As Vatican Radio closes an era by ending its short-wave
transmissions, other broadcasters are stepping up their involvement in
the short-wave field.
Msgr. Dario Vigano, the prefect of the Vatican’s new Secretariat for
Communications, has cut off short-wave broadcasts - long the heart of the
Vatican Radio operation - in a move to cut costs and move toward emphasis
on communicating through the internet.
But Magister observes that
short-wave transmissions retain their “unique ability to arrive as a
free and true voice even in the most geographically and politically
inhospitable places of the world.”
The Italian Vatican-watcher reports that other broadcasters are
expanding their short-wave offerings. BBC has invested £85 million
(almost $105 million) in a drive to expand its short-wave capacity.
And
Japan’s NHK network has inquired about purchasing the broadcasting
station at Santa Maria di Galeria, just outside Rome, that Vatican Radio
will no longer use.