This is Glenn Hauser with the media news on Communications World.
Kim Elliott is on vacation, but he'll be back next week.

Some very sad news from Anker Petersen in Denmark. The longtime editor
of the World Radio TV Handbook from 1961 to 1986, Jens Frost, died
October 18. He was almost 80 years old.

The once a year chance to tune in Radio Saint Helena on shortwave is
upon us, this Saturday, October 23rd between 1900 and 2300 UT on
11092.5 kHz upper-sideband. This may be the last broadcast, as the
transmitter is being retired. More info at http://www.sthelena.se

After 71 years on the air, The Happy Station comes to an end this
Sunday on Radio Netherlands Spanish service. The English version was
canceled several years ago. A commemorative QSL is being offered.
Listen at 2236 on 15315 and 11715, UT Monday 0036 on 15315, and 0236
on 9590 and 6165.

Every two years, Norwegian students in Trondheim put on a shortwave
broadcast for rag-week, a student festival, called UKE-Senderen. This
year transmissions have been intermittent, but try 7215 kHz using one
kilowatt or less, 24 hours a day until November 7.

VOA's new Sri Lanka station has been accused by villagers of dumping
toxic waste contaminating a water supply at Madampe. But the US
embassy said the waste was dumped with permission, had been tested and
was not hazardous.

The Voice of Tibet, a clandestine via Tajikistan, keeps changing
frequencies, but recently has been clashing with the half-hour version
of Communications World Thursday at 1230 UT on WWCR 15685, says
Wolfgang Bueschel. Fortunately in November, CW will change to 1330.

The Argentine DX bulletin Conexion Digital reminds us that October
19th was the 40th anniversary of Special English on the Voice of
America. Half hour programs are now on special frequencies detailed at
the VOA website. 

VOA listeners who no longer hear enough jazzz may want to try VOR --
Maryanne Kehoe points out that the latest Voice of Russia Jazz Show
was playing Duke Ellington. Schedule details at http://www.vor.ru

Polka music is even less heard on shortwave, but WBCQ has a new polka
hour coming in November, Saturdays at 2200 on 7415.

Drastic cuts at Germany's international broadcaster, Deutsche Welle,
have been confirmed. Argentine and Venezuelan shortwave DX clubs in
particular are still campaigning to prevent DW from ending its Spanish 
broadcasts January first. Die Welt reported that part of the problem
was a clash between DW Director Dieter Weirich and the state minister
for culture and media, Michael Naumann. A DW press release said radio
would be discontinued in deregulated, liberalized and privatized 
information markets such as Japan and Latin America. But broadcasts to
areas lacking freedom of information, such as the Balkans, and
Indonesia would be strengthened. And a new service in Ukrainian would,
after all, be started.

At the end of October, Austrian Radio will discontinue its special
program for the Balkans, Radio Neighbor in Need, in the local evenings
on mediumwave 1476 and shortwave 5945, says the ORF Mailbox program
via Dieter Leupold and Kai Ludwig.

Major time and frequency changes take place October 31st with the end
of summer time in Europe and North America and the beginning of the
B-99 shortwave broadcasting season. On the web, you can find new 
schedule info at http://web-one.cz/hfcc, at http://www.dxa.be, and at
http://www.addx.de.

BBC World Service and the British and International Red Cross October
19 began a new radio link service for East Timor to help refugees and
family members find one another. It is daily at 1040-1055 UT in
Indonesian on 7160 and 9680, says BBC News Online via Jonathan Prince.

Red Cross has also registered Monday to Friday broadcasts to southeast
Europe via four different Merlin transmitter sites for the B-99
season, says the schedule via Andreas Volk and Wolfgang Bueschel: 1115
-1130 on 11680, 15115, 17870; 1430-1445 on 11680, 13755 and 15115.

Radio Pakistan has English news broadcasts not revealed on its
website. Mike Barraclough in England monitored them at 0800 and 1100
on 17835 and 15530; at 1600 on 11570, 15320 and 15465.

BBC Monitoring heard All India Radio report that India has lifted a
ban on Pakistan television, so now Indians are free to watch it.

Radio Television Hong Kong has maintained some editorial independence,
but now its director, Cheung Man-yee has suddenly been named economic
trade representative to Japan, after allowing a spokesman from Taiwan
to speak on the station. The Democratic Party protests that RTHK is 
being turned into a government mouthpiece, per reports from the New
York Times via Mike Cooper, and BBC Monitoring.

BBCM heard Radio Australia report October 22nd that five years after a
volcanic eruption put it off the air, Radio East New Britain, Rabaul,
Papua New Guinea is back on the air with Japanese aid. Check the
previous shortwave frequency 3385.

One of America's greatest radio personalities, story-teller Jean
Shepherd, died this week. For many years he was on WOR, New York, and
you may have seen his movie a few years ago, A Christmas Story. Old
Shepherd tapes are still playing on WBCQ, 7415, Fridays at 2030-2130
UT.

Broadcast antennas are usually painted red and white for maximum
visibility and air traffic safety. But for esthetic reasons, the new
500 kilowatt longwave station on the Isle of Man plans to paint its
mast a peculiar drab dark green, making it almost invisible against
the surrounding countryside.

The New York Times reported that nearly 300 of the nation's 1600
television stations have petitioned the Federal Communications
Commission requesting a change in digital television standards. The
system currently being installed is likely to fail because no picture
is received unless reception is perfect, says David Smith of Sinclair
Broadcasting.

New York Times Op-Ed essayist William Safire writes that anti-trust
action is needed against merger-mania in the media. Four giants of
telecommunications would like to merge into only two, Worldcom and
AT&T.

Here's another company with plans for a stand-alone internet radio
appliance early next year, according to a C-NET report via Chet
Copeland. It's called KERBANGO [and spelled].

And, George Thurman points out a website with easy to use shortwave
propagation information: http://dx.qsl.net/propagation

Kim Elliott returns next week. For VOA News Now, I'm Glenn Hauser. ###