Introduction
Anyone reading these lines, is obviously in a privileged position of having access to the internet and a wealth of information, even to tuning in to a large number of domestic and foreign stations. Nonetheless, internet broadcasts are limited by the number of channels a broadcaster can afford to put out. This number rarely exceeds 5,000. On the other hand listenership on traditional radio is only limited by the number of radio sets running at any given time. 
In countries where much of the population is illiterate and poor the power of radio is particularly obvious. Radio broadcasting is the main medium for mass information and education but can also be used for misinformation and propaganda. In civil war and crisis situations, survival will depend as much on getting reliable information as it does on getting food, water and medicine. The need for information makes civilians vulnerable for misinformation. But: Communication facilities and links are almost always the first targets of assault. In any coup control of the national radio centre is of prime importance to proclaim victory, and regional rebels seize regional stations to proclaim that they are a force to be reckoned with. Especially in countries like Liberia, Somalia and Congo (Kinshasa) where state order has collapsed faction leaders and warlords have used their own radio stations for more than information or propaganda. 

Hate vs. peace radio
Sometimes one might wonder why people enjoying a life without a daily struggle for life seem to be interested in the reporting about conflicts and catastrophes rather than on societal improvement and scientific and cultural achievements. One might remember that content analysis as a scientific method started with a special interest in the techniques of radio propaganda exhibited both in the US and in Europe since the 1930s. Even peace researchers tend to focus more on the factors of conflict and conflict resolution rather than on the factors that keep peaceful relations running. Similarly, hate radio received more attention in the media than peace radio efforts. Some of the early propaganda also had religious motivations, and still today some religious broadcasts leave the terrain of competing convictions and propagate hatred. 
In hate radio those responsible for the contents use media power not only to present one-sided views or to deceive the public, but to deny others the right of living or at least living where »I« live. The »reasons« cited may be ethnic origin, religion, political conviction, sexual orientation or whatever.
On the other hand, in several regions hate radio faced the opposition of radio stations for peace, democracy and human rights. Their efforts are routinely documented on the Peace Radio Website. 

Current articles on the Peace Radio Website 
Information is regularly checked and updated drawing on individual research and news provided by international readers and listeners. The Peace Radio Website currently features information on the efforts of the following radio projects:

Africa
Over the last decade, at least eighteen countries in Africa have been consumed by war,  usually internal. At present there are several active conflicts in Africa-they are Cote d'Ivoire, the Darfur region of Sudan, Northern Uganda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. 

• Angola: Radio Ecclésia (1954-1978.1997-)
• Central African Republic: Radio Minurca (1998-2000), Radio Ndeke Luka (2000-)
• Cote d'Ivoire: ONUCI FM (2004-)
• Congo-Kinshasa: UN Radio Okapi (2002-)
• Eritrea and Ethiopia: Radio UNMEE (2001-)
• Liberia: Star Radio (1997-2000)
• Nigeria
• Rwanda: Radio Agatashya (1994-1996)
• Sierra Leone: Radio UNAMSIL (2000-)
• Somalia: Radio Rajo (1992-1993), Radio Manta (1993-1994), Voice of Peace (1993-), Mustaqbul (2004-2005)
• Sudan: Voice of Hope (2000-), Sudan Radio Service
• West Africa Democracy Radio (2005-)
• Zimbabwe: Voice of the People (2000-),  SW Radio Africa (2001-)

Americas

• Costa Rica: Radio for Peace International (1987-2003)
• United Nations Radio (1946)

• Afghanistan: Baltic Media Center "Good Morning Afghanistan" (2002-), Internews Radio / Salaam Watandar (2004-)
• Cambodia: Radio UNTAC (1992-1993)
• China: Voice of Tibet (1996-)
• East Timor: Radio UNAMET (1999) and Radio UNTAET (1999-)
• Myanmar: Democratic Voice of Burma* (1992-)

• Belarus: Radyjo 101.2 (1995-1996), Radyjo Ratsyya (1999-), Radio Baltic Waves (2000-)
• Red Cross Broadcasting Service (1945-1995)
• Yugoslavia (Kosovo): Radio Blue Sky (1999-2000), Kosovo Radio and Television (2000-)

See full article as part of our 2001-2002 PESC-Report

• The Power of the Media
• Radio Research
• Hate vs. Peace Radio
• PESC Promoting the Awareness of Peace Radio in the Context of National and International Radio 
• Current articles on the Peace Radio Web Site
• Freedom of Information as a Factor of Peace
• Subversive Broadcasting still very much ahead
• Conclusion

