• HOME
  • SUBSCRIBE
  • CONTACT
  • CHINA
  • CUBA
  • IRAN
  • RUSSIA
  • BBG WATCH
  • Login
Upgrade
USAGMWatch.com
  • Home
  • About
  • MANAGEMENT
  • ELECTIONS
  • PROPAGANDA
  • SUBSCRIBE
  • BBG WATCH
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • About
  • MANAGEMENT
  • ELECTIONS
  • PROPAGANDA
  • SUBSCRIBE
  • BBG WATCH
No Result
View All Result
USAGM Watch
No Result
View All Result
Home Peter Gross

Mark Pomar Sees Opportunity for Radio Liberty to Stand Up to Putin After Being Kicked Out from Russia, Peter Gross Noted

USAGMW by USAGMW
May 6, 2021
19 1
Mark Pomar Sees Opportunity for Radio Liberty to Stand Up to Putin After Being Kicked Out from Russia, Peter Gross Noted

USAGM Watch Commentary

Peter Gross, Ph.D., professor emeritus and former Director of the University of Tennessee’s School of Journalism and Electronic Media who has written extensively on the subject of East, Central and Southeast European media, analyzes in a new article the punishing Russian legislation designed to restrict foreign media, intimidate journalists, and force Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) out of Russia. Gross notes that RFE/RL’s President Jamie Fly considers the regulations “a state sponsored assault on media freedom that violates the Russian Constitution and Russia’s media law”.

RFE/RL reported that on May 5, a court in the western Russian city of Pskov has denied an appeal by RFE/RL contributor Lyudmila Savitskaya contesting her inclusion on Russia’s controversial register of “foreign agent” media. Fines imposed in Russia against RFE/RL now stand at 2.3 million U.S. dollars.

But there may be also an upside to Putin’s attack on Radio Liberty (Radio Svoboda). Gross quotes Mark Pomar, Ph.D., former Assistant Director of the Russian Service at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in Munich, former Director of the USSR Division at the Voice of America (VOA), and former Executive Director of the Board for International Broadcasting (BIB). “I am surprised that it was allowed to function this long when other foreign organizations were closed down already in 2015-2016,” Gross quotes Mark Pomar.

Pomar does see an upside to RFE/RL’s current troubles. He has argued that “When you have a bureau you are also tied down by that”. The former director also stated that moving to another country can help you “re-think the way you are going to have to do the program… there are a lot of things that you can do”.

According to Pomar, the RFE/RL president “is facing a reality that every other Western organization has faced [in Russia] and so the only thing that the US can do is learn lessons from the Cold War”. RFE/RL could subsequently “take on subjects that the Russians are trying to control and open them up. So, take for example WWII. They have created this phenomenal myth about the war, which runs counter to the Polish experience, the Czech experience, the Baltics’ experience, the Ukrainian or the American one”.  

Of course, there are hundreds of topics to be addressed regarding this era. This includes the 1940 Katyn massacre of over 22,000 Polish officers and intellectuals, the new myth of Stalin, his repression, the gulags, and the dissidents that, according to Pomar, “plenty of Russians don’t know about”. He has argued that these important subjects should be discussed alongside hundreds of others that Moscow “wants to sanitise”.

From 2008 to 2017, Mark Pomar was the founding CEO and President of the US – Russia Foundation (USRF), a private US foundation based in Moscow that ran programs in entrepreneurship and the rule-of-law. In the article, which appeared in New Eastern Europe (NEE), bimonthly news magazine dedicated to Central and Eastern European affairs published by the Jan Nowak-Jeziorański College of Eastern Europe in Wrocław, co-financed by the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, Gross also quotes Ted (Tadeusz) Lipien, former VOA Polish Service chief during Solidarity’s struggle for democracy, former acting VOA associate director, and for a short time in 2020-2021 RFE/RL president. Ted Lipien, a co-founder of USAGM Watch, agrees with Mark Pomar that while it is a great hardship for Radio Liberty journalists in Russia, they may be able to do an even better job in covering Vladimir Putin when they are less exposed to intimidation from his security services and can work in a safer environment.

As always, the question of funding will be crucial to RFE/RL’s ability to deal with the challenges of running a restricted service in Russia or from outside the country. Ted Lipien, a former RFE/RL president, says that the broadcaster needs additional funding specifically earmarked for its Russian service. This is in contrast to “allowing the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM) to make critical decisions about Radio Svoboda (Radio Liberty) and Current Time in Russia from the remote and over-bureaucratised bubble in Washington”. 

Peter Gross wrote in conclusion of his article:

With the sanctions that have already been imposed, it is unclear how Washington can further punish Russia for its recent attacks on free media. Moscow’s moves have included eliminating media freedoms, arresting and assassinating dissidents, cyber-hacking, waging information war, and interfering in elections. Despite the presence of an active opposition in the country, history has shown that Russia does not mind autocratic leadership and can take a whole lot of punishment.

