NOTE:Several years ago the ruling party in the Belizean government
privatized Radio Belize by selling its parts to four companies controlled by
the party's supporters. This article is kept here for historical purposes.
Where in the world would people name towns Gallon Jug,
Washing Tree, Double Head Cabbage, Orange Walk Town, Burrel
Boom, and Monkey River? Nowhere else but easy-going Belize,
the world's number one producer of humorous place names.
Perhaps these names are a product of Belize's distinctive
history.
Belize was once part of the great Maya Indian
civilization. The Spanish came in the 1500s, claimed Belize,
and tried a few tentative settlements. Finding no gold or
silver, they soon left. In the 1600s, English pirates used
Belize's numerous coves and offshore islands as bases from
where they launched raids on Spanish treasure fleets. Along
with their booty, the pirates carried stories of Belize's huge
mahogany forests back to England. Soon British loggers and
their slaves set up camp among the pirate bases. Pirates,
loggers, and slaves mingled. As time passed, new groups were
added to the mixture. An ethnically diverse nation was born.
Garinagus, or Black Caribs, comprise another ten percent.
This unusual group originated on the Caribbean island of St.
Lucia, where escaped negro slaves joined the native Carib
Indian tribe. Because of their frequent attacks on
plantations, the British army deported the Black Caribs to
Honduras' Bay Islands in the 1850s. From there they spread to
Belize.
But that's not all. More recently, Chinese, Lebanese, and
East Indians arrived to set up stores, restaurants, and other
small businesses. Since independence, a number of Americans
and Canadians have either retired or bought small businesses
and settled down in Belize.
So, Belizeans can be German, Garinagu, Lebanese, and just
about anything else. But, one thing they are not is Hondurans.
Until Belize received independence from England in 1981, it was
known as British Honduras and was often confused with nearby
Honduras.
Few think Guatemala would actually invade Belize to put
its claim in effect. Neither Belize nor Britain wants to
chance it though, especially after the Falklands/Malvinas War
with Argentina. So several hundred British soldiers are
stationed at three bases in Belize. One base is at the Belize
City Airport, where international passenger flights land beside
anti-aircraft guns.
The British soldiers brought their own radio stations with
them. Belize is home to three British Forces Broadcasting
Service (BFBS) FM stations, which broadcast the latest rock
music and news from London, direct by satellite. Another radio
station in Belize was brought by the United States - the Voice
of America's AM relay station in Punta Gorda. Neither of these
stations broadcast local material.
Located in a three story building, Radio Belize is just
two blocks from Belize City's main plaza. The station's
efforts to promote Belize are reflected by a sign in the lobby,
"Be a Belizean. Buy Belizean."
Sixty to seventy people are employed by Radio Belize,
including Mike Nicholson, assistant director of programming. A
job vacancy plus interest in radio and a clear speaking voice
landed him a job when he finished high school. That he speaks
both English and Spanish also helped. What began as a job has
become a career. Mike has seen other announcers come and go
over the years. "Time has a way of eliminating those who
aren't cut out for it," he notes.
Although Belize is far off the beaten track, Radio
Belize's announcers don't lack opportunities for professional
training. For example, the BBC regularly organizes courses for
radio announcers from the British West Indies, which Mike has
attended. Perhaps proving that working at Caribbean radio
stations is not for everyone, several of the announcers
decided to stay in the US when the group met in Miami, before
lying to London, according to Mike. Besides studying in
London, Mike spent a semester in classes on making radio
documentaries at the University of the West Indies in Jamaica.
Since staff members who study abroad share their training in
seminars for other employees, there are many opportunities for
continued learning. Working visitors from the BBC or other
broadcasting organizations also occasionally teach courses at
the station.
