News association urges Australia's ABC to review closure of shortwave service to Pacific

The Pacific Islands News Association (PINA) said on Monday that it is concerned with the decision of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) to shut down its shortwave radio services to the Pacific by the end of January 2017.

"PINA joins the growing voices opposed to the ABC's plan to close this valuable and vital source of information to peoples and communities in the Pacific that have relied on Radio Australia for almost eight decades," the PINA's Suva-based secretariat said in a statement.

For almost 80 years, Radio Australia's shortwave service has been the lifeline for many rural communities in the Pacific who rely on it for vital emergency service information.

"Given the geographical landscape of the Pacific region, radio is still the most effective and efficient means of communication and source for information. The fact that most islands in the region are under resourced with regards to sustaining their broadcast stations, most of our people rely on Radio Australia and Radio New Zealand to acquire news and information, including cyclone warnings," said PINA's president Moses Stevens.

Earlier this month, the ABC said the shut-down is in line with the broadcaster's commitment to expand its digital content offerings. It said Radio Australia's audiences in the Pacific will be able to listen to FM and online broadcasts, and the savings will be reinvested in FM transmitter network, increased regional content and media and journalism in the Pacific.

"While PINA appreciates the Australian government's plan to redirect savings from the closure of the shortwave radio service into media and journalism in the Pacific, it is of the strong view that Australia will lose one of its strong connections with the Pacific, through Radio Australia," the PINA said, calling on the ABC to review the decision and maintain its shortwave services to the Pacific. Endit