International Broadcasting

Czech Court Rules RFE/RL Cannot Discriminate Against Its Own Foreign Journalists

FreeMediaOnline.org Truckee, CA, USA, December 02, 2010 — A court in the Czech Republic has ruled that a former Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) Armenian broadcaster Anna Karapetian should not have been fired using RFE/RL’s personnel procedures which deprive non-American and non-Czech employees of some of the protections of Czech labor laws. RFE/RL is a semi-private entity funded and…

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Russia

Window on Eurasia: Russia’s Future Could Easily Be like China’s Past, Modernization Expert Says

Paul Goble

Staunton, December 1 – The Russian Federation is unlikely to be dismembered or partially absorbed by other countries, an expert on modernization says, but it could lose its economic sovereignty in much the same way that 19th century China did, a country that was not colonized but rather subject to unequal treaties in which foreigners had extraterritorial rights.

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Poland, Russia

Leaked Cables Reveal Putin’s Successful Attempt to Manipulate Gates and Obama

While U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates claims Russian Prime Minister Putin had told him Iran was Russia’s greater threat, in a meeting with American security experts, Evgeny Zudin of the Russian Ministry of Defense gave detailed presentations on the Russian assessment of the Iranian and North Korean missile programs, and the degree to which Russia believes these programs constitute threats requiring missile defense responses. Evgeny Zudin said that for Russia, the bottom line is that, in essence, neither program constitutes a threat at the moment or in the near future.

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Poland, Public Diplomacy, Russia

Leaked State Department Cables Show Obama and Gates Naive on Russia

by Ted Lipien

Opinia.USOpinia.US Truckee, CA, November 29, 2010 — Leaked secret State Department cables may help to resolve the mystery as to why President Obama chose September 17, 2009 to make his announcement on canceling President Bush’s missile defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic. The announcement pleased the Kremlin, which had been pushing for the cancellation of the planned system for years. But why the Obama White House made the announcement on September 17, the anniversary of the Soviet military invasion of Poland in 1939 under the secret terms of the Hitler-Stalin Pact, is still not clear.

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Audio, Cold War, Glos Ameryki, Highlights, History, International Broadcasting, Photos, Poland, Public Diplomacy, Radio, Religion, VOA

“Hunger for God and Love” – Interview with Cardinal Karol Wojtyła – future Pope John Paul II

In August 1976, I interviewed Cardinal Karol Wontyła, the future Pope John Paul II, when he visited Washington, DC after attending the Eucharistic Congress in Philadelphia. The radio interview, recorded and first broadcast by the Voice of America (VOA) in 1976, was rebroadcast by the VOA Polish Service on October 16, 1978, after the news of Cardinal Karol Wojtyła’s election as the new pope had been announced at the Vatican. Karol Wojtyła became Pope John Paul II.

Short Version

Full Version

Listen to excerpt (in Polish) of 1976 Voice of America (VOA ) interview with Cardinal Karol Wojtyla. Ted Lipien talked with future Pope John Paul II in Washington, DC.

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China, International Broadcasting

BBG Chairman makes news by calling Russia’s and China’s official media America’s ‘enemies’; former BBG member gets praise on Capital Hill

The Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) Chairman Walter Isaacson, recently placed by President Obama in the job of managing U.S. international broadcasting, made news this week by naming China’s and Russia’s official media as America’s “enemies,” alongside state media in Iran and Venezuela. He used such strong language while calling for more money for his federal agency to combat foreign…

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International Broadcasting

Armenian journalist appeals to Obama to protect rights of foreign journalists at U.S. government-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

Armenian journalist Anna Karapetian (photo) has written a letter to President Obama asking him to protect the rights of foreign journalists employed by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), which is managed by the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) and funded by U.S. Congress. IT’S THE MORALITY, STUPID a commentary by Lev Roitman Evidently, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) bureaucrats (President…

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International Broadcasting

BBG Chairman Walter Isaacson: America’s Voice Must Be Credible And Must Be Heard | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL)

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) press release: Walter Isaacson: America’s Voice Must Be Credible And Must Be Heard September 29, 2010 (Washington, DC) Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) Chairman Walter Isaacson tonight announced a new direction for U.S. international broadcasting that “seizes on the latest media tools and technology to stay one step ahead of those who seek to repress…

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Uncategorized

OSCE media freedom representative expresses concern over continuing harassment of journalists in Uzbekistan | OSCE

VIENNA, 24 September 2010 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatovic, said today that she is alarmed by the unrelenting judicial pressure exerted on independent journalists in Uzbekistan. In a letter sent to Uzbekistan’s Foreign Minister Vladimir Norov, Mijatovic expressed her concern over the fate of two prosecuted journalists: Abdumalik Boboyev, a freelance reporter for the…

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Poland, Public Diplomacy, Russia

Reposting from Sept. 16, 2009: September 17 could be a new date in US-Polish relations

On the 71 anniversary of the Soviet invasion of Poland, we are republishing our Sept. 16, 2009 blog post, in which we asked the Obama Administration to consider the significance of the 1939 division of Poland by Hitler and Stalin before making the White House announcement on the cancelation of the ballistic missile defense (BMD) system in Poland: “September 17 could be a new date in US-Polish relations

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Cold War, Poland, Russia

Zbigniew Brzezinski’s Speech (in Polish) at Funeral Mass for Zofia Korbonska

TedLipien.com, Truckee, CA — A funeral Mass for Zofia Korbonska, a heroine of the Polish underground resistance against Nazi occupation, participant in the Warsaw Rising of 1944, political activist against Communist rule after World War II, and former Voice of America (VOA) Polish Service broadcaster, was held at the Our Lady Queen of Poland Catholic Church in Silver Spring, MD on Friday, September 10, 2010. Zbigniew Brzezinski, Polish-American statesman who served as United States National Security Advisor to President Jimmy Carter, spoke in Polish about Zofia Korbonska’s deep patriotism, extreme sacrifice, and political wisdom in her long struggle alongside her husband Stefan Korbonski to restore freedom and independence to their beloved Poland.

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Uncategorized

Zbigniew Brzezinski’s Speech (in Polish) at VOA Broadcaster Zofia Korbonska’s Funeral

TedLipien.com, Truckee, CA — A funeral Mass for Zofia Korbonska, a heroine of the Polish underground resistance against Nazi occupation, participant in the Warsaw Rising of 1944, political activist against Communist rule after World War II, and former Voice of America (VOA) Polish Service broadcaster, was held at the Our Lady Queen of Poland Catholic Church in Silver Spring, MD…

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