From 8 a.m. to noon, the mic is handed over to the crew of
"Belize Today", a program of news, weather, music, local
announcements, and phone-ins. For the first two hours,
announcer Debbie Tillet goes it alone in English. Then at ten
a.m., the program becomes bilingual when she's joined by
Spanish announcer Rudy Aguilar. Mike guesses that this makes
the station "a little unique, as I can't think of any other
station that has two announcers working together in different
languages." One of the program's features is "Opportunity
Calls", where listeners call in and put free want ads over the
air.
At noon, it's time for one of the two main newscasts of
the day; first, a half hour of news, sports, and weather in
English, then a half hour in Spanish. The rest of the
afternoon is more music, local announcements, and DJ chatter.
The other main national newscast, again half in English and
half in Spanish, is from 7 to 8 p.m.
The 7 p.m. newscast is probably the most listened to
program of the day. What follows at eight, however, may be the
least listened to. By agreement with the People's United
Party government, an hour of debate from the Belize House of
Represenatives is broadcast between 8 and 9 p.m. Occasionally
the House is still in session at that late hour, and the
debate is broadcast live. Otherwise, an hour which was
prerecorded during the day is aired.
When the politicians finish at 9 p.m., its safe for
listeners to tune back in again. The broadcast day finishes
with three more hours of music and DJ chatter. At midnight, a
prayer is said, the signoff announcement made, and finally the
National Anthem is played before turning off the transmitter.
Some people think that too many new ideas are being
introduced too fast and that Belizeans are in danger of
losing their national identity to American culture. The
Belizean government did consider banning the impromptu cable
networks but, bowing to popular pressure, decided that TV had
come to Belize for better or worse. In the interest of
preserving the national culture, Radio Belize stepped in and
started its own TV network.
Well, calling it a network may be a bit of an
overstatement. But it is a start. A studio for videotaping
TV newscasts has been set up in the Radio Belize building.
Originally taped once a week, the newscasts are now twice
weekly and will soon be taped every day. Of course Radio
Belize doesn't have a TV transmitter . . . but they don't need
one either. The government passed a law that all cable
networks must broadcast the newscasts, or be shut down. Radio
Belize provides each cable network with a videotape of the
newscasts. To be sure that viewers don't decide to switch
over to WTBS and watch The Honeymooners instead, the newscasts
re broadcast nationwide at the same time, and no cable
network may broadcast anything else while airing the
newscasts. Actually the latter rule isn't too hard to follow
because most networks only provide subscribers with one
channel anyway - whatever station or movie the network owner
feels like watching!
A different role demanded changes. To give Radio Belize
a new, less formal appearance, the station's on-air name was
changed to Belize Radio One in 1985. Slowly, the station
began to shed some of its stoical BBC image, and discover its
Caribbean roots.
An ethnically diverse nation, Belizeans speak a multitude
of languages. The Garinagu have their own language; the
Mennonites speak German. Some Indians speak Kekchi or Mopan
Maya. Other Indians speak Spanish, as do some of the mixed-
blood inhabitants. The majority of mixed-blood Belizeans
speak Belizean creole, a local dialect of English, influenced
by local languages and African languages brought by the
slaves. Most Belizeans speak Creole as either a first or
second language.
Despite this, the English on Radio Belize was BBC English
for years. Listeners around the country often asked why there
weren't programs in the local dialect, Belizean Creole.
Adding programs in the dialect was the first big step towards
changing the station's focus. Radio Belize began by testing a
three hour program one Saturday morning. The response was
overwhelming - listeners loved having their own dialect on the
air. Today, creole is used exclusively on the "Belize Day"
program, aired from 5 a.m. to 7 p.m. on the first Saturday of
each month. Mike Nicholson describes its as a day long "free
for all" because the announcers really "let loose".
"We can't please everybody, but we try to offer as much as
we can," Mike notes. All day there are at least three or four
announcers in the studio, with new ones coming and going
periodically. Chitchating about everything under the sun,
announcers also take phonecalls and read listeners' letters.
