Text of report in English by Israeli newspaper The Jerusalem Post website on 17 March
[Report by Greer Fay Cashman: “IBA To Stop Shortwave Broadcasts”]
Israel Radio’s shortwave radio broadcasts in all languages will cease on March 31. Shortwave radio broadcasts have been under threat of closure for years, but were saved in the past by a barrage of protest letters from listeners around the world. From April 1, people who have been listening to shortwave radio will be able to pick up all their favourite broadcasts via the Internet.
IBA spokeswoman Linda Bar said the IBA will be seeking funding to allow Farsi-language broadcasts to remain on shortwave. Bar noted that under the Broadcasting Authority Law, the IBA is not mandated to provide shortwave broadcasts. For many years, such broadcasts were co-funded by the Foreign Ministry and the Jewish Agency, which gradually dropped out of the partnership with the IBA.
(Source: The Jerusalem Post website, Jerusalem, in English 17 Mar 08 via BBC Monitoring/R netherlands Media Network Weblog)
Several times in past two years Israel Radio has announced they plan to leave shortwave. Stay tuned the Shortwave Central for final confirmation.
