WASHINGTON NOTEBOOK: Re U.S. broadcasts to Ukraine (06/08/03)

WASHINGTON NOTEBOOK

Ukrainian National Information Service

Re U.S. broadcasts to Ukraine

by Serhiy Zhykharev

WASHINGTON - Since the announcement in early February 2003 that the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) recommended a reduction in funds to the Ukrainian services of Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America's (UCCA) Washington bureau, the Ukrainian National Information Service (UNIS), has begun a feverish campaign to reverse this proposal.

The four-pronged approach brings forth the weight of the Ukrainian American community and its organizations, the Congressional Ukrainian Caucus, other ethnic American organizations, as well as the non-governmental sector in Ukraine. Each group in its own capacity has informed the BBG about the inherent need to sustain international broadcasting programs to Ukraine for the near future, especially in light of the upcoming October 2004 presidential election in Ukraine.

In a statement released by the BBG on February 3, announcing the cutbacks in President Bush's FY 2004 budget request, BBG Chairman Kenneth Tomlinson stated that "the budget [reduction] means an end to most Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) broadcasting to the democracies of Eastern Europe where free speech is practiced and where the process of joining the NATO alliance is under way."

The statement stipulates the reduction of many Central and East European services, virtually eliminating many of them, while the Ukrainian services of VOA would be reduced by 50 percent (from two hours of broadcasting to a proposed one hour per day), as well as a reduction in operational costs in the RFE/RL Ukrainian service. Though many of the European services are being cut back, the overall budget for BBG is expected to rise by 9.5 percent with programming increases to the Middle East and Southeast Asia to fight the war on international terrorism.

Learning of the drastic cutbacks to the VOA and RFE/RL broadcasts, the UCCA penned a letter to Mr. Tomlinson. The letter, dated March 12, provided arguments in favor of maintaining the level of funding to VOA and RFE/RL. "The importance of Voice of America's and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's role as a provider of objective information to the public is even greater in the context of next year's presidential elections in Ukraine," stated the UCCA letter.

"Thus, at this critical juncture in U.S.-Ukrainian relations, a reduction of the Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Ukraine services is ill-advised and signifies a lack of interest in sustained democratic development in Ukraine," the UCCA letter continued.

BBG Executive Director Brian T. Conniff responded to the UCCA letter by thanking the representative organization for its high regard and esteem of the Ukrainian broadcasts and assured that these items would be brought to the attention of the BBG members during the annual budgetary review meeting.

An influential component in the campaign to maintain VOA and RFE/RL Ukrainian radio services is the Congressional Ukrainian Caucus. A letter signed by the caucus co-chairs and several caucus members was sent to the BBG chairman. In their letter, the caucus members indicated that "only 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. A democratic, market-oriented Ukraine, with a free and vibrant media, integrated with the Euro-Atlantic community remains a top strategic priority for the United States. The Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty must continue to play a fundamental role in facilitating such positive changes in Ukraine."

In response to the caucus letter, Mr. Tomlinson also welcomed the Members' "high evaluation of the role of U.S. international broadcasting" and agreed that "broadcasting to Ukraine remains important to the BGG."

Members of the caucus are also actively discussing the issue with their colleagues and urging them to contact the BBG and urge support of the Ukrainian broadcasts at previous levels.

Meanwhile, the UCCA Kyiv bureau coordinated a campaign among professional journalist unions and other non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Ukraine in order to inform them of the proposed budgetary reductions and forward the opinion of Ukrainian civic society members to the members of the BBG. The bureau received multiple letters from the non-governmental sector in Ukraine, which addressed the subjects of the proposed funding reductions and urged BBG members to reconsider their decision. Such letters were received from the National Journalists' Union of Ukraine, "Borysten" magazine, and several other organizations.

The common opinion expressed in all of the letters was that VOA and RFE/RL play an extremely important role as a tool shaping public opinion in Ukraine as an easily accessible source of independent, objective and unbiased information, which otherwise would be unavailable to many in Ukraine.

Ukrainian Congress Committee of America President Michael Sawkiw Jr. also provided testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, State and Judiciary of the Appropriations Committee on April 11, regarding this issue. "Reducing funding to the Ukrainian service of the Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty would reduce airtime and affect coverage of important issues in Ukraine," the UCCA president told the Subcommittee. "In combination with the current conditions in the Ukrainian media, such changes would deplete the influx of objective and diverse information to the Ukrainian public."

Citing the crucially important 2004 presidential election in Ukraine, the UCCA argued in its testimony that the reduction of funds to these radio stations "comes at precisely the wrong time." The UCCA recommended to members of the subcommittee that they refrain from authorizing the proposed budgetary reductions for the Ukrainian services of VOA and RFE/RL.

Furthermore, the UCCA, as a member organization of the Washington-based Central and East European Coalition (a coalition of ethnic representative organizations), expressed its concerns to high-ranking government officials in meetings held in Washington. The coalition disputed the BBG assumptions that all the countries of Central and Eastern Europe are on their way to becoming NATO members, whereby many aspirant countries to NATO rely on American support for increased citizen awareness of NATO goals and responsibilities.

In a letter to Sen. Richard Lugar, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the coalition stipulated: "To close or reduce the European services in this age of uncertainty and terrorism is to invite serious misunderstandings about the American people and their policies, misunderstandings that may have serious consequences for our nation and national security."

While the Ukrainian American community understands that U.S. homeland security and strategic interests in the Middle East as well as Southeast Asia have acquired new significance and importance, the Ukrainian National Information Service believes that reductions in strategically important factors for democratic development in Ukraine may result in negative repercussions and not only slow the progress of Ukraine's reforms, but compromise the achievements of previously implemented programs.

Maintaining the level of funding for the next several years would allow Ukraine to solidify its reforms and continue on the road to a well-developed society based on strong democratic principles. This outcome is a paramount goal of U.S. policy in the region and its realization would allow the United States to have a stable partner there.

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