BBC Keeps Radio Broadcasts to Russia

 FreeMediaOnline.org and Free Media Online Blog October 8, 2008, San Francisco – Unlike the Voice of America (VOA), which had eliminated radio broadcasts to Russia shortly before the Russian invasion of Georgia, the BBC has decided to continue producing Russian-language radio programs while also expanding its Internet and video production.

FreeMediaOnline.org has obtained the details of the new British broadcasting strategy for Russia, which was announced by the BBC World Service Regional Head, Americas & Europe, Nikki Clarke.

The aim of the strategy is to position the Russian service to respond to the changes in media consumption in Russia. Due to the Kremlin’s crackdown on the independent media, the BBC has had considerable difficulties in trying to secure FM distribution in the past three years and the BBC radio service is dependent on shortwave and 3 medium wave transmitters in Moscow, St Petersburg and Ekaterinburg. At the same time, consumption of the BBC Russian online site has been growing and in August, at the height of the Georgian crisis, it was at nearly 3m unique users. For September it has continued at 2.2m.

The strategy outlined by the BBC aims to allow the Russian service to focus more effectively on its online offer  while also strengthening its video and radio production.

The details of the BBC new Russia strategy:

A rolling news page – which other Russian sites use
More original video production on a 24/7 basis – more staff trained in video
More resources for interactivity on a 24/7 basis
More resources for the site in the morning peak

It will also concentrate the radio coverage on news and current affairs in the key parts of the schedule – morning and evening peak times with:

Expanded key current affairs sequences. including Utro na BBC; Vecher na BBC; Vam Slovo; BBSeva; Ranniy Chas
A new 90 minute edition of Vecher na BBC will be developed on Saturdays and Sundays

There will also be an expansion in newsgathering:

Original video reporting will be increased
Original reporting from Russia and the FSU will increase
Analysis to be increased in current affairs programmes and online
Reporting of Britain, social affairs, and British cultural affairs to be strengthened in radio programmes and online

The Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), which manages U.S. international broadcasting, is also pursuing an Internet-focused strategy in Russia. Unlike the BBC, however, the U.S. broadcasting board had forced the Voice of America to terminate all on air Russian-language radio programs to the point of not allowing the VOA Russian service to produce radio broadcasts even for placement on the Internet or on a still available medium wave transmitter in Moscow. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), which is also managed by the BBG, continues to broadcast radio programs to Russia on shortwave and medium wave. Members of Congress, media freedom organizations, and VOA journalists have criticized the BBG for ending Voice of America radio broadcasts to Russia.

Both VOA and RFE/RL are funded by the U.S. Congress. VOA programs originate in Washington, D.C. and are more similar to BBC radio programs, while RFE/RL broadcasts radio from Prague and Moscow and focuses more on internal developments in Russia. According to FreeMediaOnline.org, a media freedom nonprofit based in San Francisco, RFE/RL reporters who are Russian citizens and live in Russia are more vulnerable than VOA and BBC broadcasters to the attempts at intimidation by the Russian security services and need more protection from the U.S. Broadcasting Board of Governors.  After the BBG stopped VOA Russian-language radio broadcasts, the U.S. has no radio programs to Russia specializing in explaining U.S. foreign policy and presenting in-depth radio or Interent coverage of American society and culture.

An internal BBC memo says that the changes in the British program strategy in Russia will mean the elimination of 7 positions in the Moscow bureau which are related to the news bulletins, though overall, with recent recruitment and the creation of new jobs, the headcount in Moscow will not change. In London, there will be a proposed net closure 10 positions, which the BBC management will be discussing with the staff and the unions.

The BBC management believes that the new radio-Internet-video strategy will deliver a more diverse and improved content for the Russian audiences which they cannot get from other sources and that it will continue a tradition of providing unique coverage of Russian and international affairs.

FreeMediaOnline.org president Ted Lipien described the BBC plan as far more prudent and more realistic than the plan adopted in the U.S. by the Broadcasting Board of Governors for the Voice of America.  Lipien said that unlike the BBC, the U.S. international broadcasting authority has made a strategic error that rewards Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, his close associates and other enemies of media freedom. Lipien said, however, that the proposed elimination of  several positions at the BBC Russian service in London should be a cause for concern due to the vulnerability of the reporting positions in Moscow for all international broadcasters.

Hard-Pressed Moscow Opposition Leaders Ask U.S. Not to Cut Russian-Language Broadcasts

 Window on Eurasia, Vienna, October 4 –- Three leading figures of the Russian opposition are calling on Washington to reverse its decision to reduce Radio Liberty’s Russian-language broadcasts next year, lest Russian citizens, at a time when Moscow has established “practically complete control” over domestic radio and television lose a vital source of “objective information.”

State Department, the foreign affairs committees and the Helsinki Commission of the Congress, and presidential candidates John McCain and Barak Obama, the three – Vladimir Bukovsky, Vladimir Kara-Murza and Boris Nemtsov – say that reducing such broadcasts from abroad would make their struggle for freedom that much more difficult.

(The Voice of America ended Russian-language radio broadcasting earlier this summer not only as part of a general cost-cutting effort but because the affiliates in Russia on which its programming was broadcast increasingly refused, under pressure from the Russian government, to carry VOA programs.)

As a result of the actions of Vladimir Putin, they point out, “the citizens of Russia no longer have access to objective information. Opposition leaders are not allowed on the air.” And last month, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin put pressure on Ekho Moskvy, “the last major [domestic] means of mass information.” (www.sobkorr.ru/news/48E5BE1112B25.html).

“It is difficult to understand,” they write, “why, in this situation, the Broadcasting Board of Governors [BBG] is taking a decision about reducing Russian language broadcasting of Radio Liberty, which is rare voice of independent thought for hundreds of thousands of radio listeners” in the Russian Federation and neighboring countries.

And they dismiss as “illogical” the BBG’s explanation that it will use the resources now being devoted to radio broadcasting for the station’s Russian-language website. “Government censorship in Russia,” they note, “affects mostly television and radio,” while “the Internet is independent.” Moreover, they noted, most Russians do not have access to the Internet.

Commenting on this letter, Sobkorr.ru commentator Yuri Gladysh writes that “the names alone” of the authors – “a legendary dissent of Soviet times, a successful governor and vice premier who almost became president, and a young journalist and politician” – “speak for themselves.”

Even the most inexperienced political analyst, he continues, “would draw the same conclusion: things are bad in a country when such people are forced to seek support abroad” and to appeal in the case of that country “not to the current leadership but rather to candidates for the highest positions.”
But Gladysh says he found something else about all this “curious” as well. Many Russian nationalists routinely claim that the US spends “enormous sums” to carry out an information war against Russia. But in fact, Washington’s decision here suggests that in the U.S., as “in any normal country,” “the need to save the money of taxpayers” takes precedence.

In his view, the Sobkorr.ru analyst continues, “this fact better than all the words [of the nationalists] says that a desire ‘to harm Russia’ at a minimum is not among the priorities of American policy, if indeed, it exists at all.” But the nationalists are likely to complain about this American decision anyway, as an indication that the U.S. does not take Russia seriously enough!

However that may be, the appeal of Bukovsky, Nemtsov and Kara-Murza is important for what it says about the direction in which Russia under Putin and Dmitry Medvedev is now moving and, especially regrettably, about the role some in the West are currently playing in that regard.

As many recent commentaries on the Russian Internet have pointed out, Vladimir Putin and his regime have so restricted freedom of information and political activity that in the words of one this week, “today in Russia there is no one left who can say ‘no’ to the powers that be, to explain where they are wrong” (newsland.ru/News/Detail/id/303687/cat/42/ )

But instead of helping today’s Russians to struggle against authoritarianism as the U.S. and other Western governments did by Russian-language broadcasts in the past, these governments are now whether they realize it or not unintentionally assisting those like Putin who want to undermine the freedoms earlier Western broadcasts helped Russians to pursue.

U.S. Public Diplomacy Head Gives Incomplete and Misleading Answers about Elimination of U.S. Broadcasts to Russia, Georgia, and India

 FreeMediaOnline.org & Free Media Online Blog Commentary by Ted Lipien, October 4, 2008, San Francisco – James Glassman, Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, gave incomplete and misleading answers when asked Friday whether the elimination of vernacular broadcasts to Georgia, Russia, and India is going to hurt his “war of ideas” effort. Speaking in Washington at a National Press Club luncheon on “The New Age of Public Diplomacy,” Glassman seemed surprised and annoyed by the question.

His answer that the U.S. is not eliminating but increasing broadcasts to Georgia was clearly misleading since as a former chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) he had voted earlier to eliminate Voice of America (VOA) Georgian and Ukrainian radio broadcasts and was forced to reverse his position only after Russia attacked Georgia. 

