Foreign broadcasters not welcome

Michael Hedges December 11, 2008

International broadcasters are either warmly welcomed or shunned entirely by host governments. When most listeners and viewers use radios and TVs of the terrestrial kind that’s the place broadcasters want to be. But politics, nationalism and greed are making those frequencies off limits to the people with a message from afar.

Azerbaijan’s government gave the BBC World Service and US international broadcasters Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Europe/ Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) a December 31st cut off date. National Television and Radio Broadcasting Council (NTRBC) president Nushiravan Maharramli cited a 2002 law forbidding foreign broadcasts on radio and television frequencies with national coverage. Other foreign international broadcasters have been removed from local radio and television frequencies.

“We raised the issue some years ago and demanded that broadcasting of foreign radio stations should be stopped in Azerbaijan and the issue should be solved in accordance with the current world practice,” he said to the official APA news agency (October 31). “We stopped transmission of Russian and Turkish TV channels and the French radio channel and then Voice of America and Azadlig (Radio Liberty) channels. We have signed one–year contract with BBC and Turkish TRT Channel.” Mr. Maharramli offered that agreements with the BBC, VOA and Radio Liberty might be extended for another year, reported Yeni Musavat (November 24).

Last week (December 3) US officials, including Doug Boynton from the Washington DC office of the International Broadcasting Bureau (IBB), paid Mr. Maharramli a visit, reportedly to ask for a bit more time to work things out diplomatically. The NTRBC maintains it’s a legal, not diplomatic, issue and that foreign broadcasters are free to offer their programs via satellite, cable and the internet. Mr. Maharramli makes the point that the Azeri law is consistent with media ownership rules in European countries.

Not good enough, said US Ambassador to Azerbaijan Anne Derse. “Azerbaijan’s telecommunication infrastructure is developing yet and few people have an access to this type of communication,” she said, quoted by APA (December 10).

Mr. Maharramli has his own media dreams. He’s suggested Azerbaijan host a pan-Caucasus television (October 21), but “establishment of such a TV channel requires much money.”

Kyrgystan is a long-time challenge for the international broadcasters. RFE/RL’s service was cut in October. The BBC’s service was cut December 6th. RFE/RL was told by the Kyrgyz National Television and Radio Broadcasting Corporation (NTRBC) to come up with US$ 57,000 for an arrears service payment. The BBC was told it did not make obligatory equipment upgrades. Both broadcasters say the claims are baseless. But that still doesn’t get them back on the air.

The NTRBC cut off Radio Liberty in August 2005, allowing it to resume in March 2006. The pattern in these suspensions seems to be the approach of elections. Local broadcasters and newspapers have also closed in recent months.

The BBC was booted off the FM band in Tajikistan in 2005. A new law requiring registration was cited, with a 20-day deadline.  Once the application was processed it was rejected. The BBC had been the only foreign broadcaster using FM frequencies. Uzbekistan shut down foreign international broadcasters in response to the Andijan riots in 2005.

There are three metaphrases for governments closing – or threatening – foreign broadcasters.

The end of press freedom narrative is most often reported in the West. This follows from the universal truth that all politicians seek to control all media. But the end of press freedom narrative is usually directed at governments with dictatorial orientation and less than stellar records of human rights abuse.

The continuing practice of curtailing foreign broadcasting is hardly limited to countries of the former Soviet Union. African dictators regularly close FM stations used by Radio France International (RFI). Robert Mugabe, one of the more notorious present day dictators, banned the BBC from Zimbabwe. It is undisputable that authoritarian rulers seek to impose that authority over media outlets.

The second narrative is ‘it’s time to move on’ and it has two distinct sides. The brighter side says World War Two and the Cold War are over and democratic States are no longer under threat. Germany made it clear to RFE/RL it was time to move on and take its headquarters out of Munich. RFE/RL left Munich for Prague in 1995.

Germany continues to offer broadcast frequencies to France, the UK and the US in Berlin. In 2006 the ‘American channel’ once occupied by Voice of America was offered to independent public broadcaster National Public Radio (NPR). Some say this was a slap to the US government, deeply unpopular in Germany under the Bush presidency. Kevin Klose, president of NPR, was president of RFE/RL between 1994 and 1997.

The darker side, seen in the European Union, is an appeal to nationalism. This typically manifests itself in laws limiting broadcasting on easily accessible FM and MW frequencies to ‘official’ languages.  Human rights watchers are regularly exasperated by difficulties in providing media sources to minority language users.

The third narrative for threatening to throw out foreign broadcasters is ‘get the cash’. International broadcasters of the government-sponsored kind are willing, it seems, to pay cold, hard, real cash for license and transmission fees. And, too, there’s competition. Terrestrial broadcast frequencies are, by nature of physics, limited. There may have been few bidders in the last century but, well, things change.

International broadcasters – and not limited to those funded by Western governments – continue to provide a remarkable service to those seeking it. Most are exploring every possible media platform on which to hang their message. But the benefit has an even bigger consequence. The international broadcasters also provide a benchmark of professionalism. Even if the message grates on politicians, that benefit is undeniable.

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