23 April 2013
Since Friday, when alleged Boston Marathon bombers Tamerlan and Dzhokar Tsarnaev were identified as ethnic Chechens, there has been a surge in interest in Chechnya, the North Caucasusand their potential links to Islamic extremists in the region. Unfortunately, some of this interest has played off of misinformation and stereotypes.
Aslan Doukaev, RFE/RL’s North Caucasus Service director and himself an ethnic Chechen, will respond to questions and comments about the two brothers and their ancestral homeland during an “Ask Me Anything” today at 11:00AM EST / 5:00PM CET on Reddit.
16 January 2013
The Broadcasting Board of Governors announced today that distinguished journalist and broadcast executive Kevin Klose will be the Acting President and CEO of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
Acting in its capacity as RFE/RL’s corporate board of directors, the Board voted unanimously to ask Klose to take on the position for up to one year, starting January 26.
“As a former chief of both National Public Radio and RFE/RL, Kevin is seasoned at leading broadcasters through critical transitions,” said Michael Lynton, the Board’s presiding governor. “There is no more qualified person to manage this key part of U.S. international broadcasting than Kevin. We are thrilled that he will return to public service as we implement our media strategy in priority countries from Iran to Russia and across Eurasia.”
Klose was president of NPR from 1998 to 2008, and was named President Emeritus in 2008. Before joining NPR, he was president of RFE/RL from 1994 to 1997, overseeing its relocation from Munich to Prague. In 1997-98, he directed the International Broadcasting Bureau at the U.S. Information Agency. Prior to this, he was an editor and reporter for The Washington Post for 25 years, including stints as Moscow bureau chief, city editor and deputy national editor. A tenured professor at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland, Klose served as dean of the journalism college from April 2009 to July 2012. He will be on leave from his faculty position while serving at RFE/RL. He earned a B.A. from Harvard and is the author of five books, including Russia and the Russians: Inside the Closed Society.
“I am honored to be offered this opportunity and eager to lend a hand,” Klose said upon accepting the position with RFE/RL. “I look forward to re-connecting with many friends in Prague and Russia and to working with the entire RFE/RL team.”
“We are grateful that Kevin has agreed to take on this task, and we thank University of Maryland President Wallace Loh for the university’s swift response and flexibility,” said Dennis Mulhaupt, chairman of the RFE/RL corporate board. “Kevin understands well from first-hand experience the special challenge and public trust that RFE/RL represents. I’d like to thank my colleagues for their speedy work in addressing RFE/RL’s interim leadership needs – especially Susan McCue, the board’s vice-chair, who has spearheaded the effort to recruit Kevin. We look forward to working with him.”
“Kevin Klose’s deep experience in journalism and international broadcasting is unparalleled for this mission,” McCue said. “His leadership and stable hand will build bridges to the future while ensuring that RFE/RL’s long tradition of journalistic integrity and courageous reporting is honored.”
BBG Board member Victor Ashe noted, “Kevin Klose brings years of experience and is the right person to lead the rebuilding. RFE/RL is fortunate to have him as we face and resolve many difficult and serious issues. Thanks to my colleagues for all they have done to bring this about.”
The Board plans to engage a professional search firm during the coming months to identify and hire a successor president.
4 October 2012
Iranian jamming of U.S. government-sponsored news and information programs disrupted broadcasts from Morocco to Eastern Europe to Indonesia, the Broadcasting Board of Governors has found.
Satellite operator Eutelsat confirmed that the intermittent jamming was coming from inside Iran. This most recent episode of interference with broadcasts began on Oct. 3 and is in clear violation of international agreements.
In addition to Voice of America’s (VOA) Persian Service and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s (RFE/RL) Radio Farda, both of which offer programs for Iranian audiences, the jamming also has affected dozens of satellite broadcasts of BBG radio and TV programs.
One of the BBG’s Internet anti-censorship vendors is reporting that traffic from Iran using its software and servers has increased substantially since the jamming began. This suggests that Iranian listeners and viewers are shifting to the Internet to receive news and information.
Jamming is prohibited under rules of the International Telecommunications Union. The recent jamming affected not only U.S.-supported programming, but also the British Broadcasting Corporation.
International Broadcasting Bureau Director Richard M. Lobo called the most recent interference “an outrage (and) a deplorable violation of well-established international agreements” in a statement issued when the incident started.
The jamming coincided with reports of street demonstrations and mass arrests of Iranians protesting falling currency exchange rates. Both VOA and RFE/RL report that in some instances, interference starts just before newscasts, and ends just afterwards.
Three satellite transponders operated by Eutelsat and those most popular among Iranian viewers have been affected: HotBird 13B, Eutelsat 25A and Eutelsat 7A. Viewers said the signals reappear intermittently.
The interference has diminished or altogether blocked other U.S.-supported programs on the Eutelsat satellites, including Georgian, Armenian, Bosnian, Korean and many other language broadcasts.
VOA and RFE/RL programs continue to be broadcast on diverse media platforms, including digital audio and video streams on other satellite paths and on the Internet.
In February, the ITU called upon the world’s nations to take “necessary actions” to stop intentional interference with satellite transmissions. Earlier, the BBG and other international broadcasters called for action against jamming.
3 May 2012
On World Press Freedom Day, RFE/RL pays video tribute to journalists working in some of the world’s most dangerous and restrictive environments to report news and document censorship, despite a glaring lack of basic media freedoms.
According to Freedom House’s “Freedom of the Press 2012” report, 13 of RFE/RL’s broadcast countries are classified as “Not Free” and another eight as “Partly Free.”
WATCH: RFE/RL marks World Press Freedom Day
Featured in RFE/RL’s video is investigative journalist Khadija Ismayilova, who has drawn worldwide support from media and human rights organizations after she was targeted in a recent blackmail campaign, believed to be retaliation for her reporting on corruption in Azerbaijan, a country that ranks 172 out of 197 on Freedom House’s list of overall media freedom.
“Khadija’s case reminds us that there is still significant progress to be made on press freedom around the globe,” said RFE/RL President Steve Korn. “From Belarus to Iran, and across Central Asia, Russia, the Caucasus, and Afghanistan and Pakistan, RFE/RL journalists and their colleagues face intimidation or worse on a daily basis.”
Earlier this year, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) released the latest edition of its “Enemies of the Internet” report which included RFE/RL target countries Iran, Belarus, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. A recent report by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) also listed Iran, Belarus, and Uzbekistan among its list of the ten most censored countries in the world.
“Despite being banned and blocked there, hundreds of thousands of Iranians every month find a way to get news and information from RFE/RL’s Radio Farda,” adds Korn. “As our audiences in places like Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Belarus can attest, people who want accurate news and information will find a way to get it, no matter what restrictions are placed on them.”
For more news in all these regions and more, follow RFE/RL online and on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and Pinterest.