Glassman also gave an incomplete, convoluted and misleading answer on the elimination of VOA radio broadcasts to Russia. He failed to mention that he had approved the ending of VOA radio to Russia just 12 days before Russian troops entered Georgia. He continues to oppose their resumption.

Glassman also failed to mention that the BBG staff working under his guidance and with the support from the Senate staff of Senator Biden acted with great urgency and in great secrecy to take VOA Russian radio broadcasts off the air in late July. The secrecy was needed to prevent alerting other members of Congress and human rights and press freedom organizations who have been overwhelmingly opposed to this move and have warned him not to proceed. He ignored these warnings.

Glassman was also disingenuous in saying that the Voice of America is now pursuing a program delivery strategy using the Internet because only about 2 percent of Russians listen to shortwave broadcasts and Mr. Putin has closed down most of the affiliates who were rebroadcasting VOA and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty programs on FM. While his comment about shortwave listenership and FM affiliates is essentially accurate, Glassman failed to mention that the BBG staff, headed by former RFE/RL acting president Jeff Trimble, is preventing the VOA Russian Service from producing any kind of radio broadcasts, even for the Internet. Glassman was Executive Vice President of U.S. News & World Report, which also employed Jeff Trimble. Glassman and Trimble have worked together and with Senator Biden’s former chief of staff Ted Kaufman, a BBG member, to eliminate VOA’s ability to produce radio broadcasts to Russia. Glassman, who is a Republican, was a Bush Administration appointee to the BBG.

While making the point of the importance of reaching a target audience in Russia, Glassman also failed to mention that when he had voted to cut VOA radio broadcasts in Russian the service was still able to use an AM transmitter in Moscow.  The AM transmitter continues to be available and can utilized to reach decision makers in the Russian capital. RFE/RL still uses an AM transmitter in Moscow.

Glassman also failed to mention that while he is preventing the Voice of America from broadcasting radio to Russia on shortwave, he together with Senator Biden supports such broadcasts by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. RFE/RL is incorporated in Delaware, Senator Biden’s home state.

Human rights and media freedom organizations have been raising questions whether RFE/RL, which has a large staff of local reporters in Russia, can be effective and independent while the Kremlin’s security services are monitoring and intimidating Russian journalists. A Russian human rights organization has also criticized RFE/RL for giving extensive airtime to an extremist Russian politician known for his racist views.

In giving his superficial and misleading answers Friday at a National Press Club luncheon, Glassman was clearly counting that the audience does not have the necessary background information to evaluate his facts and analysis. The Voice of America and the BBG  employees’ union described Glassman as unwilling to admit a mistake. Here is what the AFGE Local 1812 reported on its website:

DATELINE: Washington, 08/13/08.  James Glassman, the former Chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) and the current surrogate for the Secretary of State on the BBG, visited the Voice of America (VOA) Russian and Georgian Services late in the afternoon on Tuesday, August 12th.  Both Services assumed that he was coming to announce that the BBG had acted rashly when it announced in July that it was going to end the Russian and Georgian radio broadcasts, among others.  The BBG had ended the VOA Russian radio broadcasts on July 26th.  The VOA Georgian radio broadcasts are as yet still on the air.

The employees had misinterpreted the reason for his visit.  Glassman announced that he was visiting them just to thank them for all their hard work.  Both Services informed him that the Russian media were broadcasting old Soviet style propaganda.  The VOA Russian Service members announced that they were ready and eager to begin broadcasts again in order to counter the Russian propaganda. They were told that a reallocation of funds had taken place and that would not change. When asked if the Georgian Service would continue broadcasts after September 30th, he told the employees that he didn’t want to get anyone’s hopes up.

Watch Video:

Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs James K. Glassman at the National Press Club luncheon, September 3, 2008. Comments about China and  U.S. broadcasting to Russia, Georgia, and India start about 39 min. into the video.

FreeMediaOnline.org Joins Call for End of Impunity in Russia on Anniversary of Politkovskaya Killing

FreeMediaOnline.org and Free Media Online Blog October 3, 2008, San Francisco – As journalists, their organisations, and human rights and press freedom groups are preparing to commemorate the second anniversary of the killing of investigative reporter Anna Politkovskaya, the International Federation of Journalists urged Friday all its affiliates worldwide to join the call for renewed efforts to end impunity in Russia. Link In response to the IFJ appeal, the U.S.-based media freedom nonprofit, FreeMediaOnline.org, has called on the Russian authorities to stop their repressive actions aimed against independent journalists. FreeMediaOnline.org is also urging the U.S. government to reverse questionable decisions affecting the media situation in Russia made by the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), which manages U.S.-funded international broadcasts to media-at-risk countries.

Since its founding in 2006, FreeMediaOnline.org has been publicizing the dangers facing Russian journalists. Those at risk include managers and reporters of the U.S.-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, RFE/RL, many of whom are Russian citizens who work and live in Russia with their families within easy reach of the Kremlin’s secret police.

FreeMediaOnline.org president Ted Lipien said that in light of the extreme dangers facing journalists in Russia, many are alarmed by the recent decision of the U.S. Broadcasting Board of Governors to terminate all Voice of America (VOA) Russian-language radio broadcasts. These broadcasts originating in Washington, D.C., which helped to limit the Kremlin’s media monopoly by featuring on air discussions of human rights abuses, ended on July 26 on orders from the BBG, just 12 days before the Russian military forces attacked Georgia. They have not been resumed despite protests and demands from VOA journalists, members of Congress, and press freedom groups.

This BBG decision, Lipien said, makes RFE/RL and all other journalists in Russia more vulnerable to blackmail by the Russian security services and represents a victory for those responsible for Anna Politkovskaya’s murder. FreeMediaOnline.org urged supporters of media freedom to mark the anniversary of Anna Politkovskaya’s death. The media freedom nonprofit also asked that they register their protest against the Broadcasting Board of Governors’ decisions by sending emails to the BBG executive director Jeff Trimble: publicaffairs@bbg.gov.

Broadcasting Board of Governors Tried to Hire John Cochran for a Public Relations Job While Cutting Voice of America Radio to Russia

 FreeMediaOnline.org & Free Media Online Blog September 30, 2008, San Francisco – Sources say that the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) tried to recruit John Cochran of NBC, then ABC News, as their high profile public relations guru. According to earlier reports, the BBG also tried to recruit Paula Zahn, who turned them down.

The yearly cost of such a position is well over $100,000. The same bipartisan Board, which manages U.S. government-funded international broadcasts, terminated the Voice of America radio programs to Russia and wanted to end broadcasts to Ukraine and Georgia. Most members of Congress are strongly opposed to these cuts.

Despite Russia’s attack on Georgia in early August, the BBG continues to oppose the resumption of VOA Russian-language radio broadcasts, but its plan to cut radio programs to Ukraine and Georgia has been put temporarily on hold due to strong protests from foreign policy and human rights groups. Earlier, the BBG had tried to reduce radio broadcasts to Tibet and China but was forced by Congress to cancel these plans.

The money which the Board proposes to spend on its new public relations initiative would pay for  VOA radio broadcasts to at least one country near Russia’s borders. The Voice of America Russian Service already has sufficient resources to produce radio programs, but the BBG prevents it from resuming radio broadcasting to Russia. The Board keeps VOA Russian staff underemployed and wants to limit their work to producing a website in order to save money for its other projects.

Ted Lipien, president of media freedom nonprofit FreeMediaOnline.org, criticized the BBG’s decision saying that a VOA website will not have any significant impact on the Russian government leaders or the Russian public opinion. Only one of the current six BBG members, radio broadcaster Blanquita Cullum, was reported to have voted against program cuts to Russia, Georgia, and Ukraine.

The program cuts and the hiring of a new spokesperson were supported by the former BBG chairman, James Glassman, who is now the Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs. Cullum was reported to have strongly objected to spending money on public relations campaigns while programs to countries without free media were being cut. Both Cullum and Glassman are Republicans.

All Democrats on the Board have supported program cuts. One of the strongest advocates of ending VOA radio programs to Russia was Ted Kaufman, Senator Joe Biden’s former chief of staff who now works on his vice presidential campaign. Voice of America radio to Russia has been off the air for over two months. Last week, Senator Sam Brownback (R-KA) proposed legislation that would abolish both the Broadcasting Board of Governors and the position of the Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs and create a new agency in charge of U.S. public diplomacy.

Kremlin Can’t Pursue War Against Internet Without Hackers, Expert Says, But This Is No Consolation for Voice of America

 FreeMediaOnline.org & Free Media Online Blog Commentary by Ted Lipien, September 29, 2008, San Francisco – The Broadcasting Board of Governors’ decision to prevent the Voice of America from being a broadcaster in Russia has destroyed VOA’s ability to have any significant impact on the Kremlin and the Russian public opinion. With its radio broadcasts silenced by the BBG just 12 days before the Russian military forces attacked Georgia, the VOA Russian Service website is now just one of hundreds of thousands of news websites and blogs in Russia. 

