Edward E. Kaufman Archives

Cautious to a Fault: Solidarity with Reformers in Poland and Iran – Reagan’s Response in 1981 Markedly Different from Obama’s in 2009

By FreeMediaOnline June 25, 2009

FreeMediaOnline.org, Free Media Online Blog, GovoritAmerika.us, Commentary by Ted Lipien, June 26, 2009, San Francisco — Ronald Reagan’s strong response to the imposition of martial law against the independent Solidarity trade union in Poland in 1981 was distinctly different from President Barack Obama’s nuanced comments about the crackdown on demonstrators in Iran in the aftermath of the disputed Iranian presidential elections. While President Obama may have wanted to show his appreciation…

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In Search of A Smarter, More Cultured Approach to U.S. Public Diplomacy and Broadcasting in the Middle East

By FreeMediaOnline June 4, 2009

FreeMediaOnline.org, Free Media Online Blog, GovoritAmerika.us, Commentary by Ted Lipien, June 04, 2009, San Francisco — President Obama’s recent announcement of a new Global Engagement Directorate that will combine “diplomacy, communications, international development and assistance” was short on specifics how this new structure might change the focus of U.S. public diplomacy and broadcasting initiatives. That’s hardly surprising, considering that the White House has to deal with many other seemingly more pressing problems.…

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Broadcasting Board of Governors Misleads Congress in Its 2010 Budget Request, Hides Its Poor Management Record, and Plans to Terminate More Broadcasts

By BBGWatcher May 11, 2009

FreeMediaOnline.org & Free Media Online Blog, May 11, 2009, San Francisco — The Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), the federal agency responsible for managing U.S. international broadcasts made a number of misleading statements in its Fiscal Year 2010 Budget Request to the U.S. Congress. The BBG repeatedly states that the Voice of America (VOA) Russian service responded with “comprehensive coverage”…

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Alhurra… “Today” – KABOBfest

By BBGWatcher May 11, 2009

FreeMediaOnline.org & Free Media Online Blog, May 11, 2009, San Francisco — What viewers are subjected to during Alhurra’s version of primetime are three hours of mindless chatter interspersed with shallow assessments of selected current events and random feature stories (some of which are marginally entertaining). There is no depth in the news coverage, nor in the rest of the…

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WILL AMERICA’S VOICE STAY SILENCED? – Understanding Government – understandinggov.org

By BBGWatcher May 7, 2009

FreeMediaOnline.org & Free Media Online Blog, May 8, 2009, San Francisco — Understanding Government website — undestandinggov.org — has published an in-depth report on the management crisis at the Voice of America (VOA) and the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), which runs U.S. international broadcasting operations. The report refers to the work of FreeMediaOnline.org and GovoritAmerika.us in support of independent journalism in media-at-risk countries. WILL…

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A Sense of Betrayal Propels A Journalist to Seek Help from the European Human Rights Court Against the U.S. Broadcasting Board of Governors

By BBGWatcher April 15, 2009

FreeMediaOnline.org & Free Media Online Blog, Commentary by Ted Lipien, April 15, 2009, San Francisco — When Anna Karapetian, an Armenian-born journalist, accepted a job offer in 1995 from Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), a U.S. government-funded radio station that promotes democracy and the rule of law mostly in the countries of the former Soviet Union, she could not have imagined that nearly 15…

History

America’s Silenced Voice Abroad – A Journalist Remembers the Broadcasting Board of Governors Early Moves to Outsource Voice of America International Programs to Private Contractors

By FreeMediaOnline March 25, 2009

Miro Dobrovodsky passed away on July 23, 2009. FreeMediaOnline.org & Free Media Online Blog Commentary by Ted Lipien, March 25, 2009, San Francisco — Miro Dobrovodsky, one of the best journalists who came to the U.S. from Central and Eastern Europe during the Cold War to escape media censorship in their native countries, sent me an email pointing out that the process of silencing the Voice of America…

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Senator Lugar is right about past U.S. public diplomacy mistakes

