“There’s great affection from the American people for the people of Poland.” – Vice President George H.W. Bush, September 24, 1987 Voice of America correspondent Wayne Corey and VOA Polish Service director Ted Lipien recorded the interview at the White House on September 24, 1987 shortly before Vice President George H.W. Bush left on his trip to Poland. The…
Vice President George H.W. Bush began a four-day visit to Poland on Saturday, September 26, 1987. His visit facilitated talks between Solidarity and the communist regime and eventual peaceful fall of communism in Poland. I interviewed Vice President Bush at the White House before the trip and accompanied him as Voice of America Polish Service correspondent. I filed this report…
In 1982, the United States International Communication Agency (USICA), earlier and later called the United States Information Agency (USIA), published a booklet “Poland: A Season of Light, and of Darkness,” to complement its “Let Poland Be Poland” television film produced by the agency as a response of the Reagan Administration to the imposition of martial law in Poland by General…
Interweaving of Public Diplomacy and U.S. International Broadcasting A Historical Analysis by Ted Lipien Published in American Diplomacy, December 2011 Summary U.S. policy makers have used traditional diplomacy, public diplomacy and government-sponsored journalism to promote America’s interests and to influence public opinion abroad. On the journalistic side, the so-called surrogate radios: Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty – more independent…
As Poland prepares for next year’s 70th anniversary of the Warsaw Rising, I wanted to share Stefan Korboński‘s 1984 letter to The New York Times, in which the last chief of the Polish wartime underground State repeated President Ronald Reagan’s earlier statement that the United States rejects any interpretation of the Yalta agreement that suggests American consent for the division of…
On September 1, 2010, The Washington Times published my article about Zofia Korbońska, an anti-Nazi and anti-Communist resister and a Voice of America Polish Service journalist who had passed away on August 16, 2010.
A very good American diplomat, Steve Mull, was sworn in as the new U.S. Ambassador to my native country, Poland. He served in Poland during the Solidarity and martial law period when I was in charge of Voice of America Polish radio broadcasts. Ambassador Mull has a deep understanding of Poland and its history. He should make a very good…
This report was published first by CUSIB. In an article published in American Diplomacy, a quarterly electronic journal of commentary, analysis, and research on American foreign policy and its practice, the Committee for U.S. International Broadcasting (CUSIB) director Ted Lipien warns against diminished public stake in U.S. international broadcasting. Lipien, a former acting associate director of the Voice of America,…
Republished from the Committee for U.S. International Broadcasting (CUSIB) website: In an article published in American Diplomacy, a quarterly electronic journal of commentary, analysis, and research on American foreign policy and its practice, the Committee for U.S. International Broadcasting (CUSIB) director Ted Lipien warns against diminished public stake in U.S. international broadcasting. Lipien, a former acting associate director of the…
Radio of the Martial Law Thirty years ago, on December 13, 1981, General Wojciech Jaruzelski had declared martial law in Poland, imprisoning Lech Walesa and other Solidarity Trade Union leaders. The Polish communist rulers placed the country under a complete information blockout, but thanks to radio programs in Polish from the Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Europe (RFE)…