This seems to be part of the BBG strategy to make VOA permanently insignificant and ineffective as a provider of political news to Russian-speaking audiences. To make sure the Voice of America does not retain any  broadcasting capabilities in the CIS countries, the BBG bureaucrats are preventing the Russian Service from producing any regularly scheduled radio or TV program even for placement on the Web. In addition to distribution over the Internet, such programs could be put  also on shortwave transmitters and on a still available AM frequency in Moscow.

The BBG executive director Jeff Trimble does not want this to happen as this would threaten the U.S.-funded broadcasting monopoly in Russia of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, his previous employer. BBG member Ted Kaufman, who was formerly Senator Biden’s chief of staff, does not want it to happen because RFE/RL is incorporated in Delaware, Senator Biden’s home state. They do not seem to care that RFE/RL’s independence and the security of its reporters have been seriously undermined by the BGG’s strategy to generate most of RFE/RL programming from the news bureau in Moscow right under the watchful eyes of the FSB, the successor to the KGB and Mr. Putin’s former employer.

I also doubt that the BBG staff is actually concerned that the Russian security services can easily block or sabotage the VOA Russian website. If they were, they would not have forced VOA to rely on a single website as its only program delivery option in Russia. Because of that, there is no reason for the Kremlin to consider the website as any kind of threat to Mr. Putin’s control over the domestic media, nor does the Kremlin consider Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty as a particular threat as long as RFE/RL in Russia remains under close observation by the FSB. The Russian security services know that most of RFE/RL reporters are Russian citizens who live in Russia with their families and can be monitored and intimidated. Broadcasting from Washington rather than Moscow and Prague, VOA could be more of a challenge to the authoritarian Russian rulers and their secret police apparatus than RFE/RL Russian broadcasts are in their current status.

How can Mr. Putin take the BBG, VOA director Dan Austin, and the remaining VOA Russian website seriously? Their message, repeated last week by the VOA director, is that Mr. Putin has won the battle. He has closed down most of VOA and RFE/RL radio affiliates and, therefore, VOA — but interestingly not RFE/RL — should get out of the radio business in Russia. The BBG and Dan Austin now realize that VOA relied too much on one program delivery strategy, i.e. the affiliate stations. But at least until July 26, VOA had several additional program delivery options in Russia: shortwave and Internet radio programs, satellite radio programs, satellite TV programs, Internet TV programs, and a website.

The BBG’s answer to the censorship and intimidation of affiliates in Russia is to have now only one program delivery option for VOA – an interactive new media website. There are already hundreds of thousands of such websites, and each one of them can be easily blocked. The VOA Russian website has nothing that makes it different from all the others, not even a regularly scheduled online radio program or a call-in show because the BBG staff will not allow it to happen. No wonder that the Kremlin is not concerned.

The Russian security services would not be able to completely stop VOA broadcasts if they were distributed using multiple delivery systems, including shortwave. The Internet is an important part of such a diversification strategy and should be used. It should not be, however, the only programming and program delivery option. As Paul Goble reports in Window on Eurasia, the Kremlin is capable of blocking and sabotaging unwanted websites with some help from willing hackers.

 Window on Eurasia, September 27, 2008, Eagles Mere, PA –The Kremlin will not be able to close down Internet sites it doesn’t like without using hackers, either those working directly for its security services or those inspired by Moscow’s propaganda campaigns, according to a leading Russian specialist on that country’s intelligence services. Read more in Dr. Paul Goble’s Window on Eurasia.

Restoring Effectiveness of U.S. Public Diplomacy and International Broadcasting

 FreeMediaOnline.org & Free Media Online Blog  The Federalist Commentary, September 25, 2008, San Francisco – Free Media Online Blog welcomes a new guest contributor who provides a unique perspective on U.S. international broadcasting and public diplomacy. The first article from The Federalist deals with the legislation introduced Tuesday by Senator Sam Brownback (R-KA) that would establish the National Center for Strategic Communications, an agency similar to the now defunct U.S. Information Agency (USIA). Brownback’s proposal would abolish the existing Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy at the State Department and the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG). We invite your comments.

The Brownback legislation is a step in the right direction. It acknowledges the problem. It remains to be seen if elected officials respond to this problem in a manner that restores the effectiveness of US international broadcasting or if the legislation will be undermined by special interests or agendas that perpetuate and expand the known failure of this agency [Broadcasting Board of Governors]. The Federalist 

Restoring Effectiveness of U.S. Public Diplomacy and International Broadcasting

The Federalist 2008/1

The legislation introduced by Senator Sam Brownback is an acknowledgement that US international broadcasting is broken and needs to be fixed and in a dramatic fashion.  The senator’s legislation would dramatically reshape how the US Government goes about the business of public diplomacy.  Not only does the legislation eliminate the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG); it also eliminates the position of undersecretary of state for public diplomacy.  The former has been a hotbed of sometimes vicious partisan bickering and the latter a steady succession of appointees who have searched in vain for an answer, almost any answer, to the woeful state of American prestige abroad.

Without a doubt, this legislation will have opponents.  Most likely to lead these forces will be Senator Joe Biden who has a demonstrated interest in this area of government operations.  He will likely be joined in opposition to the Brownback bill by the Broadcasting Board of Governors, no doubt led by Biden’s former chief of staff, Ted Kaufman.

The dismissive attitude demonstrated that the BBG does not think its Russian audiences are important anymore. … Putin, by training, a KGB professional, understands the importance of being several steps ahead of one’s adversaries. 

At this early juncture, it is unclear who will prevail in the political contest over the fate of US international broadcasting.

At the same time, it is important to make note of the record of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, particularly in recent years.  This Board has presided over a failed effort in the Middle East; namely, the Radio Sawa project and worse, the al-Hurra television project.  The fanciful vision of the Board has been akin to if we put these projects on the air, Arabs and Muslims would be enamored of our program content and we will have miraculously won them over to our point of view.  Wrong, on many different levels.  First and foremost, it ignores the obvious; namely, the ability of Arabs and Muslims to distinguish between their expectations and those of the United States through the BBG programming.  No one makes significant life decisions solely on the basis of what someone puts on the radio or television, particularly if that programming is out of step with the daily realities of the target audience.  The al-Hurra project has been called a “broadcast flop” and indeed it is so, in part for the reason stated above.

Putin can congratulate himself on being able to control the media environment in Russia and portray the military incursion in his own terms, exploiting a void created by the BBG in the absence of direct VOA radio programming to the Russian people.

Next, the BBG made a unilateral decision to end 60 years of direct broadcasting to Russia.  One should not treat lightly the significance of these broadcasts…but the BBG did.  The dismissive attitude demonstrated that the BBG does not think its Russian audiences are important anymore.  Clearly, the BBG is oblivious to the changes underway in Russia under Vladimir Putin.  Putin, by training, a KGB professional, understands the importance of being several steps ahead of one’s adversaries.  If he were a chess player, in dealing with the BBG, he would appear to be a grand master.  He knows the opponent and the opponent’s weaknesses.  He has skillfully manipulated the media environment to limit or outright eliminate the ability of alternative points of view to be heard.  He is also mindful of Russian history, something totally outside the parameters of BBG thinking.  He intends to reestablish Russian prestige both domestically and abroad.  Russians have historically responded to calls upon their national pride, particularly in the hands of a strong leader.

Timing is everything.  While not likely a determinant of the Russian decision to invade Georgia, it no doubt had some bearing accessible information to the Russian people as to how this action was viewed abroad.  Putin can congratulate himself on being able to control the media environment in Russia and portray the military incursion in his own terms, exploiting a void created by the BBG in the absence of direct VOA radio programming to the Russian people.

Lastly, an examination of the BBG “strategic plan” is in order.  This plan is available for public inspection on the BBG website.  The Board is proud of its plan.  It believes that it propels US international broadcasting into the 21st century.  In essence, this plan relies heavily on the use of the Internet as a sole source platform for all VOA program material, audio, video and text.

This would be fine in the environment of a free society with a tradition of free speech and a free press.  However, the places where VOA programming is most important are places where these freedoms are absent or under duress.

This “strategic plan” also passes the cost of receiving US government information onto the consumer.  The Board believes that it is saving large sums of money, particularly transmission costs, by pursuing this strategy.  On paper, this is correct.  However, in turn, the BBG is passing the costs onto the consumer, particularly in places where the average per capita income is at the subsistence level.  The Board’s plan would require individual’s to purchase personal computers and acquire Internet access.  In some cases, the costs of both are prohibitive and in other cases they may be nonexistent, in terms of broadband Internet service.  There is also the matter of regular and reliable electrical service to power one’s PC.

The Board also likes to argue that it is trying to reach societal elites with its programming.  These elites are the “haves” in these socio-political environments.  Thus, the question is, what motivation do these elites have in embracing larger socio-political concepts that would dilute their power to benefit the “have-nots?”

