FreeMediaOnline.org & Free Media Online Blog September 24, 2008, San Francisco — A U.S. broadcaster is denied access to a radio frequency in the Russian capital. The censor in this case is not the Kremlin, as one might expect, but the U.S. government agency which manages U.S. taxpayer-funded international broadcasts. The Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) is preventing the Voice of America (VOA) from using…
FreeMediaOnline.org & Free Media Online Blog Commentary by Ted Lipien, September 22, 2008, San Francisco — The Broadcasting Board of Governors staff led by the BBG executive director Jeff Trimble touts its new program delivery strategy for the Voice of America in Russia as a “New Media” solution using the Internet. Their hidden objective, however, has been to eliminate VOA Russian radio not only from the still available…
FreeMediaOnline.org & Free Media Online Blog September 19, 2008, San Francisco — Both Republicans and Democrats on the Broadcasting Board of Governors showed remarkable bipartisanship in destroying Voice of America Russian-language radio in late July, shortly before Russia attacked Georgia. BBG executive director Jeffrey Trimble then advised VOA to pursue Internet-only strategy in Russia. But this former Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty manager did not have the same…
THIS POST CAN BE REPUBLISHED with attribution to FreeMediaOnline.org. FreeMediaOnline.org & Free Media Online Blog September 16, 2006, San Francisco — In a show of bipartisanship, two powerful members of Congress sent a letter to the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) demanding that the BBG reverse its decision to terminate Voice of America (VOA) radio programs in Hindi to India. The BBG is…
FreeMediaOnline.org & Free Media Online Blog September 15, 2006, San Francisco — A top aide to Senator Biden has sent a message to Mr. Putin that politics can be placed ahead of human rights and media freedom if there is little risk of a public outcry. Edward “Ted” E. Kaufman, Senator Biden’s former chief of staff who now works on his vice presidential campaign, blocked attempts last week to resume…
FreeMediaOnline.org & Free Media Online Blog Commentary by Ted Lipien. September 12, 2008, San Francisco — The model website, which the staff of the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) says will be used to create a new interactive platform as replacement for broadcasting VOA radio programs to Russia, has solicited no comments from international users despite being up for a few weeks. All VOA…
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, September 11, 2006, San Francisco — Sources at the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) have told FreeMediaOnline.org, a media freedom nonprofit, that at least one of the Board members, most likely Blanquita Cullum, has requested a formal vote Thursday on restoring the Voice of America radio broadcasts to Russia, Ukraine, and other countries. A source told FreeMediaOnline.org that BBG…
Ted Lipien, author of “Wojtyla’s Women: How They Shaped the Life of Pope John Paul II and Changed the Catholic Church,” said that Sarah Palin can be described as a new feminist Christian woman who has followed the most important rules for marriage and families set by the Polish Pontiff. According to Ted Lipien, Pope John Paul II…
FreeMediaOnline.org & Free Media Online Blog, September 8, 2008, San Francisco — Perhaps Paula Zahn, formerly of CNN and ABC, could have explained to the White House, the U.S. Congress and the American people why the Voice of America (VOA) Russian-language radio programs were not being heard in the war zone in Georgia, or in Russia itself, when the Russian troops invaded their small neighbor on…