postmaster@CUVMB.CC.COLUMBIA.EDU (02/12/90)
Radio RSA extended their afternoon transmission today to cover the release of Nelson Mandela from Victor Verster (sic) Farm Prison and his first speech at City Hall in Cape Town. Basically, they just rebroadcast the sound track from the SABC's television coverage, with occasional break-ins by a continuity announcer in Johannesburg who would announce the frequencies and play music during lulls in the coverage. It was interesting to hear how the TV reporters seemed to harp on the connection between the ANC and the South African Communist Party. It was also interesting to hear how R. RSA seemed after a while to have its technical glitches coincide with these mini-commentaries. When Mandela's speech was on the American networks, I kept the sound down and listened on the radio; the picture was about two seconds behind the sound on the shortwave due to the satellite delay. Judging from a brief glitch on CNN when the Visnews card came up, I would guess that the signal went by satellite from SA to London, and then to another satellite to cross the Atlantic; hence the longer than usual delay. -- Ralph Brandi ralph@lzfme.att.com att!lzfme!ralph Please do not reply to ralph@cbnewsj.att.com or cbnewsj!ralph Work flows toward the competent until they are submerged.
roskos@BBN.COM> (02/12/90)
ralph@cbnewsj.ATT.COM (Ralph Brandi) writes: >It was interesting to hear how the TV reporters seemed >to harp on the connection between the ANC and the South African >Communist Party. It's equally interesting to see how often that is not mentioned in news reports originating in the US; the ties between the ANC and SACP are apparently very deep, and it is only recently that the SACP has decided to take a lower profile and "wait out" the changes they are seeking, according to news reports. A similar situation existed with Mrs. Mandela; long before the incidents of violence reported in the national media that caused the ANC to distance themselves from her, she had made a speech that said "with our necklaces ... we will liberate South Africa." This was reported on some of the other non-US radio stations, but not generally in the US media, where this advocacy of violence contrasted with the image usually presented of her. [There is another phrase ("and our ???") that goes where the ellipses are, but I don't remember what it was.] -- Eric Roskos (roskos@IDA.ORG or Roskos@DOCKMASTER.NCSC.MIL) "Some countries maintain `fast time' throughout the year, in which case it becomes `standard time'." -- DMA World Map 1150 (USGS)