The Board is dismissive of the power of radio to reach mass audiences over large geographical areas.  The Board believes that radio is passé, particularly shortwave radio.  However, radios are abundant throughout the world and are available at far less cost than a PC with broadband Internet service.

This Board’s plan creates serious gaps that can be exploited to influence people’s attitudes toward the United States.  As such, this is a serious issue of national security. … every American adversary can easily identify, locate, attack and dispute (or destroy) BBG communication links with its overseas audiences.

Clearly, this BBG plan is an all-or-nothing strategy.  The “all” is dreamlike wonderful.  The nothing is potentially very dangerous.  Those who oppose US interests and policies look for gaps in how the United States attempts to reach large audiences.  This Board’s plan creates serious gaps that can be exploited to influence people’s attitudes toward the United States.  As such, this is a serious issue of national security.

This strategy facilitates and invites electronic countermeasures in times in crisis.  There is a lesson to be learned for the arrogant BBG in the Georgian-Russian crisis.  When hostilities erupted, Georgian websites were hacked, by persons or entities unknown (but suspected to be the Russian security services).  This electronic attack seriously disrupted information coming out of Georgian websites concerning the crisis. 

It would be foolish for the BBG to believe that, in times of crisis, BBG websites would be left alone or somehow rendered immune from such attacks.  No doubt, the BBG would be wise to take steps to protect its websites from such attacks and most likely does.  However, no amount of effort on the part of the BBG would be 100 percent in the face of a determined and focused attack.

Another aspect of this “all-or-nothing” strategic plan is that it can be argued that the BBG no longer is an international broadcaster.  As the term implies, broadcasting means reaching the widest possible range in audience and geography.  This is no longer the case when a heavy reliance is placed on terrestrial downlinks or Internet service providers, easily identified, in fixed locations.  In short, every American adversary can easily identify, locate, attack and dispute (or destroy) BBG communication links with its overseas audiences.

All aspects of these severe shortcomings in BBG thinking represent the manner in which this body fails to carry out its mission.  It is a failure in an important, though little understood and definitely underestimated commodity of government.  It also is a failure in that the Board has clearly placed political interests above the national and public interest.  The Board relishes the fact that it has screened off public scrutiny of its activities.  This is where the problem begins.  Secret governance is no governance when an agency of the Federal government is understood to be accountable to the Public Trust.  One cannot trust an entity that deliberately shrouds itself in secrecy.  It cannot be relied upon to function effectively.  It cannot be relied upon to be a guarantor of public funds well spent.  The corrosive effect of the manner in which the Board operates speaks for itself.

The Brownback legislation is a step in the right direction.  It acknowledges the problem.  It remains to be seen if elected officials respond to this problem in a manner that restores the effectiveness of US international broadcasting or if the legislation will be undermined by special interests or agendas that perpetuate and expand the known failure of this agency.

The Federalist 2008/1

Voice of America Director’s Position Seen As Too Weak to Defend VOA Russian Radio

 FreeMediaOnline.org & Free Media Online Blog  Commentary by Ted Lipien, September 24, 2008, San Francisco – On Monday, September 22, 2008, VOA Director, Dan Austin, in the company of VOA Chief of Staff, Barbara Brady, VOA Associate Director of Language Programming, John Lennon, and VOA Senior Project Officer, Will Marsh, met with the VOA Ukrainian, Serbian, Hindi, and Portuguese-to-Africa services.  Austin announced that the Ukrainian radio service will continue broadcasting until December 31, 2008.  Austin also reiterated that the VOA Georgian radio broadcasts will continue indefinitely.  All the other services scheduled to end their radio broadcasts will end as of September 30, 2008.  The main purpose of the meeting was to announce that no employees would lose their jobs as a result of the cuts.
 
A member of the Ukrainian Service asked the VOA Director whether the Russian radio broadcasts would be reinstated.  In response he said that the decision was made on that and it would not be changed.  Austin went on to say that because  Mr. Putin controlled the affiliates in Russia, “we couldn’t get radio back on if we wanted to.”

Even if the information given by the VOA director was fully accurate, which it is not, the logic of his argument is appalling, to say the least. According to this line of reasoning, Mr. Putin will be rewarded for his crackdown on the local media by VOA’s decision to stop radio broadcasts not only on the affiliate stations in Russia but also on shortwave and the Internet.  

While it is true that Mr. Putin can easily close down all affiliates in Russia, both VOA and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty still have access to AM frequencies in Moscow. RFE/RL continues to use its AM frequency while VOA now uses its AM frequency for VOA English programming only. BBC and RFE/RL did not stop their radio programming in Russian because Mr. Putin closed down most of their affiliates, and neither should VOA.

The VOA director knows or should have known that the decision to stop VOA Russian radio programs had very little to do with Mr. Putin, and a lot to do with bureaucratic politics that damage U.S. national security and public diplomacy. If anything, VOA should be now greatly expanding shortwave and Internet radio broadcasts in response to Mr. Putin’s crackdown on the Russian media. Instead, Mr. Austin is helping the BBG and its executive director to undermine America’s ability to safely and effectively communicate with the Russian people.

Mr. Austin knows that the BBG staff led by Jeff Trimble is preventing VOA Russian service from having any radio production, not even for the Web, in order to protect RFE/RL. Perhaps, there would be nothing wrong with that if RFE/RL could indeed do VOA’s job. But the Russian managers of this semi-private broadcaster, based largely in Moscow, express confidence in Mr. Putin’s leadership and give extensive airtime to racist Russian politicians who verbally attack Africans, Jews, and other minorities. I have warned that RFE/RL needs to protect its journalists who live in Russia with their families from the intimidation by Mr. Putin’s secret police. Journalists working under such conditions in Mr. Putin’s Russia can hardly be expected to accurately and objectively present American views and opinions. As U.S. government officials, Mr. Austin and Mr. Trimble had an obligation imposed on them by the American people and the U.S. Congress to seriously consider this issue before stopping VOA radio broadcasts to Russia. 

If Mr. Austin is concerned about the lack of radio affiliates in Russia, he should be even more concerned about the Internet-only strategy being forced on the VOA Russian service by Mr. Trimble, who was formerly RFE/RL’s acting president. Shouldn’t he be somewhat curious why Mr. Trimble is not advocating Internet-only strategy for RFE/RL but only for VOA?  If RFE/RL can have an outstanding Russian website, which it does, and still produce tons of radio programming and even video, why is the VOA Russian service staff, about 20 full time employees plus a number of stringers and purchase order vendors, only capable of doing a website with some video and nothing else. Mr. Austin should be concerned that these talented professionals are now woefully underemployed and that he, together with Jeff Trimble and the BBG members, is responsible for wasting U.S. taxpayers’ money.

The BBG staff would like, of course, Mr. Austin to believe that the Internet requires as many if not more resources than producing regularly scheduled radio and TV programs. If that were the case, RFE/RL and most other broadcasters around the world would have long ago be forced to stop their core broadcasting functions and use all of their resources for developing their Internet presence. If Mr. Austin believes in this myth, then the Voice of America is really in deep trouble. The so called VOA Russia Options paper produced by the BBG staff, which advocated the Internet-only option for VOA, is based on so many naive and misleading assumptions that any intelligent person could see that its only purpose was to prevent VOA from producing radio programs in Russian. Among other things, the paper advocated using Internet companies known to be controlled by the Russian security services.

When asked later why that question about VOA broadcasting to Russia was raised during a meeting with VOA director Dan Austin, a member of the Ukrainian Service said that “we are all Americans and it is important that we broadcast to Russia in Russian.” It is ironic that a Ukrainian VOA broadcaster would defend VOA broadcasts to Russia while the VOA director says that Mr. Putin has won the battle. Let’s hope Mr. Austin does not really believe the arguments, which were clearly prepared for him by the BBG staff. Those who know how the BBG operates say that the VOA director’s position is too weak for Dan Austin to stand up to Jeff Trimble.

We can only hope that Mr. Austin will find the courage to say to the BBG what needs to be said: the Russian Service of the Voice of America is one of the most important of VOA services and its radio broadcasts will be resumed and put on shortwave, the AM frequency in Moscow, and on the Web. The message from Mr. Austin should be that even if Mr. Putin closes down every single affiliate in Russia and blocks the Internet, VOA will broadcast radio to Russia on shortwave and satellite.

To do anything short of that would be a major failure for U.S. public diplomacy and would reward the enemies of media freedom. Let’s hope that Mr. Austin will find enough wisdom and courage to do what the American people and the supporters of democracy in Russia expect from the leader of an organization committed to promoting free flow of information to countries without free media.