By BBGWatcher March 4, 2009

FreeMediaOnline.org & Free Media Online Blog Commentary by Ted Lipien, March 4, 2009, San Francisco Senator Richard Lugar is right about past mistakes that had crippled U.S. public diplomacy, but new actions by the U.S. Broadcasting Board of Governors also continue to silence America’s voice abroad Closed Down American Centers and Crippled Voice of America In an insightful and candid article posted on the Foreign Policy magazine blog,…

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What? – No Voice of America in Arabic? – President Obama and U.S. Broadcasting in the Middle East

By BBGWatcher January 29, 2009

FreeMediaOnline.org & Free Media Online Blog, January 29, 2009, San Francisco — President Obama may have been surprised to find out that the Voice of America, which Secretary of State Hillary Clinton described as largely responsible for “telling America’s story” to the world, no longer has programs in Arabic of any kind due to actions taken by the Bush Administration and…

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Armenian Journalist Hopes Obama Administration Will Protect Foreign Workers Rights at RFE/RL

By BBGWatcher January 22, 2009

Anna Karapetian, a journalist from Armenia who in radio broadcasts funded by the U.S. government reported on human rights abuses in her country, is one of many people around the world who see Barack Obama’s inauguration as a hopeful beginning of a new era of change in Washington. Ms. Karapetian hopes that with Mr. Obama’s strong commitment to protecting workers’ rights, the new administration will…

Public Diplomacy 2.0 or Propaganda Museum Exhibits

By BBGWatcher January 14, 2009

FreeMediaOnline.org & Free Media Online Blog Commentary by Ted Lipien, January 13, 2009, San Francisco — State Department videos embarrass the U.S. among audiences abroad while the Department’s top promoter of Public Diplomacy 2.0 pushes to eliminate Voice of America radio journalism in favor of TV and Internet propaganda advertising and broadcasting based on Cold War models. While I was an elementary school…

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U.S. Broadcasting Board of Governors Silenced Voice of America Radio in Ukraine One Day Before Russia Halted Gas Supplies to Europe

By BBGWatcher January 7, 2009

U.S. Broadcasting Board of Governors Silenced Voice of America Radio in Ukraine One Day Before Russia Halted Gas Supplies to Europe FreeMediaOnline.org & Free Media Online Blog, January 7, 2009, San Francisco — In yet another show of incredibly poor judgement combined with bad timing and ulterior bureaucratic motives resulting in a major waste of U.S. tax dollars, the Broadcasting Board of…

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Radio Free Europe or Radio Free Putin?

By BBGWatcher December 30, 2008

Did BBG End U.S. Surrogate Broadcasting in Russia on Radio Liberty in an Attempt to Appease Mr. Putin and Pursue Its Marketing Strategy? FreeMediaOnline.org & Free Media Online Blog, December 30, 2008, San Francisco — FreeMediaOnline.org has been reporting in recent months on the intimidation of Radio Liberty (Radio Svoboda) journalists in Russia and the unwillingness of the Broadcasting Board of Governors…

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The Obama Administration Has No Need for Private U.S. Propaganda Radio and TV

By BBGWatcher December 16, 2008

FreeMediaOnline.org & Free Media Online Blog Commentary by Ted Lipien, December 16, 2008, San Francisco — In The Huffington Post article, “Alhurra TV: Uncle Sam’s Boondoggle” Dr. Nancy Snow has pointed out a number of serious problems with the U.S. government-funded Alhurra Arabic-language television program for the Middle East and the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), which manages Alhurra. Dr. Snow, an Associate Professor of Public Diplomacy…

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Failure of Privatizing U.S. Image Abroad: White House Publishes Self-Serving But Questionable Claims from the Broadcasting Board of Governors

By BBGWatcher December 11, 2008

FreeMediaOnline.org & Free Media Online Blog Commentary by Ted Lipien, December 11, 2008, San Francisco — The Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), which manages U.S. government-funded broadcasts for overseas audiences, has launched a campaign to defend its strategy of privatizing and outsourcing public diplomacy efforts, which it claims is designed to improve America’s image abroad using advertising and other private sector solutions. Nearly everyone…

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