I got a call from one of my very reliable confidential sources inside the Cohen Building late this (Monday) afternoon.  Apparently, someone launched a major cyber attack against VOA websites.  The attack lasted for approximately five hours…roughly noontime to 5:00pm our time.
 
In place of VOA websites, what came up was the Iranian flag, wafting gently, with a list of the VOA web pages that we knocked out.  The message on the screen, in both English and Farsi, was to tell VOA to stop interfering in Iranian internal affairs.
 
Take note that the attack occurred on a Federal holiday.  They must have known or surmised that doing so would slow down the response time.

“…cyber police shut down numerous internet and social networking sites. Repressive actions have continued, including raids on opposition party offices, NGOs, individual residences of activists and journalists, and independent media outlets by police and the KGB. ”

http://www.csce.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=ContentRecords.ViewDetail&ContentRecord_id=482&Region_id=0&Issue_id=0&ContentType=G&ContentRecordType=G&CFID=46828589&CFTOKEN=23347244

“Based on periodic testing, ONI has detected sporadic but sophisticated blocking of Internet content, prompted by political events in the country, suggesting that the regime is inclined toward using second- and third-generation techniques.”

http://opennet.net/research/profiles/belarus

Our information for this article came from many highly-trusted sources, including other Voice of America journalists, the Committee to Protect Journalists, Global Voices, and other media freedom NGOs. They all reported problems with the Internet in Belarus during the elections, particularly with social media websites. They also reported sabotage of independent media and opposition websites.

We are happy to note your comment that the VOA Russian website was not among them most of the time. The Voice of America contacts did not know whether the VOA site was blocked in Belarus, but they did know that social media sites were blocked and that the number of people in Belarus with access to the Internet is small even under the best of circumstances. Our Voice of America contacts were particularly disappointed that VOA was not able to reach a wider audience through radio because the Broadcasting Board of Governors eliminated VOA Russian long-distance shortwave and medium wave radio broadcasts and delivery in 2008.

We know that after the BBG terminated the Voice of America Russian radio broadcasts and opted for the Internet-only delivery, VOA Russian Service audience decreased by 90 percent. We also know that during President Obama’s official visit to Russia, the Voice of America website was completely blocked for two full days and VOA reports from Moscow by a VOA reporter (we hope it was not you) could not be seen by anyone.

The 600+ percent increase in web traffic you mentioned can only be meaningful if you can tell us how many UNIQUE visitors per day from BELARUS to VOA Russian website you had prior to the elections in Belarus, how many UNIQUE visitors from Belarus per day you had during the elections, and how many unique visitors per day from Belarus you have now. Are you also sure that visitors to your site from Russia are not counted as coming from Belarus since most of the Internet traffic from Belarus goes through Russia?

Could you also share with us your data as to what percentage of people in Belarus have Internet access at home? We don’t believe, for example, that, considering the repressive nature of the regime in Minsk, government employees in Belarus can easily visit foreign news sites, except perhaps the Russian ones, while they are at work. But we would be happy to share with our site visitors whatever information you have on Internet use in Belarus. What percentage of the adult population has regular, daily full access to the Internet, not just email access? The hard work of the Voice of America Russian Service reporters deserves to be made accessible to a much wider audience using a multimedia program delivery strategy, which includes radio and satellite TV in addition to the Internet.

We would also like to know how many UNIQUE visitors per day (and per week) to VOA Russian website come from Russia.

Could you also share with us what your total UNDUPLICATED audience is in Belarus and Russia as a percentage of the total adult population of these countries and tell us how you measure it?

We hope that this information is not classified and you would be able to provide it.

Again, thank you very much for your comment and we hope that your news reports will soon securely reach a much larger audience both in Belarus and in Russia.

