Former Voice of America (VOA) Russian-Spanish freelance news reporter Pablo Rubtsov González was greeted in Moscow by Russian President Vladimir Putin after exchange for American journalists imprisoned and held as hostages in Russia. Had I stayed at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty #RFERL, I would have continued to work for the release of imprisoned reporters and warned others in no uncertain…
Launderers of Putin’s lies | Ted Lipien | THE HILL
This article appeared first in The Hill, February 19, 2024 Launderers of Putin’s lies | Ted Lipien | The Hill BY TED LIPIEN, OPINION CONTRIBUTOR – 02/19/24 Tucker Carlson is not an idiot. He comes from a wealthy family, finished college, has traveled abroad and is a highly successful media commentator. Why, then, would he allow himself to be treated like…
Why are US-funded USAGM journalists defending Russia, Iran over the Hamas massacre? – Ted Lipien Op-Ed in The Hill
My new op-ed in The Hill includes comments on the latest barbaric attacks by Hamas terrorists on Israeli civilians—defenseless Jewish women, children, and the elderly. I discuss the hard-to-understand and explain defense of propaganda and disinformation from Iran and Russia by U.S. government-managed and funded U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) journalists, including federal employees working for the Voice of America (VOA). They went…
Putin won’t go nuclear — may be overthrown | Ted Lipien in Washington Examiner
I wrote in an op-ed in The Washington Examiner that Russian President Vladimir Putin is desperate, that’s for sure. But his threat of using tactical nuclear weapons against Ukraine is a classic Soviet-style attempt at blackmail that, hopefully, no Western leader will fall for. If anything, by suggesting the possibility of using nuclear weapons, Putin may have advanced the date of his removal from power.…
Ukraine is the area of decision between Russia and the Free World
Ukraine is today “the area of decision between Russia and the Free World” and “the one big problem” for Russia’s ex-KGB leader Vladimir Putin. By Ted Lipien Ukraine is today “the area of decision between Russia and the Free World” and “the one big problem” for Russia’s ex-KGB leader Vladimir Putin. The “Communist Timetable” in the 1950s and the 1960s…
Biden’s Advisor Anthony Blinken in 2009: Think less of what U.S. can do for Central Europe, get over history
By Ted Lipien For whatever reason, articles tend to disappear from the Internet. It happened recently to my October 20, 2009 article in Digital Journal “Biden’s advisor: think less of what U.S. can do for Central Europe, get over history.” The original article can still be viewed on Blogger News Network. I wonder whose advice it was to President Biden…
Op-Ed: From Russia with Censorship 2009 – Republished 2021
One of my commentaries on media censorship in Vladimir Putin’s Russia was first published in Digital Journal on September 16, 2009 as “Op-Ed: From Russia with Censorship.” Since then, both the Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Liberty (known in Russia as Radio Svoboda) have improved their Russian coverage, but Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is now facing a defining…
The Chief Culprit: Stalin’s Grand Design to Start World War II by Victor Suvorov
By Ted Lipien I would like to thank Bill Coe for bringing Victor Suvorov’s book to my attention. Journalists reporting on Vladimir Putin’s latest attempt to re-write history with his propaganda and disinformation blaming the start of World War II on Poland–the first victim of the war and the first country to resist militarily Hitler’s Nazi Germany–should read The Chief…
U.S. Responses to WWII Soviet Propaganda Against Poland — Lessons for Confronting Putin’s Propaganda By Ted Lipien Aggressive propaganda in support of territorial claims against other, almost always smaller and weaker nations, has been a constant feature in Soviet history. There are many similarities between Soviet propaganda and propaganda currently employed by the Kremlin against Ukraine and the West. Soviet…
Op-Ed: Voice of America disappoints | Digital Journal
By Ted Lipien Published May 12, 2015 by Digital Journal To no great surprise, I did not find any Voice of America English News (VOA News – voanews.com) reports posted Monday on President Putin defending the 1939 Hitler-Stalin Pact. The secret protocol to the non-aggression pact between the two dictators led to the outbreak of World War II and the attack on…
Op-Ed: Murder of Polish priest may offer clues in Boris Nemtsov’s case | Digital Journal
By Ted Lipien Published March 3, 2015 by Digital Journal Authoritarian, corrupt or rogue regimes, their leaders, and their beneficiaries often behave in similar ways in different countries. They fear their democratic opponents and rely on the secret police to keep themselves in power through monitoring, intimidating, jailing and sometimes killing those who may challenge their repressive rule. Although Poland…
U.S. taxpayers funding pro-Putin VOA programs – Ted Lipien in Washington Examiner
Ted Lipien, a former Voice of America (VOA) acting associate director, has been warning for some time that marketing and staffing policies pushed by the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) executives have changed the focus of VOA and other BBG broadcasters from serious, accurate and well balanced journalism to ratings-chasing entertainment and sloppy reporting produced by inexperienced, poorly paid, otherwise…
Russian Accuses Voice Of America Of Fake Interview – NPR
NPR’s Michele Kelemen, a former employee of Voice of America, reported on the recent VOA Russian Service interview with a leading Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny which he later described as “100 percent fake” and complained that VOA “went nuts.” The fake interview may have been created by Kremlin supporters who have been known to hijack email accounts of anti-Putin…
Washington Times Op-Ed warns about pro-Putin bias in Voice of America Russian programs
In a Washington Times Op-Ed, a Committee for U.S. International Broadcasting member Ted Lipien warned about a pro-Putin bias in the Voice of America Russian programs. Lipien reported that a highly respected independent journalist in Russia hired by the Broadcasting Board of Governors to evaluate the VOA Russian website concluded last year that it has a pro-Kremlin bias and downplays…
Who is the leader of the Free World? – Reagan, Bush, Obama – lessons in public diplomacy in response to anti-democracy crackdown in Belarus
En ce moment, il n’y a plus de pilote dans l’avion. [At the moment, there is no longer a pilot on the plane.] — A European comment on President Obama as a leader of the Free World.
TedLipien.com, Truckee, California, USA, January 03, 2011 — Who is the leader of the Free World when democracy is under threat?