U.S. Board Blocks Use of AM Frequency in Moscow for Voice of America Russian Broadcasts

 FreeMediaOnline.org & Free Media Online Blog  September 24, 2008, San Francisco – A U.S. broadcaster is denied access to a radio frequency in the Russian capital. The censor in this case is not the Kremlin, as one might expect, but the U.S. government agency which manages U.S. taxpayer-funded international broadcasts. The Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) is preventing the Voice of America (VOA) from using an AM frequency in Moscow for its Russian-language radio programs, even though the Russian authorities still allow the frequency to be occupied by VOA. The same bipartisan Board ignored directives from Congress and terminated all on air VOA Russian radio broadcasts on July 26, just 12 days before the Russian army attacked Georgia.

The BBG’s plan also called for ending VOA radio programs to Georgia, Ukraine, India and a few other countries. After the most recent Russian military intervention in the Caucasus, the Voice of America director Dan Austin has asked the Board for permission to temporarily continue  VOA radio broadcasts to Georgia and Ukraine. He is said to be also considering asking the BBG to allow him to resume radio broadcasting to Russia, but he faces strong bureaucratic opposition from the Board’s executive director Jeff Trimble and his staff.

The 810khZ AM frequency in Moscow, which is leased by the BBG, is now used to rebroadcast VOA English programs. BBC and other international broadcasters also lease similar AM frequencies in Moscow. The Russian authorities have forced nearly all private radio stations to terminate similar rebroadcasting arrangements with Western public broadcasters but have not yet decided what to do with the government-controlled AM frequencies in the Russian capital. Taking a direct action against all Western broadcasters at the same time could result in bad PR for the Kremlin, which may explain why these broadcasters are still on the air in Moscow.

At least for now the 810kHz frequency is working and the Voice of America could use it to broadcast several hours of Russian-language programming daily. The BBG, however, has been steadfastly rejecting urgent appeals from VOA Russian staffers to allow them to produce a radio show that could be aired in the Russian capital. Despite the growing media censorship in Russia, these federal government employees charged with facilitating free flow of information were ordered by the BBG to limit their audio production from several hours to 10 min. daily and to become an Internet-only news provider.

VOA Russian service broadcasters say they are deeply demoralized and underemployed.  They complain that resources paid for by U.S. taxpayers are wasted while the bipartisan U.S. government Board denies radio listeners in Russia access to Russian-language news from Washington. While there is a serious risk of the AM frequency in Moscow being shut down by the Kremlin, VOA employees reported that the BBG is also preventing them from producing a regularly scheduled radio program that could be broadcast on shortwave frequencies controlled by the U.S. government. They also said that the BBG staff won’t even allow them to create a regularly scheduled extended radio broadcast that could be placed on the Web.

FreeMediaOnline.org, a San Francisco-based media freedom nonprofit, reported that by terminating VOA radio to Russia the BBG has acted against the wishes of the majority of members of Congress from both parties but received support from the Senate staff of Senator Joe Biden. The BBG action will benefit the semi-private broadcaster Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), which is incorporated in Delaware and also managed by the BBG. Both Democrats and Republicans on the BBG, with the exception of only one Republican member, voted to stop VOA radio programs to Russia. One of those voting to terminate VOA radio broadcasts to Russia, Georgia, Ukraine,and India was Ted Kaufman, who was formerly Senator Biden’s chief of staff and is now assisting him with the vice presidential campaign. BBG executive director Jeff Trimble was formely acting president of RFE/RL and engineered the silencing of VOA radio in Russia.

According to Ted Lipien, FreeMediaOnline.org president and former VOA acting associate director, the BBG staff won’t allow VOA Russian radio programs to be aired in Moscow because it wants to protect the interests of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. “This action seriously damages the ability of the American people to communicate with the people in Russia. It also undermines America’s support for media freedom,” Lipien said.

Most of Radio Liberty reporters, who under the BBG plan would be the only producers of U.S. radio programming in the Russian language, are Russian citizens working and living with their families in Russia. Ted Lipien said that in light of the Kremlin’s crackdown on the media what RFE/RL employees need most is protection from the Russian secret police and are in no position to  replace VOA in presenting American news and opinions to radio listeners in Russia. Lipien called the BBG’s decision to block the use of the AM frequency in Moscow for VOA Russian programs ”one of the most blatant acts of bureaucratic selfishness and a foreign policy blunder that rewards Mr. Putin.” 

Broadcasting Board of Governors Staff Still Works Hard to Make Voice of America Radio Unavailable in Russia and Ukraine but VOA is Fighting Back

 FreeMediaOnline.org & Free Media Online Blog Commentary by Ted Lipien, September 22, 2008, San Francisco – The Broadcasting Board of Governors staff led by the BBG executive director Jeff Trimble touts its new program delivery strategy for the Voice of America in Russia as a “New Media” solution using the Internet. Their hidden objective, however, has been to eliminate VOA Russian radio not only from the still available AM frequency leased in Moscow (810kHz) but to eliminate VOA radio production in Russian entirely, even from the Web. So far, they have been successful. They  are causing tremendous harm to U.S. public diplomacy abroad and wasting American taxpayers’ money, but at least for now they have achieved their bureaucratic goal of silencing VOA radio in Russia.  

Since July 26, there is no longer any VOA Russian radio program that the U.S. government could put on the AM frequency in Moscow, on shortwave, or even on the Web.  Yet, the VOA Russian Service still employs the same number of radio broadcasters as it did before Mr. Trimble came to the BBG from Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), where he was the station’s acting president. And the American taxpayers still pay for the AM frequency in Moscow and the salaries of the now underemployed VOA  Russian staffers.

The Russian government may very well soon decide to take away all AM Moscow frequencies from Western international broadcasters, including BBC, DW, RFE/RL, RFI, and VOA. If that happens, the Voice of America would still be unable to reach radio listeners in Russia with any substantive radio programming either on shortwave or on the Web unless the current policy formulated by the BBG staff is rejected as dangerous and wasteful and replaced with policies designed to promote media freedom.

But taking away Russian radio programming from VOA is exactly what the BBG executive director wanted to accomplish despite strong opposition in the U.S. Congress. What the BBG members who relied on his advice did not know was that Russia would launch a military attack on Georgia just 12 days after they took VOA Russian radio programs off the air. They also agreed to end VOA radio broadcasts to Georgia and Ukraine. Only one BBG member was said to have voted against this plan.

Jeff Trimble’s ultimate objective was to secure the position of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty as the only U.S.-funded Russian-language radio station. He was determined to carry out his plan despite serious concerns voiced by media freedom and human rights organizations that RFE/RL staff in Russia is being intimidated by the Kremlin’s secret police and gives extensive airtime to racist politicians who verbally attack immigrants and ethnic minorities. It would be interesting to know whether the Board’s chief advisor shared these concerns with the BBG members, but such information is difficult to come by since the BBG likes to conduct its meetings in great secrecy.

As of now, the BBG executive director is still the most incredible winner by any Washington standards of bureaucratic maneuvering. He managed to eliminate VOA radio broadcasts from Washington to one of the most important world powers despite the overwhelming opposition to this move among the members of Congress of both parties. He received help, however, from the Senate staff of Senator Joe Biden because the semi-private Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty is incorporated in Delaware and Senator Biden’s former chief of staff, Ted Kaufman, serves on the Broadcasting Board of Governors in addition to helping the senator with his vice presidential campaign.

The victims of this incredible bureaucratic cabal are the Russian people, U.S. public diplomacy, the U.S. taxpayers, the U.S. Congress,  VOA Russian broadcasters, and — ironically — the BBG members themselves who have been embarrassed by their decisions to terminate VOA radio broadcasts to Russia, Georgia, and Ukraine. These decisions were made on the basis of political and media analysis from the BBG staff just as Mr. Putin was deciding to combine his suppression of media freedom at home with a military adventure abroad.  Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, which is based in Prague and Moscow, has also suffered because of the cover up of its serious security and programming problems in Russia that require immediate attention.

One of the many casualties of the BBG policies in the VOA Russian Service is a distinguished broadcaster Inna Dubinsky. She had a successful hour-long radio program, on which she interviewed Russian human rights activists and American experts and accepted calls from listeners and radio stations from all over the former Soviet Union. The BBG cancelled her program  as part of the dismantling of VOA Russian radio broadcasts. The current VOA website shows only 10 minutes of daily radio interviews, some of which are still conducted by Ms. Dubinsky, but the link for listening to them does not work (Sept. 22, 2008). Ms. Dubinsky desperately wants to offer radio and Web listeners in Russia a complete listener-interactive program of discussion and political analysis but was told that the BBG staff considers such requests as “a non starter.” Of the regularly scheduled TV programs now listed on the VOA Russian website, some are also to be soon eliminated, leaving even more VOA Russian broadcasters underemployed and completely demoralized.

With the political and media landscape in Russia collapsing under Mr. Trimble’s feet after the Russian attack on Georgia, having VOA radio programs produced from the safety of Washington, D.C. by American-trained journalists who have a first-hand knowledge of U.S. foreign policy and American society is still too much of a  bureaucratic threat for the BBG executive director. But the Voice of America and its director Dan Austin may have started to fight back against Mr. Trimble’s influence over the BBG. FreeMediaOnline.org has learned that Dan Austin is asking the BBG to suspend the planned termination of VOA Ukrainian radio programs at least until December.

