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Looking for a previous front page story? Should the U.S. Government-Sponsored Broadcasts be a Tool of American Foreign Policy? Former Radio Free Europe Chief Says "Yes" By Ben Ball, MALD ‘02 Office of Public Affairs In a talk co-sponsored by the Fletcher School’s Ginn Library and the Edward R. Murrow Center on Oct. 18, A. Ross Johnson , a former Director of Radio Free Europe and a Fletcher alum, [F'62] made the case for having the U.S. government-sponsored broadcast operations aimed at an international audience as a component of American foreign policy. In a speech called A Whisper in the Ear: the Role of International Broadcasting in American Foreign 
Policy Johnson drew on his experiences with Radio Free Europe in the former Yugoslavia, while discusing the possibility of using broadcasting in the current US campaign in Afghanistan. "Public diplomacy not only creates awareness, it also promotes dialogue," he said. While critics historically have argued that such broadcasts are little more than propaganda, Johnson argued that during the Second World War, American broadcasts across the European front were designed to convey unbiased, straightforward information to the people on the other side of the battle lines. The Voice of America," as the service became known, gained listeners through its unvarnished, factual reporting style. During the Cold War, he noted that the Voice of America was joined by Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty in disseminating uncensored news and information to countries under Communist rule. Factory workers and high-ranking public officials alike listened to bulletins in their own language and came to depend on them as a window to the outside world. Johnson said that the commitment of American radio broadcasting to high-quality, balanced reporting brought in an audience that played no small role in bringing down Communist states throughout Eastern Europe. With a nod in the direction of more recent conflicts, such as the military intervention in Yugoslavia, Johnson stressed the utility of public diplomacy in times of crisis. During the 2,000 bombing campaign, he said, the audience of Radio Free Europe tripled as the people of Yugoslavia sought information beyond the bounds of state-controlled media. He also pointed out that media outlets controlled by Milosevic were plagued by self censorship, low standards of reporting, and few resources for reporting developments in the region. In many ways, Johnson said he believed these problems have continued into the Kostunica era. The form is the same, he says, but the personalities are different. During the Yugoslavia campaign, broadcasting into enemy territory was no easy feat. Banned from local stations by the Milosevic regime, high-powered radio towers were placed in Bulgaria, Romania, and Bosnia-Herzegovina to beam signals into Yugoslav territory. These efforts were rewarded by large swaths of the Yugoslav people, who tuned in to hear American broadcasts en masse. And, what about an attempt to broadcast news and information into Afghanistan? Johnson reported that a renewed effort to broadcast news and information into Afghanistan will face different obstacles. Radio Free Europe, he noted, operated a Pashtun service until 1993, when the effort was abandoned for budgetary reasons. Johnson explained that as these broadcasts are revived, language and personnel are a greater concern than technology, adding that unlike most Europeans and Asians who listen to American broadcasts throughout the world, most Afghans use short wave radios instead of FM receivers. This would allow broadcasts into Afghanistan to be broadcast from distant locations in Morocco, Sri Lanka, or even Europe, eliminating the need for a costly new infrastructure investment. Rather than restricting its new effort to Afghanistan, Johnson contended that American broadcasting should cast a wider net. The United States has failed in its public diplomacy towards the Arab world, he said. Johnson argued that broadcasting could fill an information gap, using solid reporting to promote dialog in Middle Eastern societies about the issues that face the world. Radio, he said, is still the best way to accomplish this goal. As a passive media," Johnson said that radio broadcasts are the most accessible format for conveying information and promoting the goals of American society in muc |
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