Hello and welcome to Spotlight. I'm Mike Procter.

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　　And I'm Nick Page. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.

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　　There was a time when all telephones had bells. Bells ring, so when you phoned someone you were ‘ringing' them. Today phones make all sorts of noises - all sorts of ringtones.

　　These are some of the original ringtones for mobile, or cell, phones. But today, many people are choosing and even creating their own ringtone sounds. In fact, many ringtones have political, social and even health messages.

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　　‘Hello Garci' was one of the first popular mobile phone ringtones. It appeared in 2004, in the Philippines. It was supposed to be part of a telephone talk between the president of the country and an election official - Mr Garci. People said that in this talk, these two people were making plans to cheat in the elections. Officials denied the claims. The authorities also stopped broadcasts of the ringtone. They said it was part of a plot against the president. But people saved this ringtone from the website to their mobile phones. It soon became very popular. Public transport drivers used the horns of their vehicles to play it.

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　　There are many political ringtones in the United States. People use them to express their support for one group or another. And they use them to criticise leaders' actions too.

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　　But the ringtone you choose for your mobile phone can tell people a lot about you. It can tell them what political party you support. And it can even tell people what race you belong to. In some places, this can cause problems.

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　　Ahmed Ali was travelling on a bus in Kirkuk, Iraq. People from different religious and ethnic groups live there - and there is often tension between them. Some people describe Kirkuk as a bomb waiting to explode. While Ahmed was on the bus his mobile phone rang. He answered it. Then, he noticed something strange. Other people on the bus were looking at him - angrily. He wondered why. Then, he understood the reason. His ringtone was a Kurdish song. Some years ago, the Kurdish community in Iraq broke away to form a self-governing area of their own - Kurdistan. The other ethnic groups in Iraq did not fully agree with this move. So when the Arab and Turkomans on the bus heard Ahmend's mobile phone, they were not happy. Ahmend said:

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　　‘Immediately after that, I changed my ringtone. I used the one provided with the phone when I bought it'

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　　Mobile phones play out different political and national songs. There are even religious ringtones. Abu Saif owns a mobile phone repair store in Kirkuk. He said:

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　　‘I can identify someone based on the ringtone he wants. ...I hope ringtones will not become another factor splitting the people of Kirkuk.'

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　　The sounds of nature. Ringtone messages are not all about politics! One animal protection group is using ringtones to help spread its message. The Centre for Biological Diversity is a science-based group. It works to protect endangered species. These are particular species, or groups of animals that are few in number. These species are in danger of no longer existing in the future. The Biological Diversity group is using ringtones to spread the message about this situation. People can download these animal ringtones from the group's website, directly onto their phones!

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　　Having a bad day? Maybe you want to try the grizzly bear ringtone. This huge creature has long sharp claws - the size of fingers. You can find it in the forests in the western part of North America. But human development in the area has pushed grizzly bears out of 98 percent of their natural living environment. Experts worry about their survival.

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　　Another ringtone on their website is the Colombian screech owl. This rare bird lives in the West Andes, Colombia and northwest Ecuador. However human activities endanger the screech owl's survival. Human settlement, cocoa plantations and gold mining all damage and destroy forests. Scientists are not sure how many of these rare birds remain in the wild.

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　　There are eighty different ringtones to choose from on the website. The Killer Whale is one of the most popular! Peter Galvin is the Centre's director. He said:

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　　‘Now you can easily download the sound of a polar bear. You can educate people about global warming each time your phone rings.'

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　　Our last ringtone with a message is from the BBC World Service Trust. They have developed a ringtone with a health message. The Trust's aim was to try and stop people spreading diseases, like HIV/AIDS, through sex. These diseases are spread when people have sex with more than one person. Organisations and groups across the world are working to fight this problem. Religious groups are working to encourage people to be faithful to their husband or wife and to avoid having sex with more than one person. And health groups are working to encourage people to use protection when they do have sex. One way people can do this is by wearing rubber condoms during sex.  This is the message the BBC World Service Trust chose to spread in India.  Their idea was to get people talking about condoms freely.  Yvonne MacPherson from the BBC said:

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　　‘Research says that people who talk about sex and condoms are more likely to have healthy behaviour - such as using condoms... We wanted to show that the condom user is an intelligent and responsible person. Having the ringtone on your phone shows that you understand this.'

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　　You can hear the condom ringtone by following the link on our Listen and Read page for this programme.  But what do people think of this idea? Some people question if the ringtone will really change people's sexual behaviour. Yet the BBC reported over 270,000 download requests - in about a month. They are pleased with these numbers. Clearly it will be more difficult to judge if it succeeds in changing people's behaviours.

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　　What do you think about using ringtones to create social change? Is it possible? There are now websites that encourage people to create their own ringtones for their societies. What message would you like to give to your society? Could you do it using a mobile ringtone?

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　　The writer and producer of today's programme was Marina Santee. The voices you heard were from the United Kingdom. All quotes were adapted and voiced by Spotlight. You can find more Spotlight programmes on our website at http://www.radio.english.net This .programme is called, ‘Messages through Ringtones.'