It’s hard to predict how the BBG staff will try to stop this request, but keeping VOA radio out of Russia appears far more important to the BBG executive director than VOA radio broadcasts to Ukraine. As of now, the VOA Russian Service staff is still prevented from resuming their full time work. They are in complete shock from the treatment they received from the  BBG staff and are rapidly losing hope that the Board will show some common sense and some appreciation of what is happening in Russia.

These Voice of America broadcasters based in the U.S. see no reason why they should not be allowed to produce radio programs that could be placed on the AM frequency in the Russian capital and broadcast over the Internet and on shortwave. They know that they can be more independent and show more journalistic courage than journalists who live and work in Russia under the watchful eye of Mr. Putin’s secret police. They feel that the BBG policy is especially appalling since the people in Russia are subjected to the ever increasing media censorship and nationalistic propaganda, which finds its way even onto the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty broadcasts originating in Moscow and Prague. They don’t understand why their American radio programs in Russian should be silenced.

Broadcasting Board of Governors Shows Bipartisan Unity in Jamming Voice of America Radio in Russia

 FreeMediaOnline.org & Free Media Online Blog September 19, 2006, San Francisco — Both Republicans and Democrats on the Broadcasting Board of Governors showed remarkable bipartisanship in destroying Voice of America  Russian-language radio in late July, shortly before Russia attacked Georgia. BBG executive director Jeffrey Trimble then advised VOA to pursue Internet-only strategy in Russia. But this former Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty manager did not have the same advice for the semi-private broadcaster based in Moscow and Prague. RFE/RL has been so afraid to lose its Moscow bureau that its managers practice self-censorship and express confidence in Mr. Putin’s leadership. Trimble made sure, however, that while VOA would do nothing but the Internet, RFE/RL would continue radio broadcasts, their Internet presence, and even video production in Russian.

The attack on Georgia did not change the BBG’s plans for VOA in Russia. Granted, in the aftermath of the Russian military attack, the BBG sponsored a workshop designed to show that the Internet is subject to censorship and sabotage from authoritarian regimes. But apparently, the threat is not so great as to prevent their desire to limit the Voice of America to nothing but an Internet-only option in Russia.

Having destroyed VOA radio in Russia, they still somehow managed to get Under Secretary of State Paula J. Dobriansky to address their Internet censorship workshop. (I wonder if she knows that Governor Steven J. Simmons, who introduced her at the workshop, had voted earlier with most of his BBG coleagues to terminate VOA radio broadcasts to Ukraine.)

When the BBG members met the next day, September 11, they rejected an appeal from Governor Blanquita Cullum to resume VOA radio to Russia and to rescind permanently their decision to end VOA radio broadcasts to Ukraine and Georgia. (VOA Georgian radio will continue “for the foreseeable future,” according to a BBG press release, but their intention of eventually terminating VOA radio in Georgia apparently has not changed.)

You can view here our online presentationon the BBG’s actions in Russia.

Wrong Time to Give Up Voice of America Broadcasts to India

THIS POST CAN BE REPUBLISHED with attribution to FreeMediaOnline.org.

 FreeMediaOnline.org & Free Media Online Blog September 16, 2006, San Francisco — In a show of bipartisanship, two powerful members of Congress sent a letter to the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) demanding that the BBG reverse its decision to terminate Voice of America (VOA) radio programs in Hindi to India. The BBG is a bipartisan body which manages VOA and several other taxpayer-funded U.S. international broadcasters.

The two Co-Chairmen of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans, Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA) and Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC), stressed in their letter to the BBG that over 70% of the Indian population lives in rural villages, many with no access to TV or the Internet. They expressed surprise that the BBG wants to terminate VOA  Hindi radio at the time when the United States is expanding its strategic partnership with India. They asked the BBG to allow VOA Hindi radio broadcasts to continue.

Chances are slim, however, that the Broadcasting Board of Governors will reverse its decision on India or other countries, to which VOA programs have been terminated or will soon cease, unless the whole Congress acts to force the Board to give up these programming cuts.

Unfortunately for radio listeners in India and concerned Indian Americans, the BBG enjoys strong support on this issue from Senator Joe Biden, Jr. (D-DE), Senator Barak Obama’s vice presidential running mate and a powerful member of the U.S. Senate.

Edward “Ted” E. Kaufman, Senator Biden’s former chief of staff who now works on his vice presidential campaign, blocked attempts last week to resume Voice of America (VOA) radio programs to Russia and other countries, including India. As a Democratic member of the BBG, Ted Kaufman was responsible earlier with other Democrats and some Republican members for terminating VOA Russian-language broadcasts just 12 days before Russia attacked Georgia on August 8. He had also voted for ending VOA broadcasts to India and a number of other countries, including Georgia.

Last week, a Republican BBG member, radio journalist Blanquita Cullum, had requested a vote on resuming VOA broadcasts in Russian and suspending plans to stop broadcasts to other countries. India was one of the countries named in Cullum’s proposal. Ted Kaufman was one of the key BBG members who refused to put the proposal to a vote, rejecting arguments that the earlier decision to terminate the broadcasts was wrong and that their resumption would send a strong message to Mr. Putin.

Ted Kaufman and others on Senator Biden’s staff  seem to be hoping that the mainstream media will not pay attention to this issue during the presidential election campaign, thus allowing them to play politics with U.S. international broadcasting to the benefit of the senator’s constituents and longtime friends.

Taking away radio broadcasting to Russia from VOA benefits another BBG-managed broadcaster,  semi-private Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), which is incorporated in Delaware, Senator Biden’s home state.

Senator Biden has been a strong supporter of his billionaire backer Norman Pattiz. Founder and chairman of media empire Westwood One, Pattiz had served on the BBG from May 2006 until March 2006. He pushed for the elimination of many Voice of America services to fund his news and entertainment broadcasting projects for the Middle East: Radio Sawa and Alhurra Television, which have attracted much controversy.

Even after Norman Pattiz resigned from the Board in March 2006, Senator Biden’s former chief of staff continued to vote for eliminating or reducing VOA radio broadcasts to India, Russia, Tibet and other countries while supporting expanding broadcasts to the Middle East, Pakistan, and Afghanistan.

Indian Americans and other supporters of U.S. international broadcasting and media freedom can contact Ted Kaufman through the BBG executive director Jeff Trimble: jtrimble@ibb.gov. 330 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20237, Tel: (202) 203-4400, Fax: (202) 203-4585.

Send a copy of your email to the BBG Public Affairs officer Tish King, publicaffairs@bbg.gov, and request specifically that it be forwarded to Mr. Kaufman.

You may also wish to contact the Obama-Biden campaign staff, Tel. (866) 675-2008, and the Senate offices of  Senator Biden, Tel: (202) 224-5042 Fax: (202) 224-0139, and Senator Obama, Tel: (202) 224-2854 Fax: (202) 228-4260.

THIS POST CAN BE REPUBLISHED with attribution to FreeMediaOnline.org.

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It’s Politics As Usual in Dealing with Mr. Putin for Senator Biden and His Top Aide

 FreeMediaOnline.org & Free Media Online Blog September 15, 2006, San Francisco — A top aide to Senator Biden has sent a message to Mr. Putin that politics can be placed ahead of human rights and media freedom if there is little risk of a public outcry.  Edward “Ted” E. Kaufman, Senator Biden’s former chief of staff who now works on his vice presidential campaign, blocked attempts last week to resume Voice of America (VOA) radio programs to Russia. As a Democratic member of the bipartisan Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), which  manages VOA, Ted Kaufman was responsible earlier with other Democrats and some Republican members for terminating VOA Russian-language broadcasts just 12 days before Russia attacked Georgia on August 8. He had also voted for ending VOA broadcasts to Georgia, which the BBG later allowed to continue temporarily.

Last week, a Republican BBG member, radio journalist Blanquita Cullum, had requested a vote on resuming VOA broadcasts in Russian and suspending plans to stop broadcasts to other countries, including Georgia and Ukraine. Ted Kaufman was one of the BBG members who refused to put the proposal to a vote, rejecting arguments that the earlier decision to terminate the broadcasts was wrong and that their resumption would send a strong message to Mr. Putin.

Ted Kaufman and others on Senator Biden’s staff  seem to be hoping that the mainstream media will not pay attention to this issue during the presidential election campaign, thus allowing them to play politics with U.S. international broadcasting to the benefit of the senator’s constituents and longtime friends.  Taking away radio broadcasting to Russia from VOA benefits another BBG-managed broadcaster,  semi-private Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), which is incorporated in Delaware, Senator Biden’s home state.

