22 June 2011 Silver Spring, USA [Shelley Nolan Freesland, tedNEWS] This July, Adventist World Radio will begin broadcasting new shortwave programs in Arabic for four hours daily – morning and evening – to listeners countries such as Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Yemen, Oman, and Saudi Arabia.
Arabic is spoken by more than 230 million people in the world. It is a high?priority language for AWR, and there have been Arabic broadcasts in existence since AWR was established in 1971. But there are a large number of dialects within the major forms of Arabic.
“This new programming in ‘Classical Arabic’ represents a new approach for AWR, which we believe will more
effectively serve Arabic listeners in diverse countries,” says AWR senior vice president Greg Scott. The new programs are being produced at a studio that was built this year in the Middle East; in addition to shortwave radio, they will also be available worldwide as podcasts, through awr.org and iTunes.
A Diverse Language
Years ago, AWR did have programs in Classical Arabic, which were produced at the Seventh?day Adventist Church’s media center in Cyprus. But production ceased when the center was closed approximately eight years ago.
For the past 40 years, AWR has had ongoing Arabic programs in a version of the language that is suitable for listeners in North Africa, a region known as the Maghreb. These are currently produced through a “virtual team” that is coordinated at a studio in France. These programs include segments that are contributed by a number of Arabic producers working in a variety of countries.
“We believe this new Classical Arabic production is much more suitable for listeners in these countries, as the
language and culture of this territory are more closely reflected,” says AWR Europe region director Tihomir Zestic, who also oversees AWR’s ministry in the Middle East.
“The winds of change and freedom are blowing in this area,” states Amir Ghali, director of the new studio. “People want to be liberated. I’m sure there’s a reason that God has made it possible for us to set up this studio while the entire Middle East is pushing for freedom.”
AWR’s podcast statistics also show evidence of how important Arabic programs are. At last count, the Arabic podcast is attracting the most subscribers of any AWR language, with the highest number of new subscribers per month. The majority of podcast listeners are downloading from Saudi Arabia. “It thrills us to think there is such a good job being done in this part of the world, but we know there is much more yet to do,” Zestic says.
A New Voice of Hope
Earlier this year, AWR global resource engineer Daryl Gungadoo and Europe Region program director Yves Senty traveled from their office in England to the Middle East, to set up the studio and conduct training for the local staff and volunteers. The trainees, who ranged in age from 19 to 23, were also successful in braving their intensive training schedule. They covered topics from microphone recording patterns and editing software to writing for radio, conducting interviews, and handling listener responses. Senty says, “It was a real pleasure to work with such an enthusiastic team. They, along with the studio director, were very excited at the concept of podcasting, especially after seeing the statistics.”
“Production of these programs in Classical Arabic from our new studio constitutes a huge step forward in reaching all of the countries of the Middle East where Arabic is the primary language,” Chow says. “People in this part of the world are experiencing much difficulty during these times, and many are seeking answers. The programs from Adventist World Radio bring a true message of hope from a loving and compassionate God. We are extremely excited about this new initiative.”
Ghali says, “Thank you, AWR, for making this dream come true, where we can share our good news of freedom in Jesus to millions of Arabic?speaking people around the world.”
Adventist World Radio is the mission radio arm of the Seventh?day Adventist Church. It broadcasts the Adventist hope in Christ to the hardest?to?reach people groups of the world in their own languages, through shortwave, AM/FM radio, podcasts, and on?demand at awr.org.
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photos (selected names withheld)
1) AWR Europe region program director Yves Senty (center) works on recording and interviewing skills with young trainees at AWR’s new Middle East studio.
2) AWR global resource engineer Daryl Gungadoo (second from right) demonstrates the capabilities of
different microphones to trainees at AWR’s new Middle East studio. [tedNEWS]
tedNEWS Staff: Miroslav Pujic, director; Deana Stojkovic, editor
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