Русская служба Би-би-си существенно сократит количество радиопрограмм The Russian Service of the BBC, which provides news and information to Russian-speaking audiences not only in Russia but also in the Caucasus, Central Asia, Ukraine and the Baltic States, will end its on-air radio broadcasts as part of a budget cutting move. The BBC announcement was made shortly after the violent suppression…
FreeMediaOnline.org, September 8, 2010 –Thirty-two years ago this week, on September 7, 1978, Georgi Markov, a Bulgarian émigré journalist, who lived and worked in London, was assaulted in broad daylight on London’s Waterloo Bridge and later died. In February 2010, Time magazine ranked the murder of Georgi Markov at number 5 of the “top 10 assassination plots”, just below the…
Digital Journal, Featured, Highlights, International Broadcasting, RFE, RL, Russia, VOA
Op-Ed From Russia with Censorship | Digital Journal
By Ted Lipien
Published September 16, 2009 by Digital Journal
FreeMediaOnline.org, 
Free Media Online Blog, 
GovoritAmerika.us, Commentary by Ted Lipien, September 16, 2009
San Francisco — Censorship from Russia and China comes home to America in profit-oriented and staying-in-the-market-at-any-cost decisions by American businesses and sometimes even US government agencies, as FreeMediaOnline.org, a San Francisco-based media freedom nonprofit, has been documenting and reporting.
FreeMediaOnline.org & Free Media Online Blog, September 15, 2009, San Francisco — We have reported earlier that Radio Liberty’s Russian Service, Radio Svoboda, website had ignored for a number of days the news story of Conde Nast censorship of a critical article about Mr. Putin by Scott Anderson. The article was banned by Conde Nast executives in New York from the Russian edition of the GQ magazine in Russia and from GQ websites, including its American website.
After FreeMediaOnline.org published its report pointing out limited coverage by Russian websites of both Radio Liberty and the Voice of America, VOA, both broadcasting stations devoted a lot of attention to the GQ story, albeit several days after it had been first reported by NPR on September 4, and after independent bloggers in the US and in Russia had already translated
International Broadcasting, Russia
How Self-Censorship Works – Putin, GQ, and US Taxpayer-Supported Radio Liberty
Censorship and self-censorship have become a permanent feature of the media scene in Russia under Mr. Putin’s rule. Many Americans, however, were surprised last week that this kind of censorship with origins in Moscow has now reached corporate boardrooms in their own country and even put limits on news generated by US taxpayer supported Radio Liberty, which broadcasts to Russia.…
Cold War, International Broadcasting, Russia
The Murder of Georgi Markov: The Mystery Remains – Are Radio Liberty Journalists Now Safe?
Thirty-one years ago this week, on 7 September 1978, Georgi Markov, a Bulgarian émigré journalist who wrote for Radio Free Europe, BBC and Deutsche Welle, was assaulted in broad daylight on London’s Waterloo Bridge. Markov’s murder happened during the Cold War, but in more recent years the murder of Anna Politkovskaya and of numerous other journalists in Russia, as well…
Uncategorized
The Murder of Georgi Markov: The Mystery Remains – Are Radio Liberty Journalists Now Safe?
Thirty-one years ago this week, on 7 September 1978, Georgi Markov, a Bulgarian émigré journalist who wrote for Radio Free Europe, BBC and Deutsche Welle, was assaulted in broad daylight on London’s Waterloo Bridge. Markov’s murder happened during the Cold War, but in more recent years the murder of Anna Politkovskaya and of numerous other journalists in Russia, as well…
Uncategorized
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…
FreeMediaOnline.org & Free Media Online Blog, Commentary by Ted Lipien, September 8, 2008, San Francisco — A country like Russia either needs surrogate broadcasting or it doesn’t. Many countries, however, need balanced and objective news from the Voice of America that surrogate broadcasters living overseas are not trained to provide. If a country also needs a genuine surrogate broadcaster — as it is the case now with…
Bureaucratic Jamming Of U.S. Broadcasts To Russia, Georgia And Ukraine FreeMediaOnline.org & Free Media Online Blog, September 7, 2008, San Francisco — Political jamming originating in Washington rather than Soviet-style electronic jamming of radio signals made it impossible for the Russian speakers in the war zone in Georgia and in Russia itself to hear Voice of America (VOA) news broadcasts during the recent crisis…
Uncategorized
Health Inspectors Did Not Close Down Radio Liberty Affiliates in Russia, The Secret Police Did
FreeMediaOnline.org, August 25, 2008, San Francisco — Let me preface this post by saying that I’ve heard good things about Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty president Jeffrey Gedmin. According to my sources, he tries to ignore some of the more questionable directives from the Broadcasting Board of Governors and move the emphasis from the BBG-driven marketing focus back to content. But he has been doing this quietly and does not…
Religion
A New Book About Pope John Paul II and Feminism Also Deals with Cold War Spying at the Vatican and Attempts to Influence Reporting by RFE/RL and VOA
I included here more information about “Wojtyla’s Women,” my book on Pope John Paul II and feminism. In the book, I discuss at some length the attempts of the Polish communist secret police and the KGB to recruit agents among Pope John Paul II’s friends, as well as their attempts to influence the reporting of journalists working at Radio Free…
Wojtyla’s Women: How They Shaped the Life of Pope John Paul II and Changed the Catholic Church was cited in a news story I wrote about the shutting down of the Voice of America radio broadcasts to Russia just days before the Russian troops attacked Georgia. The Senate staff of Barak Obama’s vice-presidential running mate, Senator Joe Biden, was said…
Uncategorized
Broadcasting Board of Governors Says Voice of America Radio to Georgia Will Continue for Now, But Underlying Message to VOA Georgian Broadcasters: Keep Looking for Another Job
FreeMediaOnline.org, August 20, 2008, San Francisco — Listen to the last Voice of America radio broadcast to Russia The Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) stopped these VOA broadcasts from Washington on July 26, 2008, 12 days before Russia attacked Georgia. After Russia’s attack on Georgia, it took the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) days to say something about U.S. broadcasting to…