Many other members of Congress of both parties, including Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK), have been strongly opposed to cutting VOA radio broadcasts to Russia, but Senator Biden’s staff was said to have worked with Ted Kaufman and the BBG  staff on quietly implementing the cut before others in Congress could stop it.

In addition to his role on the BBG, Ted Kaufman is also president of Public Strategies, a political and management consulting firm based in Wilmington, Delaware. He is a trustee of Christiana Care Corporation and a member of the Board of Directors of Children and Families First. He worked in various technical, financial, and marketing positions with the DuPont Company. Ted Kaufman appeared in a recent CNN profile of Senator Joseph R. Biden, Jr.

In trying to help RFE/RL at the expense of VOA, Kaufman and members of Senator Biden’s staff  have ignored warnings that RFE/RL has lost much of its previous independence and effectiveness it had during the Cold War when it was based in Munich, West Germany. Most of  RFE/RL Russian broadcasters now live in Russia with their families. According to media freedom nonprofit FreeMediaOnline.org, RFE/RL journalists in Russia are closely monitored and subject to intimidation by Mr. Putin’s secret police. FreeMediaOnline.org also reported that several years ago the RFE/RL management in Moscow and Prague demanded that stations in Russia rebroadcasting their programs register with the Russian authorities. This action, apparently taken to protect the status of RFE/RL’s Moscow bureau, helped the security services to move faster in tracking down RFE/RL and VOA affiliates and forcing them to stop rebroadcasts of Western news programs.

In a sign that the secret police intimidation is working, the head of RFE/RL Moscow bureau expressed confidence in the common sense of the current Russian leadership and the head of RFE/RL Russian service in Prague said that the future of RFE/RL in Russia looks good. These statements were made in late 2006 shortly after the brutal murder of independent Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya. Many former and current VOA journalists viewed these comments by RFE/RL managers as offensive to the memory of the slain Russian journalist, as did human rights activists in Russia. Earlier this year,  a Moscow-based human rights organization criticized RFE/RL for giving extensive airtime to an extremist Russian politician known for his racist and anti-immigrant views.

Voice of America broadcasters, who are based in Washington, D.C.,  are seen as far less vulnerable to intimidation that could limit their criticism of  Mr. Putin.  Senator Biden’s staff’s role in terminating VOA radio broadcasts to Russia is likely to be well received in Moscow as a sign that business as usual would be possible with the Obama-Biden administration.  U.S. international broadcasting plays an important role in explaining America to the world and in helping to overcome press censorship in many countries but is not high on the agenda for most Americans — something Ted Kaufman may have counted on in blocking the resumption of VOA radio news broadcasts to Russia. Mainstream U.S. media has not reported on this story.

Model Interactive Website Touted As Replacement for Voice of America Radio to Russia Attracts No Comments from Users

 FreeMediaOnline.org & Free Media Online Blog Commentary by Ted Lipien. September 12, 2008, San Francisco — The model website, which the staff of the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) says will be used to create a new interactive platform as replacement for broadcasting VOA radio programs to Russia, has solicited no comments from international users despite being up for a few weeks.  All VOA radio broadcasts to Russia were terminated on orders from the BBG on July 26. 12 days later Russia attacked Georgia.

FreeMediaOnline.org has obtained a copy of the “VOA Russian Options Paper,”  which claims that VOA Russian Service can have a successful Internet-only presence in Russia. This claim is astounding since no other major government broadcaster has dropped its radio programs and opted for Internet-only strategy in targeting an audience of another world power ruled by an authoritarian government. Prime Minister Putin’s government controls most of the domestic media and limits free speech. Its security services have been accused of sabotaging the Internet during the war in Georgia.

 The “VOA Russian Options Paper” is remarkable not only for its naive political assumptions, such as using Russian companies believed to be run by the Russian security services in charge of monitoring the Internet. The proposal is also remarkable for its underlying claim that the Voice of America cannot have both radio and Internet presence in Russia at the same time because there is no money for both. The BBG bureaucrats have discovered what nobody else knows: rather than being an engine for improving efficiency and providing an inexpensive forum for exchanging information, the Internet at the BBG can be just as expensive, if not more expensive than traditional broadcast media. 

For those like me who have worked in government, the BBG paper is a clear indication that the project would be vastly overpriced, duplicating already existing Internet initiatives, and designed largely for the benefit of government contractors. It does not answer the essential question why for a country that desperately needs uncensored American news and opinions, Internet-only strategy is better than radio-TV-and-Internet strategy. Some people may be fooled that it is all about the money when in fact it is all about bureaucratic politics, conflicts of interest, and well-paid government consultants.

A good indication of how this project might work, or rather how it will fail if the BBG staff remains in charge of its implementation, is the Voice of America’s new USAVotes2008.com interactive website. This is how it was touted in the BBG paper:

VOA Model
The site [new VOA Russian interactive site] would be modeled on VOA’s content-rich election Web site, USAVotes2008.com.  USAVotes2008.com provides a platform for social networking about the American election in November.

FreeMediaOnline.org has learned that the model site cost tens of thousands of dollars to develop. Users are encouraged to go to the “Issues” page and leave their comments. The page has been up for a few weeks with no comments from users even though it can be read by anybody in the world with access to the Internet who understands English. Readers of Free Media Online Blog may want to leave some comments on the model VOA site to spare the BBG and the U.S. government any further embarrassment. (Sorry, I could not resist making this comment.)

The great tragedy is, of course, that VOA radio broadcasts to Russia have been terminated at a critical time, as the recent events in Georgia have demonstrated. But on Thursday, when they had a chance to redeem themselves before Congress and the American public, several members of the Broadcasting Board of Governors refused to take a vote to restore these broadcasts, as well VOA radio programs to Georgia, Ukraine and other countries, which are also to be terminated.

These prominent Americans may have been too busy admiring their own new and flashy promotional website with a Home page picture of Buddhist monks, but  which has no permanent references to the BBG mission in support of human rights and democracy. The picture is ironic, because the BBG had tried earlier to reduce VOA and Radio Free Asia (RFA) broadcasts to Tibet. They had to back down after a group of Tibetan monks staged a peaceful protest on Capital Hill and the U.S. Congress forced the Board to rescind their decision.

According to FreeMediaOnline.org sources, during the BBG meeting in Washington, D.C. on Thursday, two Democratic Board members: Jeff Hirschberg and Edward Kaufman blocked the motion to have a vote on restoring VOA broadcasts, which was introduced by a Republican member, radio broadcaster Blanquita Cullum, the only working journalist on the current Board. (The others are political operatives and businessmen, and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is an ex officio member.) Faced with the opposition from Hirschberg, Kaufman, and the BBG executive director Jeff Trimble, the remaining BBG members did not support Cullum’s request.

The Internet-only VOA project for Russia is spectacularly risky and depends strongly on the acquiescence of the Putin government. It guarantees that American news from Washington would not reach people in areas of conflict and poverty who have no access to the Internet.

This elitist, cynical and arrogant approach to international broadcasting taken by the BBG was indirectly exposed in a recent letter from the two Co-Chairmen of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans, Rep. Jim McDermott and Rep. Joe Wilson, who protested against the planned termination of VOA Hindi radio service to India. They stressed in their letter to the BBG that  over 70% of the Indian population lives in rural villages, many with no access to TV or the Internet.

Despite the serious risks and limitations of their plan, Hirschberg, Kaufman and Trimble are said to favor the Internet-only strategy for VOA in Russia largely because it serves their personal preferences and bureaucratic needs. They want all radio broadcasting to Russia to be done exclusively by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), a semi-private entity based in Prague and in Moscow, which is also funded by Congress through the BBG.

These three individuals all have strong personal or political links to this radio station, which has been steeped lately in controversy about its ability to maintain independence and support for democratic values while operating within a close reach of Russia’s security services. Human rights groups and media freedom activists have criticized RFE/RL for airing comments expressing confidence in Mr. Putin’s leadership and for giving airtime to local extremist politicians known for their racist views.

The BBG has already deprived the United States of the powerful symbol represented by VOA radio broadcasts to Russia from the nation’s capital, the center of the American government. Mr. Putin and other Russian officials are not likely to pay any attention to a website they can easily block if a major crisis erupted between the two countries. As to the Internet-only strategy, the example of the Voice of America USAVotes2008.com model website also does not bode well at all for the prospect of reaching large audiences in Russia with news and persuasive American commentary that is untainted by self-censorship and racist messages.

The BBG staff should have noted that Mr. Putin did not bother to go after such websites in Russia because he does not view them as threatening. He did go, however, after independent radio and TV stations and silenced many independent journalists. At least 292 journalists have been killed or have disappeared in Russia since 1990 with very few perpetrators being charged. In any case, the secret police is already sabotaging the Internet and can close down access to unwanted websites at any time.

Russian speakers in Russia and elsewhere already have access to a number of U.S. government  sponsored websites, which to a large extent duplicate each other’s work. The State Department’s Russian-language website has much of the same information and looks largely the same as the VOA website. One could suspect that both were designed by the same well-paid  outside consultant. There is also the RFE/RL Russian-language website.

