received the backing of governments, international agencies and NGOs such as the European Union, UNICEF, UNHCR, USAID, World Food Programme, International Red Cross, Soros Foundation, Save the Children, Médecins sans Frontières, Reporters sans Frontières and many others. The International Broadcasting Bureau [Programme producer/Broadcaster] (which operates VOA, RFE/RL and Worldnet TV) has become a global partner in a campaign to eradicate polio in the world. The US Agency for International Development (USAID), the WHO, UNICEF, Rotary International, the US Center for Disease Control and national health ministries in many countries are also involved in this global campaign which has been called "the largest public-private health initiative in the history of the world." Sixteen Voice of America (VOA) language services, Worldnet Television and the VOA News Service are involved with the project. English to Africa, French to Africa, Portuguese to Africa, Swahili, Amharic, Hausa, Arabic, Hindi, Urdu, Bangla, Pashto, Dari, Kurdish, Turkish, Uzbek and Azeri language services are delivering news, features, public service announcements and other broadcasting to emphasise the message that immunisation against polio is the only way to prevent infection which may cause paralysis or death. Language services involved in this effort have sent reporters to countries such as Ethiopia, Eritrea, Niger, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, India and Pakistan. VOA reporters are playing a significant role in mobilising masses of people to seek immunisations through disseminating educational information about local national immunisation days; explaining the need for vaccinations and the number required to assure immunity; debunking myths; creating radio dramas, public service announcements and contests; and designing listener surveys to actively involve listeners and assist in project evaluation. On 13 August 1998 VOA announced its "Broadcasting for Child Survival Campaign". The campaign, is designed to help prevent the deaths of an estimated 12m children who die every year from diseases we know how to prevent. VOA's first project in this campaign will be an ongoing series of public service announcements (PSAs) on child health issues ranging from immunisations to good nutrition and disease prevention. These PSAs will become part of VOA's regular programming in all of its 52 languages and will be made available to other broadcasters around the world via VOA's web page. The PSAs are only the first project in a comprehensive global campaign to increase awareness of child health issues. In the weeks and months ahead, VOA will expand its child survival programming to include radio soap operas, music, and special reports. VOA is working with other broadcasters to promote this campaign. BBC, Deutsche Welle, Radio France Internationale and Radio Netherlands have agreed to incorporate child health programs into their broadcasts. VOA hopes that this campaign will encourage other broadcasters to follow VOA's lead and work toward saving the lives of children, either through participation in this campaign or through development of their own child survival programming. BBC World Service [Programme producer/Broadcaster]: The BBC broadcast special Pashto and Farsi (Dari) programmes to Afghanistan. The programmes are known to have encouraged local people to attend immunisation campaigns. The BBC set up a local radio production centre in Peshawar with the support of a number of NGOs such as UNICEF, UNESCO the ICRC and the British ODA. The Afghan Education Drama (AED) Project was set up in October 1993. It produces a soap opera "New Home New Life", broadcast by BBC WS three times a week in Pashto and Persian. The soap addresses the needs of the people who are trying to live peacefully in a country at war, so coping strategies are high on the educational agenda: subjects include health education, mines awareness, veterinary care and drugs awareness. It is estimated that about 60 per cent of the adult Afghan population listen regularly to the BBC programmes. Radio Netherlands [Programme producer/Broadcaster] has produced a dossier and CD-ROM about Child Soldiers in Sierra Leone. It is also available online. Africa (General - USA) Radio Democracy for Africa [Programme producer/Broadcaster] During his March 1998 African tour President Clinton announced plans to launch a new US radio service "aimed directly at encouraging progress towards freedom and democracy, respect for human rights and an independent and objective media". Operated by VOA, started broadcasting in July and, eventually, to use nine languages. The cost of the new service, was estimated at some US$5 million for the next two years. Africa (Great Lakes Region - USA/UK) [Programme producer/Broadcaster] Voice of America's Kirundi/Kinyarwanda programmes began in July of 1996 as a way to provide accurate and unbiased news and information for listeners in Burundi, Rwanda and elsewhere in Central Africa, and to counter the impact of "hate radios". Over 90 per cent of the programming is targeted: besides objective and balanced news, the service broadcasts features dealing with conflict resolution and a variety of topics related to the process of democratisation. Set up thanks to a grant from USAID, the programmes are also simulcast on the Voice of Toro