READ MORE: RFE/RL’s “permanent” presence in Russia appears to be coming to an end after 30 years. By Peter Gross, Ph.D. New Eastern Europe, May 4, 2021.

RFE/RL’s “permanent” presence in Russia appears to be coming to an end after 30 years – New Eastern Europe – A bimonthly news magazine dedicated to Central and Eastern European affairs
The forced departure of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty from Russia was predicted together with Putin’s rise two decades ago. The increasing pressure from the authorities is part of a campaign to eliminate traces of Western involvement in Russian life.

USAGM Watch Commentary

Peter Gross’s excellent article accurately describes the challenges and the opportunities facing Radio Liberty journalists and RFE/RL leadership. The best punishment for Putin’s assault on free media in Russia would be for Radio Liberty to receive help from the Biden administration and the U.S. Congress in extra emergency funding. Any rescue package should be earmarked directly for RFE/RL, rather than going through the USAGM bureaucracy in Washington. This would enable Radio Svoboda journalists to cover corruption and Putin’s abuses of power even more extensively than now regardless of where they are based, but preferably safer from Putin’s secret police.

ALSO READ: Russian Court Rejects RFE/RL Journalist’s Appeal Of ‘Foreign Agent’ Designation, RFE/RL, May 6, 2021.

Russian Court Rejects RFE/RL Journalist’s Appeal Of ‘Foreign Agent’ Designation
A court in the western Russian city of Pskov has denied an appeal by RFE/RL contributor Lyudmila Savitskaya contesting her inclusion on Russia’s controversial register of “foreign agent” media.

ALSO READ: Putin is blackmailing US taxpayer-funded Radio Liberty, Ted Lipien, Washington Examiner, May 3, 2021.

Putin is blackmailing US taxpayer-funded Radio Liberty
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, where I served briefly as president and CEO until earlier this year, is under assault by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Total
14
Shares
Share 14
Tweet 0
Pin it 0
Share 0
Tags: Lyudmila SavitskayaMark PomarNew Eastern EuropePeter GrossRadio LibertyRFE/RLRussiaTed LipienVladimir Putin
Previous Post

Voice of America Fails to Post Story on Phishing Attack Against VOA Employees and Private Citizens

Next Post

Cubans desperately need a strong Radio Television Martí, says former OCB director Jeffrey Scott Shapiro

USAGMW

USAGMW

USAGM Watch reports and commentaries are written by citizen journalists who work as volunteers.

Related Posts

USAGM bureaucracy claims include deceptive USAGM numbers and hide the lack of relevance and impact.
Afghanistan

U.S. Agency for Global Media – The Absurd, The Surreal USAGM

by The Federalist
July 29, 2022
Anthony Blinken Meets Kelu Chao – USAGM Watch Holds Voice of America and USAGM Government Officials Accountable
Featured

Message from the USAGM Acting CEO Kelu Chao: Opportunity to Support the DHS Volunteer Force

by USAGMW
July 21, 2022
Anthony Blinken Meets Kelu Chao – USAGM Watch Holds Voice of America and USAGM Government Officials Accountable
Daily Caller

USAGM Head Calls on VOA Journalists to Volunteer for Homeland Security Border Work

by USAGMW
July 19, 2022
Screenshot from two of several lengthy raw footage videos posted on social media by the Voice of America (VOA), with the VOA logo, showing the burning of U.S. and Israeli flags in December 2017 without any attached balancing content, explanation of U.S. policy, or commentary.
VOA

Voice of America and USAGM Need Rescue

by USAGMW
July 9, 2022
Senator Ted Cruz
Ted Cruz

Four Republican Members of Senate Foreign Relations Committee Voted Against Nomination of Amanda Bennett for USAGM CEO

by USAGMW
June 28, 2022
Next Post
Cubans desperately need a strong Radio Television Martí, says former OCB director Jeffrey Scott Shapiro

Cubans desperately need a strong Radio Television Martí, says former OCB director Jeffrey Scott Shapiro

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

USAGMWatch.com

USAGM Watch is published by citizen journalists who work as volunteers.

Terms of Use.   Privacy Policy.

© 2021 USAGM Watch.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • About
  • MANAGEMENT
  • ELECTIONS
  • PROPAGANDA
  • CHINA
  • CUBA
  • IRAN
  • RUSSIA
  • HISTORY
  • SUBSCRIBE
  • CONTACT
  • BBG WATCH

© 2021 USAGM Watch.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Add New Playlist

Are you sure want to unlock this post?
Unlock left : 0
Are you sure want to cancel subscription?