On media

BBC makes changes to World Service

Listeners in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands may notice something missing from shortwave radio shortly: the BBC World Service. As of July 1, broadcasts will be available only on the Web (www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice) and FM stations. The change is based on demand - in the US, almost three times as many people listen to World Service broadcasts on FM as on shortwave (about 200 FM stations in the US carry the World Service). In Australia, the number of listeners to shortwave dropped by two-thirds between 1992 and 1997. "Audiences in these particular regions have voted with their dials," says Mike Gardner, a World Service spokesman. In reallocating its resources, the BBC will upgrade transmitters in regions that still rely on shortwave, like Africa and Asia. It is also exploring delivery via mobile phones and satellite radio. "We're not just a shortwave broadcaster anymore," Mr. Gardner says.

Scandinavians read the most

People in Norway and Japan buy the most newspapers, but Sweden has the highest number of adult readers, according to a report released last week by the World Association of Newspapers. In Sweden, 88 percent of adults read a paper every day, followed by 86 percent in Norway and Finland. Hong Kong is fourth with 81 percent and Japan is fifth, with 80.4. The US weighs in at 57 percent.

Courage in Journalism awards

Each year, the International Women's Media Foundation honors journalists who maintain high standards while working in dangerous conditions. This year's winners are Jineth Bedoya Lima, a reporter for El Espectador in Bogota, Colombia, who covers conflict between the government and paramilitary groups; Carmen Gurruchaga, a reporter for El Mundo who writes on the Basque separatist movement in Spain; and Amal Abbas of the paper Al-Rai Al-Akher, Sudan's only female editor in chief.

(c) Copyright 2001. The Christian Science Monitor