Old Waves Across Borders Fade – New Waves Rise

Michael Hedges December 15, 2014 Follow on Twitter

International broadcasting reached a pinnacle during the post-Second World War years. The Cold War gave birth to a competitive sphere where government funded radio broadcasters kept news listeners fixed to their radios. By the mid 1980’s the dial was filled. A decade later, everything had changed.

Radio Berlin International (RBI), the international voice of the German Democratic Republic (GDR), signed off October 2, 1990. It’s transmitters, studios and people were, mostly, transferred to Deutsche Welle, the international broadcasting service of the federal Republic of Germany (FDR). RBI had operated slightly more than 40 years. The final words, reportedly, were “Take care and good luck.”

From the moment the Iron Curtain began to crumble government sponsored international broadcasting was never the same. “In the last two years, the global system of international radio broadcasting--which developed fully during the Cold War largely as a government propaganda medium--has been thrust into turmoil by the move toward democratization,” wrote Tom Rosenstiel in the Los Angeles Times (September 25, 1990). Rosenstiel was then a staff writer for the LA Times. He became director of the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism in 1997 and executive director of the American Press Institute in 2013.

Rosenstiel noted in 1990 that many international broadcasters were “cutting back on foreign-language services that have small audiences or a diminishing need. Many are taking transmitters once aimed East and West and turning them toward the Middle East.” The short-wave era was drawing to a close as the international broadcasters - the IB’s - looked to local FM re-broadcasters and television. The internet was barely out of the box.

US government funded international broadcasters Voice of America and Radio Free Europe faced questions in 1990 about everything from cost to mission. As broadcasting in Eastern European developed beyond government propaganda, it was argued, what purpose is served by US funded international broadcasting? Eventually, governance of both VOA and RFE (combined with Radio Liberty, which targeted the Soviet Union) was transferred to an independent agency - the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG). RFE/RL was invited to move out of its Munich, Germany headquarters, setting up in Prague.

RFE has a storied history in Eastern Europe. Operated by the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) through the post-World War Two years until the mid-1970’s it fell under the purview of the US Information Agency (USIA) until brought into the BBG. Its mission is to be a “surrogate” broadcaster for less than democratic lands.

“As 1989 approached and the communist systems decayed,” writes Ross Johnson, RFE’s director between 1989 and 1991 (See end note). “RFE was increasingly able to report directly from the region. As RFE Polish Service head Marek Latynski said in early 1988, ‘There is no curtain of silence anymore. Nobody is afraid to talk to us.’”

“In the spring of 1989 - well before The Wall fell - RFE’s Polish Service provided comprehensive coverage of the Polish ‘roundtable’ between representatives of the regime and those of the Solidarity movement. Later, the service provided a media platform for non-Communist Party candidates in the June parliamentary elections - candidates who had been blacklisted by the state media - and by doing so contributed to making those elections freer and fairer. With the formation of Tadeusz Mazowiecki’s Solidarity government in September, RFE was able to post correspondents in Poland, to establish a bureau there, to provide continuous coverage of the emerging Polish democracy both for the Poles and for the entire region, and to serve as a model for professional, non-partisan public broadcasting.

“Two weeks after The Wall fell, RFE’s Czechoslovak Service was providing unique coverage of the Velvet Revolution. RFE had reported on the growing demoralization within the Communist Party and on growing social unrest earlier in the year. It reported on police brutality in suppressing a peaceful demonstration on November 17, violence that outraged the nation and led to the ensuing mass demonstrations on Wenceslas Square. The communist authorities had granted a visa to Czechoslovak Service head Pavel Pechacek to cover two nonpolitical events in Prague. He arrived on November 21 and, with domestic media still controlled, he provided the only uncensored coverage of the crucial first three days of the Velvet Revolution demonstrations. If not for his reports, the nation might never have realized the scope of the movement and its momentum might have dissipated.”

Well before the Soviet Union spun apart it was apparent that international broadcasting - government sponsored or otherwise - would, in some sense, migrate to television. BBC World Television - the visual service derived from BBC World Service - arrived in 1992. Satellite delivered TV signals were more compelling for many audiences than shortwave radio.

The revolution in global television news came in the midst of the geo-political turmoil of the times. Ted Turner took CNN global. While the satellite bourn channel was out of reach to millions, world leaders took it seriously. By the time the Berlin Wall fell, CNN was broadcasting live from Moscow. When Mikhail Gorbachev finally wound down the Soviet Union, CNN was there with 17 reporters, unprecedented coverage for an international event outside of sports.

Government funded international broadcasters had not only a new competitor for opinion leaders but a style of broadcasting that bridged the American flair for television and broad popular interest in a rapidly changing world. The changes in international media that took place during those decisive years seem, today, almost prosaic. McLuhan’s “Global Village” arrived. The whole world was watching.

Most State broadcasters in Eastern Europe offered external services, modeled on the Soviet Union’s Radio Moscow, offering English-language programs to the broader world and local languages for neighboring audiences. Radio Moscow itself was a formidable presence on the shortwave bands broadcasting is dozens of languages from high-powered transmitters. It was rebranded Voice of Russia in 1993 by decree of President Boris Yeltsin.

