Changing Channels:
Free Press in Emerging Democracies
Tuesday,
June 4, 2002
[TRANSCRIPT PREPARED
FROM A TAPE RECORDING.]
[Text: This program is dedicated
to individuals and organizations striving for freedom of expression in Europe
and Eurasia.]
How do nations reinvent themselves
as democracies? The last decade has been a time of extraordinary political
upheaval. As dictatorships have fallen and been replaced by elected governments.
The U.S. Agency for International
Development and its partners have worked to foster new democracies in Europe
and Eurasia. This effort has included active support for a free press. We've
supplied equipment, training, and expert advice to independent newspapers,
radio, and television stations. These outlets provide objective, credible
information to the public.
They also serve as watchdogs of
governments with hard investigative reporting on corruption and repression.
[Text: Changing Channels - Free
Press in Emerging Democracies]
Americans are fortunate that free
speech is protected by the First Amendment to our Constitution. That's not
the case around the globe. More than three-quarters of the world's population
lives in countries without free press.
[Translation - Text: Get out of
here right now. You can't film here. I will shoot you as well.]
In 2001, alone, 58 journalists were
killed because of their work and many others threatened.
[Translation - Text: Don't beat
me! Please, don't!]
In the next few minutes, you'll
see examples of independent media outlets struggling to survive, many in
countries where journalists are still hindered by state control of their
work.
[Text: Tomsk, Russia]
Arkady Maiofis, President of TV-2
in Tomsk, started his career reporting on the coup that toppled the Soviet
Union in 1991.
[MR. MAIOFIS: Masses of tanks and
water canons are being pulled together in Moscow around the supreme soviet
buildings; barricades are being put up; around 80,000 people have gathered.]
For viewers in Tomsk, TV-2 was
the only source of news on the coup. State networks broadcast endless reruns
of "Swan Lake." Maiofis relayed information he received via telephone
to viewers in Tomsk.
[MR. MAIOFIS: Are we going to have
anymore information today, can you give any hope to our viewers?]
Today, TV-2 continues to pursue
investigative journalism in Russia, including reports on city government
corruption and the war in Chechnya.
[Broadcast in Russian language]
[Translation - Text: Behind every destroyed tank are people's lives. One
to three... One tank hit is at least the lives of three people. Simple military
math.]
[Text: Serbia]
Radio/Television B-92 in Belgrade
started as a student radio station, a voice of opposition to Slobodan Milosevic.
[MR. VERAN MATIC: As an editor,
my main concern was how to make my reporters think more critically. That
was very unusual in this part of the world. Milosevic succeeded in infiltrating
all aspects of society and cultural institutions. Our biggest success was
to be able to create a strategy for fighting back.]
Thousand took to the streets of
Belgrade in protest of the regime.
[Broadcast clip: Yugoslavia falls
apart in a bloody civil war.]
Conditions deteriorated as the
war in Bosnia was followed by runaway inflation, U.N. sanctions and NATO
air strikes in Serbia. B-92 was repeatedly jammed and banned by the government.
[Translation - Text: The High Commissioner
of Bosnia met with the Yugoslav Foreign Secretary to discuss the banning
of radio B-92.
With assistance from USAID and international
donors, B-92 turned to new technology to get back on the air.
The station put their programming
on the Web. The BBC and Voice of America rebroadcast the B-92 audio files
back into Serbia, breaking the Milosevic blockade.
[MR. MATIC: An image was created
for the public that B-92 was indestructible.]
B-92's continuing broadcasts through
the elections of 2000 exposed Milosevic's attempt to steal the presidency.
Opposition groups like OTPOR, and independent media like B92, verified Vojislav
Kostunica as the true winner of the election. A huge rally in Belgrade turned
into a revolution as Milosevic conceded defeat and resigned.
B-92 got back their studios and
frequency and are now poised to broadcast nationwide.
[Text: Bosnia]
In Bosnia, USAID, helped Nezavisne
Novine to become the country's first national newspaper with readership across
ethnic lines of Croats, Muslims, and Serbs.
[MR. ZELJKO KOPANJA: We have drawn
a clear line between propaganda and true information. The credibility of
the newspaper is growing day-by-day because we are running away from the
propaganda.]
After Nezavisne Novine published
a series of articles investigating Bosnian war crimes against Muslims, Kopanja's
car was bombed. He lost both legs in the explosion but not his commitment
to the newspaper.
[MR. KOPANJA: After the bombing,
we made great steps in achieving the goals that we started the newspaper
for. The people look to the future, not the past -- to life, rather than
death.
Readers is Bosnia say a free press
will help lead their country to a brighter future.
[Translation: I think they are
the only media competent to have freedom of speech and that they can far
best help the situation in our country.]
[Text: Central Asia]
For a few years after its independence,
Kazakhstan's free press grew rapidly, but in 1999, its government began placing
strict regulations on media access and pressure on editors not to criticize
the ruling party.
[MR. YERZHAN SULEYMENOV: It is
not easy for journalists to work in Kazakhstan because laws changed. Journalists
are punished quite harshly for each discord with state officials and publication
of critical information.]
In spite of this crackdown, USAID,
has been able to support private TV stations working with over 50 broadcasters
in 24 cities. The news magazine "Open Asia," is broadcast on more
than 35 stations throughout Central Asia.
[Translation - Text: Laws cancelling
or belittling the rights and freedom of the person should not be issued in
Kyrgyz Republic.]
[Text: Ukraine]
Working in an environment that
hasn't been friendly to independent media, journalists in Ukraine have recently
explored social issues, like human trafficking.
[Audio clip, Ukrainian language
translation - Text: These are women who went abroad in search of a better
life, but suddenly realized that instead of the work they expected, they
were forced to work in the sex business. They ended up in a desperate situation.]
Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian
women have accepted seemingly lucrative offers for jobs abroad only to be
forced into prostitution and drugs or to disappear without a trace.
[Audio clip, Ukrainian language
translation - Text: I managed to escape only after my fifth attempt. And
then they beat me up. Beat me up big time. I had several concussions.]
Producer Anton Topchiy made a six-part
documentary film on the subject, it aired throughout the country.
[MR. TOPCHIY: In the Ukraine mass
media plays an important role in providing information about human trafficking
and other social problems which appeared after the fall of the Iron Curtain.
There's been very little public information, not complete information. That's
why we should try to bring the truth and reality to people.]
Democratic societies are the fundamental
defense against crime, corruption, and terror. A free press is one of the
pillars of democracy.
[Translation - Text: Hi there! This
is Radio B92! And now for the latest news!]
USAID is dedicated to the promotion
of free press worldwide. Independent newspapers, radio, and television stations
can't guarantee democracy or prevent war, but they can provide an open exchange
for ideas and ways to work toward peaceful solutions.
--- Begin Closing Credits ---
We thank our partners, including
the following organizations, for their close cooperation in supporting a
free and independent media in Europe and Eurasia:
The European Commission
The Open Society Institute
Press Now!
IREX
Internews
The International Center for Journalists
The Independent Journalism Foundation
Swedish Helsinki Commitee for Human Rights
Norwegian People's Aid
Stability Pact Media Task Force
Baltic Media Centre
Columbia School of Journalism
Covington & Burling
International Federation of Journalists
World Association of Newspapers
Institute for War and Peace Reporting
We also thank those media outlets
in Europe and Eurasia who supplied us with footage for this film, including:
TV-2, Russia
RTV-B92, Serbia
Nezavisne Novine, Bosnia & Herzegovina
Produced by USAID, Bureau for Europe & Eurasia
--- End Closing Credits ---
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