The station invites listeners to write stories and poems and
send them in to be read on the air. Some listeners even
record their own writings on cassette, which the station plays
n the air. Other listeners record local folksongs and mail
them to the station for "Belize Day". Although the emphasis
is on Belizean creole, listeners contribute in many of the
nation's languages. "It reaches out to people a lot," Mike
says proudly.
Beginning in September 1987, the program traveled to one
of the six district capitals each month. Then the station
began featuring the other larger towns. Plans are to
eventually broadcast from even the smallest village. "People
wanted something like this to happen for a long time,"
explained Mike. So far, reaction to the program has been very
encouraging.
Not only does the on-the-road program put the station in
touch with the people, but it puts the people of different
towns in touch with each another. Each town shares its own
culture, customs, and concerns with the rest of the country.
It's a better lesson in the nation's heritage than could be
taught in a classroom.
Intentionally, there is no strict division between Belize
Radio One and Friends FM. To avoid rivalry between the
stations, the same announcers work for both. That's not a
problem since they operate from the same floor of the Radio
Belize building. With a new, modern studio, Friends FM is no
poor stepchild. Future plans for Friends FM include separate
programming twenty-four hours a day.
In the 70s and early 80s, Belize was one of the easiest
Central American countries to log. On shortwave 3285 khz, the
signal was strong and free of interference. Medium wave
reception was an added bonus. On split-channel 834 khz, under
good conditions Belize was often found wedged between WCCO 830
and WHAS 840. Many DXers logged Belize on SW and MW
simultaneously.
It's not so easy anymore. In the early 80s, the MW
frequency was changed to even-channel 830 khz, where it is
usually buried under WCCO. In the meantime, technical
standards at the station have apparently decreased. Although
there are no interfering stations on 3285 khz, Radio Belize has
been reported less and less often. When the author was in
Belize in December, 1987, both 830 and 3285 khz were heard only
with weak and heavily distorted signals in downtown Belize
City.
During the last several years, the engineering staff at
Radio Belize has been busy installing new transmitters. First
the MW repeaters, then new FM transmitters for both Belize
Radio One and Friends FM. Hopefully, once these additions are
completed, they will have time to rebuild the older
transmitters for 830 and 3285 khz.
Whether you hear them now - in which case it's quite a DX
catch, considering their technical problems, or hear them once
the SW transmitter is fixed back up - be sure to send them a
report. Radio Belize has always been a good verifier, and,
unlike a lot of tropical band stations, reports can be sent in
English. Just slip in a dollar bill or a couple of IRCs, and
address the report to: Radio Belize; P O Box 89; Belize City,
Belize.
1996 Addendum: Unfortunately, Radio Belize no longer uses
either shortwave or medium wave (AM), having completely
switched over to FM.
This article is copyright 1989 by Don Moore.
It may not be printed in
any publication without written permission. Permission is
granted for all interested readers to share and pass on the ASCII text
file of this article or to print it out for personal use. In such
case, your comments on the article would be appreciated.
This website is maintained by Don Moore,
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Radio Belize:
Caribbean Beat in Central AmericaBy Don Moore
Ethnically Diverse
Today about half of Belize's population is of mixed
ancestry, descendants of loggers, pirates, and slaves; with
negro slave blood predominating. The rest of the population is
quite a hodgepodge. About twenty percent are Mayan Indians;
Kekchi Mayas who have always lived in Belize, and Mopan Mayas
who came in the 1860s, fleeing a civil war in Mexico's Yucatan
peninsula. Another ten percent is German Mennonite. They came
looking for a place to practice their simple agrarian religion,
and today their farms are Belize's breadbasket. Claimed by Guatemala
Belizeans don't want to be confused with Guatemala. Even
when the English settled Belize, Spain never gave up its claim
to the territory, which it claimed as a province of Guatemala.
