Radio Exterior saved from budget ax

While public broadcasters throughout Europe are facing cutbacks, it appears that Radio Exterior de España for now will continue operating under a proposed restructuring of Radiotelevision Española that was unveiled on Monday. During a news conference, officials in charge of implementing the controversial overhaul of the fledging public broadcasting network announced that cutbacks will be made, including the closure of Radio 4, which broadcasts in the the Catalan language.

The RTVE viability plan is an answer to demands by the EU in Brussels to curtail costs in Spain´s state run industries and the Socialist government´s order to push back more than €500 million in annual expenses, officials said. Last year, RTVE´s accumulated debt was estimated at €7.5 billion.

Although REE will continue to transmit its programs, its news service will no longer be produced separately for listeners overseas. All newscasts will be combined for Radio Nacional de España´s Radio 1, Radio 5 and REE.Radio 1 will continue operating as the flagship for the RNE network throughout the country.

It wasn´t clear whether REE will continue broadcasting in foreign languages. However, Radio 4, which has been broadcasting for the past 25 years in Catalan, will be shut down after officials determined that it cannot continue to underwrite the cost of maintaining the station for only 8,500 listeners in Catalonia. "It´s not doing us any good to spend so much money for such a small audience," said Enrique Martínez Robles, head of SEPI which oversees state run industries.


On the television side, restructuring in program content, news production, and advertising will take place in an effort to make the 50-year-old Television Española more competitive with the growing number of private stations. RTVE will cutail operations at its 16 stations across the nation, including Madrid. Its station in the Canary Islands will no longer produce regional programs but will continue to serve as a repeater. Regional newscasts will be reduced to 30 minutes Monday through Friday. Carmen Caffarel, president of the board that oversees RTVE, said "it doesn´t make sense" to compete with regional stations. Over the past few years, there has been a surge of private television stations in Spain´s autonomous regions and communities, such as TeleMadrid.

The viability plan has worried the nation´s unions, who have been working with the government to ensure that the least number of jobs are affected. It wasn´t immediately clear how many jobs will be cut or how much money the government plans to save with these new measures.

Remembering Spain´s failed complot

Twenty-five years ago, Lt. Col. Antonio Tejero led a band of fellow Civil Guard officers inside the Chamber of Deputies in Madrid, pulled out a gun and pumped a round of shots into the air. Tejero announced that he was leading a golpe de estado or coup and urged deputies not to interfere or they would be shot.

The complot had been organized by a group of military men who were disgruntled with the way the six-year-old constitutional government was running the country. These right-wing officers were keepers of dictator Francisco Franco´s memory. Among the issues that put them on edge were the continuous terrorist attacks by the Basque separatist organization ETA, proposals to give greater autonomy to the Basque and Catalonia regions, and the legalization of the communist and other leftist parties.

Tejero and a group of his men stormed the Chamber at around 6:30 p.m. Feb. 23, 1981 as deputies were voting to elect Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo as the new prime minister. While most of the deputies fell to the floor when a guardsman pumped a submachine gun into the air, acting Prime Minister Adolfo Suárez and Santiago Carrillo, leader of the Communist Party, didn´t budge. In Valencia, Gen. Jaime Milans del Bosch rose up, put tanks on the streets, and declared a state of emergency. But he failed to convince other generals to rebel.

Monitoring the situation, King Juan Carlos called in his closest advisors who assured him that the incident was an isolated one and had no popular support. Dressed in a military uniform, the king went on live television to order the armed forces to respect the constitutional order and assure Spaniards that democracy would prevail. Milans was arrested that evening and Tejero gave up the following day. Thousands of Spaniards took to the street in support of democracy and the king.

The only leader of the failed coup who still survives, Tejero, 73, now resides quietly in a beachfront apartment in his native Málaga. He was released from prison in 1993. To this day he declines interviews and shuns publicity. However last month, he wrote a letter to the Melilla Hoy newspaper warning that the current events in Spain -- especially the movements to grant more power to Spain´s autonomous regions -- are not dissimilar to what brought on the 1981 attempted coup in the first place.