The main reason behind the BBG initiative was not to develop yet another VOA Russian website but to deprive the Voice of America of the ability to reach the Russian people with on air radio that cannot be easily igored or completely jammed. We can only speculate why this insane plan succeeded, but the links between Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Senator Biden are well known, and his staff is said to have helped Jeff Trimble take VOA radio off the air in great secrecy in late July so that other members of Congress would not be alerted. Governor Kaufman was a former chief of staff to Senator Biden and is now helping him in his run for the White House. There are then business links between Governor Hirschberg and Russia and his contacts with Mr. Putin’s associates, as well as Jeff Trimble’s own links with RFE/RL and the Russian management of RFE/RL’s Moscow bureau.

But in addition to any larger political and bureaucratic reasons, it is almost certain that most of the money from dropping VOA radio programs would be spent not on  VOA Russian broadcasters but on BBG managers and inside Internet specialists, as well as outside consultants who are probably friends and acquaintances of BBG members and their staff. After all, one of the former BBG members — said to be the most recent BBG chairman James Glassman who is now Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs – had suggested that the Board should hire former ABC and CNN television newscaster Paula Zahn as their public relations guru. She had good sense to turn them down.

Congress should likewise refuse to accept the BBG’s termination of VOA radio programs to Russia, Georgia, Ukraine and other countries. VOA must expand its Internet outreach in Russia, but the BBG’s Internet-only strategy will not have any greater impact than the struggling USAVotes2008.com website.

This VOA model website developed under the guidance of the BBG staff is still waiting for you to post your first user comments. Go ahead and do it, but please note that you are a supporter of resuming VOA radio to Russia and to other countries without free media.

Broadcasting Board of Governors Refuses to Vote on Restoring Voice of America Radio to Russia

 FreeMediaOnline.org & Free Media Online Blog, September 11, 2006, San Francisco — FreeMediaOnline.org has learned that several members of the Broadcasting Board of Governors refused to take a vote Thursday to restore Voice of America radio programs to Russia, Georgia, Ukraine and other countries. VOA radio to Russia was shut down by the BBG on July 26, just 12 days before Russian troops attacked Georgia. At least two of the Democratic members of the BBG are strongly opposed to the restoration of VOA programs to Eurasia but tried to avoid having their opposition documented with a vote. The BBG executive director Jeff Trimble had tried earlier to prevent the proposal for a vote from being introduced. 

According to FreeMediaOnline.org sources, during the BBG meeting in Washington, D.C. on Thursday, two Democratic Board members: Jeff Hirschberg and Edward Kaufman blocked the motion to have a vote, which was introduced by a Republican member, radio broadcaster Blanquita Cullum. Faced with the opposition from Hirschberg and Kaufman, the remaining BBG members did not support Cullum’s request.

The two Democratic members rejected Cullum’s arguments that there is urgent need not only for restoring but  also enhancing VOA radio broadcasting to Russia, Georgia, and Ukraine. Supported by their budget director Janet Stormes, they countered that the BBG could not afford to pay for Cullum’s initiative, calling it irresponsible. Both were dismissive of the argument made at the Thursday meeting that the resumption of radio broadcasts would send a message to Mr. Putin, letting him know that the U.S. will not abandon its support for free media.

Hirschberg and Kaufman are said to favor several expensive but highly questionable Internet projects, which depend strongly for their success on the acquiescence of the Putin government. FreeMediaOnline.org has obtained a copy of the “VOA Russian Options Paper” focusing on the Internet and plans to review it. A quick reading by an expert with direct knowledge of Russian media and politics has revealed that the proposed project is vastly overpriced and based on a number of  highly questionable and politically naive assumptions.

Hirschberg, Kaufman, and Trimble also want all radio broadcasting to Russia to be done exclusively by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), a semi-private entity based in Prague and in Moscow. They all have strong personal or political links to the station, which has been steeped lately in controversy about its ability to maintain independence and support for democratic values while operating within a close reach of Russia’s security services. Human rights groups and media freedom activists have criticized RFE/RL for airing comments expressing confidence in Mr. Putin’s leadership and for giving airtime to local extremist politicians known for their racist views.

According to FreeMediaOnline.org sources, both Hirschberg and Kaufman were unmoved by Cullum’s arguments that Russia’s attack on Georgia requires the BBG to take extraordinary steps. She was quoted as saying that recent events have proven that the BBG was completely misguided in approving the termination of VOA Russian, Georgian, Ukrainian and  other programs. Cullum is said to be the only BBG member who has consistently opposed these cuts.

VOA director Dan Austin was said to have shown little concern about the BBG decision to take away from VOA radio broadcasting to a major world power. He was described as a weak leader who did not put up any fight when the original decision was made or during the most recent unsuccessful attempt by Blanquita Cullum to have it reversed.

According to FreeMediaOnline.org sources, Jeff Hirschberg, Edward Kaufman, and the BBG executive director Jeff Trimble worked closely over the summer with the Senate staff of Senator Joe Biden to quickly and quietly implement the shutting down of VOA radio to Russia in late July without alerting other members of Congress. Many in Congress have been strongly opposed to this move on national security grounds and see it as a blow to media freedom in Russia.  However, due to the skillful  bureaucratic maneuvering by Trimble, Hirschberg, and Kaufman, and the strong support from Senator Biden’s staff, other Republican and Democratic members of Congress have been unable this year to stop the BBG from eliminating Voice of America radio presence in Russia.

Hirschberg and Kaufman were also said to be unimpressed with arguments that the U.S. policy toward Moscow has changed after the Russian military attack on Georgia. Vice President Cheney visited both Georgia and Ukraine, and President Bush announced last week a $1 billion aid package to Georgia, but the White House has not been focusing on international broadcasting to areas other than the Middle East. It is not clear whether the White House wants to do anything or could do anything to force Hirschberg and Kaufman to restore VOA radio programs to Russia and other countries.

Ted Lipien, president of media freedom nonprofit FreeMediaOnline.org, who formerly served as Voice of America  acting associate director, pointed out that there appear to be clear conflicts of interest in how some of the Board members and their staff have been dealing with Russia. Lipien said that these conflicts of interest have contributed to depriving the United States of safe and journalistically sound Voice of America radio broadcasting to Russia from Washington, D.C. He also said that the same conflicts of interest have exposed Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty journalists working in Russia to intimidation by the secret police and Mr. Putin’s associates. Using the FSB security service agents, the Kremlin now monitors and controls nearly all broadcast media in that country.

The apparent conflicts of interest at the BBG are personal, bureaucratic, and political, according to Lipien, and have resulted in decisions, which Mr. Putin would highly approve of but which are harmful to American interests and U.S. public diplomacy.

Jeff Trimble is a former acting president of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), which would benefit from the shutting down of VOA Russian-language and Ukrainian-language programs. RFE/RL is incorporated in Senator Biden’s home state. Kaufman, was formerly Senator Biden’s chief of staff and is now helping him with his campaign in the run for the White House. D. Jeffrey Hirschberg, partner and managing director of Kalorama Partners, was Director of the US-Russian Investment Fund (appointment of President Clinton), Director of the US-Russia Business Council (ten years) and US-Russia Center for Entrepreneurship.

Jeff Trimble and Jeff Hirschberg had traveled in previous years to Russia, where they conducted negotiations with Russian officials and associates of President and now Prime Minister Putin. They reportedly discussed the status of RFE/RL large news bureau in Moscow, which still operates while most independent Russian broadcasters have been silenced.

The Moscow Human Rights Bureau, a pro-democracy NGO, has recently criticized Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty for giving extensive airtime to an extremist politician who is known for making racist comments about immigrants and other groups. Last year, shortly after the murder of independent Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya, the head of RFE/RL bureau in Moscow had  publicly expressed  her confidence in “the common sense of the Russian leadership.” Human rights activists criticized RFE/RL for airing these comments shortly after Politkovskaya’s brutal murder. In her reporting, Politkovskaya had been critical of Mr. Putin’s policies.

Lipien also said that while he was helping the BBG place VOA and RFE/RL programs on independent radio stations in Russia a few years ago, the Russian management of the RFE/RL bureau in Moscow tried to force these affiliates to reveal themselves to the Russian authorities and to register these rebroadcasts. They were supported by the RFE/RL’s top American managers in Prague. Many independent affiliates saw this as a cynical attempt by RFE/RL to assist the security services in tracking them down in order to protect their Moscow bureau. 

Ted Lipien has warned that Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty journalists working and living in Russia are subject to intimidation by the Russian secret police and that their  safety and their work has been put in  severe jeopardy by the Broadcasting Board of Governors. Lipien has called for immediate restoration of VOA Russian-language radio broadcasts as a matter of great urgency for U.S. national security and public diplomacy.