Therefore, when Guatemala became independent in 1821, it took
over the claim to Belize. In 1859, Guatemala agreed to give up
its claims to Belize and in return England agreed to build a
road between Belize City and Guatemala City. In those days,
though, the British Empire didn't pay much attention to small
out-of-the-way countries like Guatemala, so the road was never
built. Guatemala contends that the unfilled contract makes the
treaty invalid, and they still claim Belize. Radio Belize
The only station that actually reflects Belizean culture
is Radio Belize. Founded during the British colonial era,
Radio Belize was modeled on the BBC. Like the BBC, it is
editorially independent of the government, even though it
receives all its funding from the government. Daily Programming
A test tone, followed by the station ID and national
anthem at five a.m. begins the broadcast day at Radio Belize.
After a "prayer for our nation," Belize starts the day out
right, from Monday to Friday, with the upbeat music and lively
DJ chatter of the "Belize Sunrise" program. Though mainly in
English, the program also includes a half hour in one of three
ethnic languages: Kekchi, Mopan, or Garinagu each day. Competition from Cable TV
Over the last several years, Radio Belize has been
increasingly getting stiff competition from a newcomer to the
local media scene: cable television. Belize has no domestic
TV stations, but that hasn't stopped local entrepreneurs from
hooking up their own neighborhood cable systems. By showing
movies from a VCR, as well as rebroadcasting American TV
stations received via satellite dish, these cable networks are
giving Belizeans a new view of the world. Promoting Belizean Culture
For many years Radio Belize was little more than a mini
BBC-in-the-Caribbean. The BBC was the station's role model,
and despite a few exceptions such as the Garinagu program,
the upperclass values and culture of the British colonialists
shaped the station's programming. However, things have
changed drastically since independence was gained in 1981.
The ever-increasing influence of the United States in the
politics, economics, and even day-to-day life of the country
prompted some of the changes. Because of American influence
via the mini-cable networks, Radio Belize saw its role change
from one of promoting British culture to one of preserving
Belizean culture against an onslaught of Americanisms. Live . . . from Burrel Boom
The next step toward change was to take the station to
the people: live broadcasts from outlying towns and villages.
On the third Saturday of each month, a remote studio is set up
in some town's central park. Except for an hour break at noon
for the news, Radio Belize broadcasts from the park from 8
a.m. to 6 p.m. Very little planning goes into the broadcast.
It has the same anything-goes format of "Belize Day", except
that local townspeople get in on the act. They go to the park
to see the show and end up taking part in it by gossiping with
the announcers, singing songs, reading their own stories and
poems, or just sending greetings to family and friends in
other towns. Again, Belizean Creole is the main language
used, but listeners use other languages as well. Mike notes
that these programs are basically an open-mic "featuring the
culture from that district." It's another way "to keep our
culture alive," he adds. New Sister Station
Another way of loosening up the station's image was to
establish some in-house competition. Friends FM is Belize's
twenty-four hour music station. From 5 a.m. to 1 p.m. and
from 7-8 p.m., Friends FM simulcasts Belize Radio One. At
other times the station only airs music and occasional
headline news. Friends FM basically plays foreign rock and
jazz music, although they try to broadcast as much local music
as possible. Belizean rock bands are encouraged to record
their own material on cassettes, which are then played by the
station. Hearing and Verifying Belize
Belize Radio One uses six transmitters in five locations.
The main MW frequency, 830 khz, as well as FM on 91.1 MHZ
broadcast from Ladyville, just a few miles north of Belize
City. The shortwave transmitter used to be at Ladyville also,
but in 1976 it was moved 40 miles west to the new capital of
Belmopan. About the same time, the frequency was changed from
3300 khz to the presently used 3285 khz. Finally there are
three medium wave repeater stations in Corozal, San Ignacio,
and Punta Gorda. Currently Friends FM is heard via an FM
transmitter in Ladyville and repeaters located in Punta Gorda,
Dangriga, and Independence. More repeaters for Friends FM are
planned, so that eventually national coverage will be achieved.
Association of North American Radio Clubs
DXer of the Year for 1995.