in western Uganda, a station reaching a long strip of former Zaire along the border with Uganda. VOA established a hotline in the Great Lakes region of Central Africa to broadcast the whereabouts of refugees and their relatives. The service has reunited thousands of families through its Family Reunification programme launched in November 1996. In February 1998 VOA announced an enhancement to its current radio coverage in Central Africa's Great Lakes region through a mediumwave "civic education" channel for which US$411,000 were earmarked by the US government. VOA Kirundi/Kinyarwanda service has been contacted by, and has co-operated with, many international non-governmental organisations such as UNICEF, the UNHCR, World Food Programme, International Red Cross, Save the Children, Doctors without Borders and some local NGOs operating in Rwanda. BBC World Service [Programme producer/Broadcaster] The Great Lakes service broadcasting in Kinyarwanda and Kirundi was set up in 1994 as a 15-minute lifeline service for the refugees who had fled from Rwanda after the genocide. It has now expanded to a 30-minute programme broadcast five days a week. The expanded programme concentrates on regional news, health and agriculture as well as messages from the refugees and, later, the returnees. Kirundi and Kinyarwanda are both used in the same broadcasts. The programmes are entirely funded by external donors, the main ones being the British government's Overseas Development Administration, the UNHCR and a consortium of British NGOs. The BBC Somali Service has often been described as "lifeline" for the Somali audience. It provides the information-deprived people in Somalia and in the Horn of Africa with international and local news, and serves as a link between Somalis in many other parts of the world. The service's main target area are the countries of the Horn of Africa - Somalia, Djibouti, Ethiopia (East), Kenya - Yemen and the Gulf states. The service started in the summer of 1957. From initially 15 minutes twice a week, it now broadcasts three times a day for 10 hours a week. It provides a broad-based news and current affairs service to its audience. In addition it provides features, educational programmes and magazines relevant to its listeners and keeps the audience informed about news from within Somalia and the Horn of Africa. The topics being covered on regular basis include politics - international and local, science, economics, Somali culture/music and literature, religion, health, English lessons and general knowledge. Educational programmes - some in the form of drama or sketches - have included health, women and environment issues as well as topics such as international humanitarian law in comparison to traditional Somali conduct in conflict situations. One of the most popular programmes amongst the audience is the tracing programme "Missing Persons" which is broadcast in a 15-minute slot from Mondays to Fridays and, in addition, rebroadcast to listeners in Europe via satellite seven days a week. The programme contains messages and letters of people who have lost contact with family members and close relatives or friends. The Somali Section has been involved in tracing missing family members since 1972. After the outbreak of the civil war in Somalia in 1991, the number of people who lost contact with their relatives increased dramatically. Somalis fled the country in huge numbers and families were dispersed all over the world. This programme has been co-funded by the British Red Cross, Oxfam and Concern since 1993. Over the years, numerous families could be reunited due to the programme. No audience surveys have been done in Somalia proper. A survey done in Kenya in 1992 (refugee camps in Mombasa) showed that 52 per cent of the regular audiences for foreign stations listened to the BBC Somali Service. The Swahili Service broadcasts for 90 minutes every day spread over three transmissions. The weekday output is dominated by international news and current affairs and news from the region. There were four special programmes on AIDS in Africa in April 1998, accompanied by a booklet. The service has a measured audience of 6.65 million. It also attracts listeners in Rwanda, Burundi and Zaire where it is very difficult to measure the audience. The latest audience figures for Kenya give the Swahili Section a weekly audience of 3.2m and for Tanzania 3.3m This is 22 per cent of the population. The Swahili Section is currently rebroadcast by Radio Armani in Kisangani, Zaire and will shortly be heard on Radio 5 in Arusha and Radio Free Africa in Mwanza. Former Yugoslavia Deutsche Welle launched a special programme for refugees from the former Yugoslavia in 1993. The programme offered "some concrete counselling" and broadcast announcements about missing persons for refugees from the former Yugoslavia, enabling many war refugees living in Germany or other European countries to trace relatives, friends and neighbours. In July 1995 this special programme had already been contacted by more than 10,000 people, DW said at the time. DW carried out the same kind of operation for Kosovo and reported on 10 June 1999 that nearly 30,000 missing persons reports for refugees from Kosovo had been broadcast and disseminated over the Internet since 1 April, with some 1,000 names read aloud in four broadcasts every