Vatican Radio celebrates 75th

Pope Benedict XVI celebrated Vatican Radio´s anniversary on Sunday by reminding those who attended the papal audience in St. Peter´s Square that the international radio station has helped the message of the Gospel “reach all peoples more rapidly.”

It was 75 years ago when Pope Pius XI asked communications pioneer Guglielmo Marconi to build a radio station for Vatican State. Today, Vatican Radio broadcasts in 40 different languages on shortwave, satellite, local medium wave and FM to and in different countries around the world.

There is a complete history of the station, including excepts of news reports taken when Pope Pius XI made the first historical transmission, at Vatican Radio.

Bad press—a leaked e-mail, a newspaper story, a suicide

What responsibility if any should a newspaper take when it reports on one man´s private correspondence to an elected-official that leads to his suicide? That is the journalism debacle that is being debated in San Antonio, Texas following a tragic incident that involved a resident, a city councilwoman, a powerful international contractor, and the Hearst-owned Express-News.

Earlier this month, a reporter with the newspaper put together a story after receiving a leaked private e-mail sent by George Dickerson to city councilwoman Elena Guajardo complaining about the noise at a nightclub called Graham Central Station near where he lived. “The entertainment Graham Central Station provides for their customers,” he wrote, “is of a lude (sic), lascivious, low class, debaucheristic, criminalistic, riot insistic, anarchist nature.”

Although the complaint could be seen as a valid one from a constituent to his city representative, Guajardo she called it racial and discriminatory because it appeared to pit the non-hispanic community against Mexican-American residents. She denied that she was ths source of the leak.

Dickerson used an office computer at the H.B. Zachry Construction Corp. to send his e-mail. But because this was allegedly the second such racially charged e-mail to a city representative to come out of Zachry´s computer server, the Express-News viewed the e-mail as public record and decided to publish it.

Dealing with the bad press and uproar in the community, Zachry fired Dickerson. Two days later, the 52-year-old man took his own life.

Speaking on behalf of the newspaper, columnist Bob Richter wrote on Sunday that there was no one to blame for the suicide but Dickerson himself. Another columnist Ken Rodriguez went to the nightclub and reported on Friday that there was some truth to Dickerson´s complaint. But he gave a startling revelation – some of the club´s patrons were off duty police officers who supported Dickerson´s claims by acknowledging that they recognized many customers who are former prison inmates and others who are wanted on various criminal complaints!

This sad, sorid story is not a first. Unfortunately, bad press coverage has led and will continue to lead to tragic incidents. These are news stories that are the products of outrage, poorly thought-out conclusions, and an editor´s rush to get the story out. As journalists, we have the obligation to report the truth but we cannot forget that we too are human beings and sensitivity over one man´s death should not be overlooked.

Putin in Madrid; Aznar dines with Bush

Russian President Vladimir Putin concluded a two-day visit to Spain Thursday by calling for increased economic ties and broader cooperation in the fields of technology, space and transportation. Speaking in parliament, Putin said that Russian trade with other EU member countries is far greater than current economic transactions with Spain, which stands at US$3.7 billion. "Certainly, the quality and amount of our [economic] relations need to be improved," he said. "We have great capabilities, but we are not working at full [capacity]."

Terrorism issues and democratic guarantees in Russia were subjects that dominated Putin´s visit. Spain believes that Russia can act as an important mediator in the Middle East, especially following Hamas´ victory in the recent Palestinian elections. Putin has told reporters that he doesn´t view Hamas as a terrorism organization and believes the group will stand by its word in renouncing violence.

During a state dinner on Wednesday night, King Juan Carlos reminded the Russian leader that administering his country´s rich energy reserves carries "a great responsibility," and that terrorism could only be beaten by "the determination of a state bound by the rule of law, defense of rights and fundamental freedoms."

As Putin was courted in Madrid, the Bushes at the White House were wining and dining with former Spanish Prime Minister José María Aznar and his wife Ana Botella. Aznar, who served from 1996-2004 under the conservative Popular Party, described the encounter as a "dinner between old friends." He declined to say what was discussed but a source told the daily El País that Aznar praised Bush for his tough stance with Venezuela´s government in Caracas.

