Radio Liberty cries foul as its programs go off the air (02/22/04)

Radio Liberty cries foul as its programs go off the air

by Roman Woronowycz
Kyiv Press Bureau

KYIV - Radio Liberty executives accused a Kyiv-based radio station of executing a political decision made by Ukrainian state leaders after the station broke its contract and stopped broadcasting the news agency's programs on February 17.

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty President Thomas Dine called the decision by Dovira Radio to stop running Radio Liberty news programs "a deeply disturbing political development and serious setback to freedom of expression in Ukraine."

The decision to take the news programs of the well-respected U.S. news agency off the airwaves of Radio Dovira, a small Kyiv-based radio outlet, came after it had informed the U.S. government-funded broadcaster that it would do so if format changes - which it did not specify - were not implemented within a week. It had said that news programming offered by Radio Liberty did not fit well with its current music programming format and the younger listener audience it wanted to attract.

Radio Dovira executives were not available for comment. However, a statement released on February 17 and attributed to the staff of the radio station read in part:

"We are an independent, non-governmental radio company, which has been in existence since 1997. The Dovira team has an irrefutable right to creative self-determination and believes that any attempts to interfere in the creative production process by means of accusations of censorship rudely ignores the principles of freedom of speech."

Oleksander Narodytskyi, head of the Ukrainian Service of Radio Liberty, said the same day its news programming went off the Ukrainian airwaves that radio Dovira Radio executives had told him they were still developing a new format, in conjunction with which they would also propose changes to the Radio Liberty programs.

"They began by removing our programs," explained Mr. Narodytskyi, who also explained that Radio Liberty constantly works to improve the quality of its programs.

In addition to charges of succumbing to political control as state leaders increasingly attempt to tighten their grip on Ukraine's mass media in a presidential election year, RFE/RL has accused Dovira Radio of breaking the terms of the contract between them. Mr. Narodytskyi said at the time the Dovira decision became public that the radio station should have given his news agency 30 days' notice before canceling their agreement.

Dovira Radio had carried RFE/RL news programs for five years. The two broadcast entities had worked closely to make Radio Liberty programs user-friendly to its Ukrainian audience, according to an RFE/RL press release dated February 17. RFE/RL noted that Dovira had been "the focus of official Ukrainian pressure to drop RFE/RL Ukrainian Service broadcasting since 2001."

RFE/RL also stated that Dovira Radio had withstood previous government allegations that it had breached licensing regulations by rebroadcasting RFE/RL Ukrainian Service programs aimed at short wave radio reception.

Problems between Dovira and Radio Liberty began after a change of leadership at Dovira's owner, Ukrainian Media Holding, in December. The new president, Borys Lozhkin, appointed Serhii Kychygin the new general director, a post he had held several years back. Mr. Kychygin is alleged to have close ties to Viktor Medvedchuk, the chief of staff of the administration of President Leonid Kuchma, according to a report in Ukraina Moloda.

RFE/RL President Dine was scheduled to visit Kyiv on February 20 specifically to address the suspension of Radio Liberty programming in Ukraine. He was to meet with several Ukrainian officials, including Verkhovna Rada Chairman Volodymyr Lytvyn.

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