Russia Suppresses U.S.-Financed Radio Broadcasts
MOSCOW, July 7 — American-financed radio news broadcasts in Russia, a staple of the American government's outreach efforts since the cold war, have been sharply curtailed in recent months under legal pressure from the Russian government, according to Russian and American officials.
The pressure has knocked programs off the air in much of Russia, limiting the Russian-language news broadcasts of Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty almost entirely to Moscow and St. Petersburg. The suppression of the Western-financed news, which began last year weeks after a journalist for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty infuriated the Kremlin by interviewing Shamil Basayev, the Chechen terrorist leader, has been indirect but highly effective, officials said. Rather than confront the news services' operations directly, regulators from Russia's Ministry of Culture have audited the services' partners across the nation — the Russian radio stations that rebroadcast the programs as part of their formats. Note EU-Digest: Would Mr. Ben Laden be allowed to be interviewed on Prime-Time Network News in the US?
No comments:
Post a Comment