Radio Free Europe looking for new methods to spread information :: Charter'97 :: News

The goals of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE) remain similar to those in the Cold War times and only methods and strategy are changing, adviser to the station Ross Johnson told the Czech News Agency (CTK) yesterday. RFE is marking its tenth anniversary of broacasting from the Czech capital.

Following extending of its broadcasts to include the countries of the Middle East and Asia the station is now seeking to improve its Internet offer. Televised versions of some of its programmes have even appeared in Ukraine and Bosnia, said Johnson, adding that although there were many information channels in the world that did not necessarily mean better access to information.

He said that the use of RFE`s websites was rapidly growing also in such countries as Belarus, Uzbekistan or Iran, adding that spread of the information via the Internet was maybe one of the most important moments in its development, but only one of the many methods that compete with other sources of information.

He said that as during the period of the Iron Curtain, the station experienced difficulties in the countries where it has recently started to broadcast. Its reporters are being arrested in Uzbekistan and they have problems with authorities in Belarus. Even in Russia, the collection of information is not as simple as it is now until recently, he said.

Johnson said that although RFE was fully financed by the U.S. Congress and was considered an indirect part of the U.S. foreign policy, the station was seeking to preserve a large portion of its independence.

He said that moving its headquarters from Munich to Prague had been a great challenge for RFE.

Moving from Germany without interrupting broadcasts was really very demanding logistically and at the same time that was the most interesting Prague period, he said.

Cooperation with Czech authorities and politicians is excellent, he said.

The reaction of some politicians who started to consider Radio Free Europe a security risk after September 11, 2001, is understandable, he said, adding that such fears had certainly appeared in every city and every country.

The world still faces a long path before radio stations such as RFE will not be necessary, he said, adding that in certain countries of the former Soviet Union, the trend is turning against free media and RFE would apparently still find its use in these countries for some time.

CTK news edited by the staff of the Prague Daily Monitor, a Monitor CE service.