2004 Clandestine Activity Survey
During the year 2004 the activity of political clandestine stations broadcasting on shortwave has decreased by 28.5 % to 1229 Weekly Broadcasting Hours (WBHs). This is the lowest level of activity since 1999 and the second lowest ever since this survey has first been compiled in 1986.
Activity by clandestine stations on the Asian continent has decreased by 35 % or 495 WBHs to now 920 WBHs with the five most active target 
areas (countries) all in a declining trend. Clandestine activity to target areas on the American, African and Oceanian continents has remained more or less unchanged from last year at 166, 127 and 16 WBHs respectively. 
The three most active target areas worldwide remain exactly in the same ranking as one year ago: Iraq with 332  WBHs (-416 when compared with one year ago), North Korea with 168 (-49) WBHs and Afghanistan with 165 (-24) WBHs.
Despite the declining trend in overall figures, it should also be noted that the number of different target areas active worldwide has increased by three to 24. So, the trend towards more diverse, but also mostly low-budget operations, is apparently still intact, and has been only temporarily overshadowed by operations on the Afghanistan/Iraq scenes.
(Mathias Kropf 19 December 2004)

2005 Clandestine Activity Survey
In 2005 the activity of political clandestine stations broadcasting on shortwave has decreased by almost 3 % to 1195 WBHs (Weekly Broadcasting Hours). This is the lowest level of activity since 1999. The activity of clandestine stations with target areas on the Asian continent has decreased by almost 9 % to 841 WBHs. Activity on the African continent, however, has increased by 51 % to now 192 WBHs. Very little has changed on the American continent where activity is now at 162 WBHs. 
The three most active target areas worldwide are Iraq with 225 WBHs (-107 when compared with one year ago), Afghanistan with 190 WBHs (+25) and North Korea with 168 WBHs (unchanged). The number of different target areas active worldwide has increased by one to 25. It should be noted that all four new (or reactivated) target areas are on the African continent (Senegal, Somalia, Gambia and Cameroon). On the other hand, Lebanon, Colombia and Papua New Guinea are no longer thought to be active. (Mathias Kropf 23 December 2005)
 

Worldwide index of press freedom 2004
In late October 2004 Reporters Without Borders announces its third annual worldwide index of press freedom. It was compiled by asking partner organisations (14 freedom of expression organisations in five continents), its 130 correspondents around the world, as well as journalists, researchers, jurists and human rights activists, to answer 52 questions to indicate the state of press freedom in 167 countries. Others were not included for lack of information but the list has steadily grown in the past three years. It is based solely on events between 1 September 2003 and 1 September 2004. 
Press freedom is threatened most in East Asia (with North Korea at the bottom of the entire list at 167th place, followed by Burma 165th, China 162nd, Vietnam 161st and Laos 153rd) and the Middle East (Saudi Arabia 159th, Iran 158th, Syria 155th, Iraq 148th). In these countries, an independent media either does not exist or journalists are persecuted and censored on a daily basis. Freedom of information and the safety of journalists are not guaranteed there. Continuing war has made Iraq the most deadly place on earth for journalists in recent years, with 44 killed there since fighting began in March 2003.

www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=11715
Evaluation by region:
www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=11708 Africa 
www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=11710 Americas 
www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=11711 Asia
www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=11712 Europe and former USSR
www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=11713 Middle East

excel-file of the rankings 2002-2004 prepared by Hansjoerg Biener

Jounalists Mark 2004 as Deadliest Year for Reporters in a Decade

Journalists and press freedom advocates marked the 15th annual World
Press Freedom Day 2005 by paying tribute to colleagues killed on the job. This year's observance was an especially somber one. The Paris-based organization, Reporters Without Borders, designated 2004 as a "year of mourning." In its annual report on press freedom, the group said 53 journalists were killed on the job during the past year - the most in a decade. The deadliest spot for journalists was Iraq: In 2004 19 reporters and 12 of their colleagues were killed. 
But the Committee to Protect Journalists says that of the 190 journalists killed across the world since 2000, only a handful died when caught in
crossfire or while on a dangerous assignment. The vast majority of 121
journalists were murdered in retaliation for their reporting. In most cases, the media watchdogs say, the journalists are murdered with impunity, because governments fail to investigate crimes against the press.  Next to Iraq, the world's most dangerous place to be a journalist are the Philippines and Bangladesh.
107 Journalists were imprisoned in 2004. 27 of them are held in China - where authorities see a free press as threatening to stability. The press organizations say that attitude has been shared for years by the governments of North Korea and Burma and more recently of Nepal - where authorities cracked down on press freedoms after King Gyanendra took emergency powers. Spokesman Jean-Francois Juilliard says he expects the trend to continue, "because more and more journalists are targeted in lots of countries, only because they wrote some stories denouncing corruption or denouncing some practice from politicians, no we are not really optimistic." The report cited new threats to journalists' freedom in countries like the US, where a number of reporters have faced legal problems for refusing to disclose confidential sources.