Ironically, communist regimes started out by trying to ignore outside criticism by the Voice of America, Radio Free Europe, Radio Liberty, BBC and other Western broadcasters, but eventually even they learned that restating — often inaccurately — and then countering such criticism made them appear somewhat more credible to their own population and the outside world. Jerzy Urban, who was a spokesman for the military regime of General Wojciech Jaruzelski, was a master of this tactic. The Voice of America as well as the Obama Administration specialists in public diplomacy at the State Department and the White House could learn a thing or two about media relations from Jerzy Urban or even from Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

In this particular report, VOA has reverted to the early communist period when the Soviet propaganda pretended that all is fine and beautiful in the socialist paradise and there are no critics worthy of being acknowledged.

Senator McCain (Senator Senator McCain Discusses “Realism about Russia: Power, Interests, and Values), Senator McConnell (A Flawed, Mishandled Treaty), Senator Jim DeMint (Why I May Filibuster New START) — they don’t count as sufficiently important to deserve a mention in this Voice of America yearend summary of U.S.-Russian relations. In fact, other than from one sentence about the vote count in the Senate, foreign audiences would not know that there is any controversy whatsoever with the issue of U.S.-Russian relations under President Obama.

Despite hundreds of millions of dollars being spent and wasted by the Broadcasting Board of Governors, this kind of reporting is not going to win audiences and make headlines around the world.

Excite and educate audiences abroad, it will not. How unfortunate and how boring.

Ted Lipien, Free Media Online (FreeMediaOnline.org)

Ironically, communist regimes started out by trying to ignore outside criticism by the Voice of America, Radio Free Europe, Radio Liberty, BBC and other Western broadcasters, but eventually even they learned that restating — often inaccurately — and then countering such criticism made them appear somewhat more credible to their own population and the outside world. Jerzy Urban, who was a spokesman for the military regime of General Wojciech Jaruzelski, was a master of this tactic. The Voice of America as well as the Obama Administration specialists in public diplomacy at the State Department and the White House could learn a thing or two about media relations from Jerzy Urban or even from Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

In this particular report, VOA has reverted to the early communist period when the Soviet propaganda pretended that all is fine and beautiful in the socialist paradise and there are no critics worthy of being acknowledged.

Senator McCain (Senator Senator McCain Discusses “Realism about Russia: Power, Interests, and Values), Senator McConnell (A Flawed, Mishandled Treaty), Senator Jim DeMint (Why I May Filibuster New START) — they don’t count as sufficiently important to deserve a mention in this Voice of America yearend summary of U.S.-Russian relations. In fact, other than from one sentence about the vote count in the Senate, foreign audiences would not know that there is any controversy whatsoever with the issue of U.S.-Russian relations under President Obama.

Despite hundreds of millions of dollars being spent and wasted by the Broadcasting Board of Governors, this kind of reporting is not going to win audiences and make headlines around the world.

Excite and educate audiences abroad, it will not. How unfortunate and how boring.

Ted Lipien, Free Media Online (FreeMediaOnline.org)

“Visits to the VOA Russian Service website rose dramatically in the aftermath of Sunday’s controversial election and the government’s suppression of dissent. More than 140,000 visits were recorded at the VOA site (http://www.voanews.com/russian/news/), which is posting eyewitness reports on a special “crowdsourcing map.”

The citizen journalist reports, received through email and social media sites like Twitter and Facebook, are carefully screened and verified by VOA journalists, who have sifted through thousands since last Friday.

VOA Director Danforth Austin says the Russian Service’s carefully planned use of “crowdsourcing” is a “textbook example of how citizen journalists can help VOA provide accurate first-hand coverage of an event and complement the work of our journalists in the field.” By using new media in a thoughtful way, Austin says, “We have been able to engage in a conversation with our audience and tell the world what they are saying and experiencing.”

Indeed, there was surge of visits to the Russian Service site during the elections, but it is a shameless exageration to say that “we have been able to engage in a conversation with our audience” when no Belorussian citizen was able to open our site or send us a note. Much of the surge has been achieved thanks to an agressive and expensive marketing campaign and placement of links to VOA’s Russian Service website and some materials to the most popular Russian media sites.
 
Striving to attract audience is a good intention, but it can’t be achieved by fudging the truth.