day. DW also broadcasts the names of about 15,000 expellees, these announcements coming from Macedonia and Albania, or from the International Red Cross, DW said. VOA launched a refugee hot line in August 1995 to help refugees in the former Yugoslavia send messages to relatives and loved-ones. VOA also carries special programmes on conflict resolution on its Bosnian service. Media assistance and training programmes Some international broadcasters run a number of training courses and assistance programmes for media organisations and professionals. They are open to students from developing countries, countries in transition to democracy or in zones of conflict. They also provide programmes, equipment or technical help. Among those: BBC World Service "Marshall Plan of the Mind Trust" for the former Soviet Union, launched in September 1992 and funded by the British government "Know How" fund and the private sector. Its mission is "to further the understanding of a pluralistic society and market economy; to provide individuals with the knowledge and skills to enable them to determine their economic and political future; to foster greater understanding between East an West by the sharing of experience and expertise." BBC World Service Training runs a number of training programmes for journalists in Bosnia-Hercegovina, the Middle East, Rwanda and elsewhere. Deutsche Welle (DW) has been running an extensive training programmes at its Advanced Training Centre (DWFZ). Early in 1998 it announced a plan to hold a total of eight advanced training courses for participants from Albania, Bulgaria, Romania and the countries of former Yugoslavia. These courses will be funded by the Foreign Ministry and the Ministry of Economic Co-operation and Development. This year the Goethe Institute will participate in financing DWFZ projects in Mexico, Colombia and Bolivia. Co-operation regarding advanced training will also be continued with other foreign radio stations and the Soros Foundation. Radio France Internationale (RFI) runs training programmes in collaboration with the French Foreign Ministry, the Co-operation Ministry, the European Commission, French journalism schools and universities. Radio Netherlands Training Centre (RNTC) is currently involved in a wide range of training programmes in the Middle East (e.g. the Jemstone project). It also has a regional training centre in Costa Rica. Multilateral/bilateral support for independent media Certain countries or regional groupings are actively supporting the establishment of independent media in countries in transition or facing conflict. Independent media are seen as a precondition to democracy and the prevention or peaceful resolution of conflicts. In recent years many European projects have also focused on supporting independent media in the former Yugoslavia and Africa (Rwanda, Burundi, Liberia). The EU has developed since 1994 a programme of assistance to independent media in the countries of former Yugoslavia. In its choice of media, the EU has opted for those that seek to foster understanding, trust and co-operation between the different communities in Bosnia-Hercegovina (BiH)... In the 1997 budget, the EU has earmarked a total of ECU 10 million for media projects in the countries of former Yugoslavia, of which BiH has the largest share. The EU has pledged a further ECU 10m for support to independent media in former Yugoslavia for the 1998 financial exercise. These projects are part of a comprehensive package designed to address the entire spectrum of assistance to free media including TV, radio and press. EU assistance ranges from supply of equipment to technical assistance including training and programming. The support granted to media to extend their coverage to the entire country is of particular importance." (European Commission press release, 22 Jan 98). In January 1998 the European Commission Representation Office in Sarajevo signed 18 contracts under which the European Union (EU) would provide a total of almost ECU 2.4 million in financial support to independent media organisations in Bosnia-Hercegovina. Out of these, six contracts were awarded to independent media organisations in the Serb Republic. The 18 contracts include support to independent print media, news agencies and broadcasting media. In January 1998 the European Commission special envoy to Croatia, supported the ideas of "Forum 21" an association formed by a group of journalists) on democratisation of the electronic media as a key issue to advance the democratic process in Croatia. The democratisation of electronic media in Croatia, and particularly the establishment of an independent television, is one of the top priorities set by the EU related to reactivating negotiations between the EU and Croatia. The envoy told "Forum 21" journalists that the EU would consider the possibility of not only political, but also financial support to "Forum 21", as the European Commission had financial means aimed at supporting and assisting free media in Croatia. In February the envoy said independent Croatian media received DM 3m of help in 1997 from the Commission which also set aside DM 5m for independent media in 1998. In February 1998 the Council of Europe pledged to set up a complete legal package for media in Albania. Albania had asked for financial assistance for their media. |