Reaction to proposed budget cuts for radios focuses on poor timing (03/02/03)

Reaction to proposed budget cuts for radios focuses on poor timing

by Andrew Nynka

PARSIPPANY, N.J. - While the U.S. Congress prepares to review President George W. Bush's budget for Fiscal Year 2004, reactions to the news that the budget would include significant funding cuts to U.S. broadcasts to Ukraine have been staunchly negative. Much of that reaction, from groups inside Washington and Ukraine, is sheer disbelief at the timing of the move - a year before the next Ukrainian presidential election.

Several organizations and representatives of government in Ukraine and the United States have begun lobbying the Broadcasting Board of Governors, the body responsible for U.S. non-military international broadcasting outlets such as Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, to leave Ukrainian service programming at its current level, while others argue that programming hours, if anything, should be increased.

In a statement on the budget request, BBG Chairman Kenneth Tomlinson said U.S. international broadcasting was shifting its priorities due to the U.S. campaign on terrorism. He said $30 million in start-up funds for an Arabic-language satellite television network would "represent an important step toward reaching the people in the Arab world with accurate news and the message of freedom and democracy."

Regarding the reduction to Eastern and Central European broadcasting services, Mr. Tomlinson said, "the budget means an end to most Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty broadcasting to the democracies of Eastern Europe where free speech is practiced and where the process of joining the NATO alliance is under way."

However, concern over the cuts apparently stems from the belief that, in fact, free speech is not a reality in Ukraine. Since the Committee to Protect Journalists placed Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma on its 1999 list of the world'stop 10 enemies of the press, experts agree that Ukraine has actually regressed. Many cite the murder of prominent journalists, the recently revealed use of "temnyky," or government directives issued to the media in order to influence editorial decisions, and protests by journalists who themselves say they are being impeded by the government as evidence of the fact.

"This decision [to cut Ukrainian radio services] will adversely affect the United States' ability to deliver an independent outlet of information to the people of Ukraine, particularly as they prepare for the upcoming presidential elections in 2004," members of the Congressional Ukrainian Caucus said in a letter addressed to Mr. Tomlinson.

A spokeswoman for the BBG said that the initiative for the cuts to VOA and Radio Liberty came as a result of the budgetary process. Specifically, she said, a decision was made during discussions between the BBG and the White House Office of Management and Budget. The spokeswoman, Joan Mower, said the cuts to Eastern and Central European broadcast services reflect a shift in U.S. foreign policy priorities toward targeting the Middle East and Southeast Asia.

Ms. Mower also said that a review of programming hours of VOA and Radio Liberty service by the BBG revealed that the scaled-down programming would still be substantial enough to fulfill the BBG's mission in Ukraine. Journalists familiar with Ukraine have said that cutting funding does not create a level playing field for all the political forces in Ukraine.

Several individuals familiar with international radio programming and the political climate in Ukraine said that the Ukraine services of VOA and Radio Liberty should be increased with the presidential election in Ukraine looming only a year away and they added that the cuts would be improper and poorly timed.

In a statement to VOA staff, Mr. Tomlinson said the victory in the Cold War was a direct result of VOA broadcasts to Eastern and Central Europe. He said that "the goal these services struggled and sacrificed for has been achieved, and they should take great pride in the role they played in this historic mission."

Viktor Yushchenko, a former prime minister and the current head of the Our Ukraine political bloc, said that because many mass media organizations in Ukraine are controlled by pro-government clans the political opposition in Ukraine needs the West to help get their message to Ukrainian voters.

"Political forces in Ukraine need free radio, independent newspapers and independent news agencies as well as independent people who can monitor that legislation has been followed," Mr. Yushchenko told The Washington Times recently.

Mr. Yushchenko was also reported to have told U.S. officials during his visit to the United States in February that a decision to cut Ukrainian-language broadcasts of VOA and Radio Liberty was premature, echoing a sentiment felt widely in Ukraine and Washington. He said the stations have a significant audience in Ukraine and are needed so that all political forces can have a voice in the coming presidential election.

The congressional letter, signed by Reps. Curt Weldon (R-Pa.), Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio), Roscoe Bartlett (R-Md.) and Sander Levin (D-Mich.), went on to say:

"Only the Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty broadcasting services are capable of providing Ukrainians with a balanced and comprehensive perspective about events occurring in Ukraine, as well as addressing issues of concern such as corruption [and] the role of the media in Ukraine.

"A key and vital issue expressed by most politicians in Ukraine is access to independent media outlets to provide for a balanced and objective campaign. The role of the Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty is essential in that cause."

The National Union of Journalists of Ukraine also appealed to Mr. Tomlinson, in a letter sent on February 21, to keep Ukrainian service broadcasting unchanged. The head of that union, Ihor Lubchenko, said that the professionalism, objectivity and fairness of both Voice of America and Radio Liberty broadcasts have helped guide the Ukrainian mass media and that their services are still very much needed in Ukraine.

The chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee for the Freedom of Expression and Information, Mykola Tomenko, said that cutbacks to VOA and Radio Liberty would help consolidate the power Ukrainian oligarchs have over Ukrainian mass media. The government authority in Ukraine has the power to block independent media, Mr. Tomenko said in Ukraine recently, but the importance of VOA and Radio Liberty is that they do not fall under that influence.

President Bush's budget proposal would decrease funding to Eastern European broadcasting by $8.8 million, eliminating service in nine languages and reducing others. However, funding to the BBG overall would increase by 9.5 percent over the year 2003 request. Under the president's budget, which begins on October 1, the BBG would receive an appropriation of $563.5 million.

Staff reductions to international radio services would include 36 positions at Voice of America and 46 at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and would target predominantly Eastern and Central European services. VOA Ukrainian radio broadcasts would be reduced from two hours to one hour per day and would eliminate a total of three positions.

Currently, VOA beams about 1,000 hours of news, information, and educational and cultural programs every week to an audience of about 94 million people worldwide in more than 50 languages, according to the VOA website. It is estimated that VOA's Ukraine service reaches approximately 6 million Ukrainians.

Similarly, Radio Liberty would reduce operational costs of its Armenian, Georgian, Serbian and Ukrainian services, while still other cuts would be made in the management and administration of other international radios.

A Radio Liberty spokeswoman said its Ukraine service would continue to broadcast six hours a day, every day, and she said that in its 50-year history the organization had gone through several periods of growth and retrenchment. "Each time, RFE/RL adapted to new geopolitical realities and emerged changed, but as a strong and vibrant organization," the spokeswoman, Sonia Winter, said.

According to Radio Liberty, an estimated 3 million people listen to Radio Liberty in Ukraine, which broadcasts two hours a week directly from Kyiv and, Mrs. Winter said, the organization is looking to increase reporting and programs produced in its Kyiv bureau.

Ukrainian diaspora leaders in the United States have also voiced their concern over the budget proposal, saying that the decision to cut funding to U.S. broadcast services in Ukraine is inconsistent with America's foreign policy on Ukraine.

The president of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America, Michael Sawkiw Jr., and the president of the Ukrainian American Coordinating Council, Ihor Gawdiak, said they are beginning a campaign to keep funding to Ukrainian broadcasts at their current levels. Both added their view that the proposed cutbacks would undermine U.S. foreign policy toward Ukraine.

"A democratic, market-oriented Ukraine, with a free and vibrant media ... remains a top strategic priority for the United States," the Congressional Ukrainian Caucus letter said. "The Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Ukrainian services must continue to play a fundamental role in facilitating such positive changes in Ukraine."

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