Voice of Russia was part of a Cold War legacy increasingly out of step with audiences disinterested in dry recitation of government positions. Whether targeting decision makers, sympathizers, citizens living abroad or the curious, traditional international broadcasters were suddenly competing with broadly available global media. Russian President Vladmir Putin folded Voice of Russia into State news agency RAI Novosti late in 2013, terrestrial broadcasting ending a few months later. In November 2013 the remnants were rebranded Radio Sputnik as an adjunct to television propaganda service RT (Russia Today). Radio Sputnik is mainly web-based with plans, reportedly, to expand into local FM distribution in targeted regions.

Almost every government-funded international broadcaster went through a tightening of mission in the decade from the mid-1990’s, usually meaning reduced services. German’s Deutsche Welle (DW), originally launched in 1953, is one of the big five international broadcasters considered free from government dictate. In 1994 DW was an early adopter of internet distribution and has gradually, but not entirely, migrated from terrestrial radio and TV to satellite and web distribution.

Despite curtailing some European language services at the turn of the century, redirecting efforts to the Middle East, Asia and Africa, DW’s budget had been essentially frozen since 1998, recently boosted by the German parliament to €280 million annually. General director Peter Limbourg proposed in September 2014 increasing internet traffic by 50% and launching a full-time English-language TV channel “to stand up to (Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s propaganda,” quoted by Die Zeit (September 25). A political debate ensued, however briefly, on whether or not countering propaganda from one country, itself, constitutes propaganda. The English-language TV channel was given the green light.

Eastern European international broadcasters played storied, often varied roles in their country’s information outreach in the years of transition between the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of Soviet domination, during which several re-broadcast Radio Moscow’s Russian-language programs for Russian expatriates. Czechoslovakia’s Radio Praha (Radio Prague) offered detailed reports on the 1968 Prague Spring and subsequent invasion by Warsaw Pact armies, after which transmissions were briefly suspended. When Radio Praha returned to the international airwaves so did standard fare Soviet propaganda.

In 1986 President Vaclav Havel sent home Radio Praha’s Polish overseers, changing the broadcaster’s tone. With the 1992 Velvet Revolution Radio Praha became the international broadcaster of the Czech Republic and the new Radio Slovakia International appeared. Radio Prague (Czech Republic) programs in six languages are distributed by satellite and the internet, shortwave transmission ending in 2011. Radio Slovakia International broadcasts are distributed through the internet and the WRN satellite service used by several Eastern European international broadcasters.

International outreach continues important for many Eastern European governments. Polish Radio External Service, the descendent of Radio Warsaw, continues to use shortwave broadcasting to augment internet and satellite distribution. The Polish and Lithuanian governments fund specialized broadcast outreach to Belarus and Ukraine. Radio Bulgaria, formerly Radio Sofia in Soviet days, dropped shortwave transmission in 2011 while continuing to offer programming in several languages to re-broadcasters and, of course, via the internet.

Radio Romania International (RRI) was formed immediately after the fall of the regime in 1989 and developed services for international audiences and the Romanian diaspora. A Chinese service was launched in 1999 in cooperation with China Radio International and other language-specific programs were dropped in 2004. RRI’s programs continue on shortwave, satellite and the World Wide Web.

BBC World Service is an icon for government funded international broadcasters. Through radio, television, satellites and new media it reaches more people around the globe than all others. The brand has a distinctive style built on news credibility. In April 2014 funding from the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) ended after 80 years and the World Service has been integrated within the domestic BBC organization.

During its history BBC World Service has offered international news and British culture in dozens of languages. In recent years program targets have changed and certain language services cut or, less often, added. “The BBC World Service’s funding may change,” said Director General Tony Hall in a blog post (February 11, 2014), ”standards will not.” Lord Hall proposed an audience target for BBC World Service of 500 million by 2022.

While the BBC World Service output is widely admired, not all governments are welcoming. The Islamic Republic of Iran jams its English and Persian language radio and satellite signals and blocks the Persian-language service website, just as they do Facebook. The Ethiopian government has jammed World Service transmissions.

Chinese authorities curtailed access to BBC websites in October as protests in Hong Kong made headlines around the world. “This appears to be deliberate censorship,” said World Service Group director Peter Horrocks in a statement. Both English and Mandarin language broadcasts directed at the Chinese mainland are regularly jammed.

Nor is the BBC World Service model widely replicated. Several international broadcasters give attention to informing expatriate audiences, the Polish Radio External Service, for example. Some have regional interests; Radio France International (RFI) superbly serves French-speaking Africa and Asia. Most IBs offer cultural programs both useful and interesting to broad audiences.

For others international media outreach means disruption and disinformation, the black art of propaganda. Harkening back to Soviet days, the Russian Federation’s external media operation presents a point of view laced with conspiracy theories and veracity-challenged sound bites. An old challenge for international broadcasters has become new.

“What the Chinese do is to pay local radio and TV stations to take their content,” said Mr. Horrocks to the Independent (November 10). “It’s a direct threat to our success.” China Radio International now broadcasts in more languages to more regions than any other international broadcaster.

The 21st century arrived with new challenges for international broadcasters added to those leftover from the fall of once-powerful political systems and the rise of new actors in Asia and the Middle East. Radio services migrated from the shortwave bands to local FM re-broadcasters. New television services occupied satellite space. Some governments may question the “soft diplomacy” mission and, correspondingly, the means for it all but others see opportunity and spare no expense.

See original version published in ftm November 18, 2009 here

A. Ross Johnson is currently a research fellow at the Hoover Institution and a senior scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center. His comments on RFE/RL are used with permission and available in full on the RFE/RL website. Read here

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