No one to blame for Windsor building fire

After months of speculation and suspicion about the fire that destroyed a 32-floor office building in one of the city’s busiest financial districts, an investigative judge has decided that no one will be blamed for crimes in connection with the so-called Windsor building caper.

One of Madrid’s premiere skyscrapers, the Windsor caught on fire the Saturday evening of Feb. 12. Images of the edifice engulfed in bright orange flames and the firefighters who tried to put out the blaze were broadcast live on Spanish television throughout the early morning hours. They eventually made newscasts around the world. It was widely compared to the fires in the World Trade Center skyscrapers on 9/11/01.

Luckily, no one was injured in the fire because all of the offices were closed. But arson suspicions were fueled when a resident in a nearby condominium complex shot a video that purportedly showed silhouettes of two persons inside the building against a backdrop of flames. The footage was repeatedly played on international television, including CNN.

In its own private inquiry, Asón Properties, the building´s owner, concluded that an employee of the U.S. accounting firm Deloitte & Touche acknowledged leaving a cigarette burning before she left the office. Asón’s investigation also stated two security guards on duty that night failed to take immediate steps that would have otherwise saved the building in the Nuevo Ministerios sector.

But nearly a year later, Instructional Judge Mariano Ascandoni dismissed the criminal investigation ruling that “there are no indications” that the fire “was intentional.” In his written opinion released on Tuesday, Ascandoni considered it “irrelevant” on whether shadowy figures could be seen in the grainy amateur video. He also added that it was difficult to prove that the fire was caused by a cigarette but gave no explanation for its causes except to say it started on the 21st floor. Security personnel and firefighters acted accordingly and should not be held accountable for negligence, Ascandoni concluded. Nevertheless, the judge left the civil route open so that office renters could file lawsuits to see who should be held financially responsible for the losses, which by some accounts are expected to ascend to more than US$55 million.

(Photo above courtesy of www.skyscraperpage.com)

Review – WRTH 60th: ‘The one to buy’

The 2006 edition of the World Radio TV Handbook is out, and we cannot agree more with reviewers in other forums that this is probably one of the best ever. The WRTH is celebrating 60 years of bringing shortwave listeners ample and concise information on world broadcasting. But what makes this 704-page edition of the “DXers’ bible” special are the feature articles and extensive frequency lists section.

As has been the traditional format since last decade, the first section is dedicated to articles, maps and advertisements on 96- magazine slick-style pages. The features begin with a brief history of the WRTH and how the annual started out as a frequency list in a Danish newspaper. Then, veteran SWL, author and lawyer Jerry Berg gives us a nice trip down his own memory lane as he relates “50 years of DXing.” His article is nicely illustrated with QSLs from “the good old days” of shortwave listening. Antique radio collectors will love the “60 years of reception” feature as six top receivers, one for each decade beginning in the 1940s and ending in the 1990s, are profiled. Although the WRTH editors admit that many will “violently disagree” with their choices, this is a poignant survey of why these selected rigs were special in their day.

But for those who are more anxious to find out what the future might bring instead of dwelling in the past, WRTH editors questioned four international broadcasting professionals who give their opinions on where they believe radio is headed. The experts dish out their predications concerning shortwave broadcasting and digital technology. The content, style, and information in this features and review section remind us when the WRTH would close its 1970 and 1980 editions with the sorely missed “How to Listen to the World” section. We hope the WRTH will continue to generate more features – maybe even station profiles – in future annuals.

The broadcasting directory continues to be top quality and concise. However, one minor complaint could be lodged against how listings of the domestic radio frequencies in the United States are presented and why the editors selected those cities to make up their list. There are 20 cities under the United States section but not all represent the top 10 cities in U.S. population. The television listings in some countries are also incomplete, for example, Spain and Puerto Rico. We can only guess what omissions have been made in other countries.

However, we are pleased to see that after many years of oversight, the WRTH is expanding its shortwave broadcasting listings by time and frequency in the Spanish, French, Portuguese and German languages. A short list – because at the moment it is limited – of DRM broadcasts is also a welcome.

I have bought the WRTH about once every two or three years since 1977 (the last edition I owned was the 2004), and since then it has been my premiere listening reference. If you have never before owned a WRTH, then this is one to buy.