Trump slashes funding for US international media
Donald Trump has issued a presidential order stipulating massive cuts to Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and other US international broadcasters. According to media reports, around 1,300 employees have already been placed on administrative leave. Since the Cold War, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty has played a key role as an independent voice in autocracies and dictatorships worldwide. Commentators discuss how to respond.
Czech Republic has a special obligation
Prague must do everything it can to support Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Hospodářské noviny insists:
“The closure of the radio broadcaster concerns us directly, and not just because its editorial office is in Prague. Many Czechs still remember the Svoboda programme during the communist regime, and the part the broadcaster played in the latter's downfall. ... We should take it upon ourselves to continue with the original mission. ... The Czech Republic should be at the forefront of countries that commit to providing long-term financing for RFE/RL. In fact it's almost an obligation, like paying off a debt. Because we don't really owe anything to the current US. But we do to the idea of freedom.”
Europe, take up the baton!
There must be a swift response to Trump's funding cuts, columnist Edward Lucas demands in Eesti Päevaleht:
“RFE/RL is a ready-made project: the information-warfare equivalent of a fully commissioned, crewed and equipped aircraft carrier. Its main base is in Europe, in Prague (cutting the US end of the bureaucracy will save money and probably boost efficiency). As the Czech government commendably argues, now is the time to act, before talented staff drift away into other jobs, buildings and equipment get sold off, and the institutional culture decays. All that for the cost of one US-made F-35 fighter, which probably wouldn't work when we need it.”
Don't start a culture war with the US
Mladá fronta dnes urges caution in saving RFE/RL:
“Because the broadcaster is based in Prague, we see it as our silverware. ... But let's be careful that the rescue doesn't turn into a spiralling cultural war with America. And that we don't keep RFE mainly to feel good about how we got at Trump. ... Two days after Trump announced his decision to minimise the Global Media Agency, French MEP Glucksmann spoke out. He demanded that the US return the Statue of Liberty that France dedicated to them in July 1876 – the 100th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. This is exactly how the spiral could continue.”
Voice of truth stifled
The historian and Rada deputy Volodymyr Viatrovych emphasises the historical role of the two US broadcasters on Facebook:
“In the Soviet Union, Voice of America and Radio Liberty were described as 'enemy voices' and subjected to relentless attacks with jammers to prevent them from bringing the truth to the people behind the Iron Curtain. Neither the Soviet Union nor the curtain remained. And now the voices that spread the truth have also fallen silent. Not because of jamming transmitters, but because a lack of willingness to use the truth and the complex instruments for communicating it. For those who want to deceive, spreading lies on social media is faster, cheaper and more effective.”
Washington playing right into Moscow's hands
Journalist Sergei Aslanyan rakes the US president over the coals on Facebook:
“Trump is uneducated and primitive enough to have decided to destroy Voice of America and Radio Liberty. Why should America need radio when it has Trump's megalomania? Why waste money on words if they don't yield any concrete profits? Why spend funds when there's a gold-plated president who trades in peace and war? Russia is conducting the information war seriously and successfully, although up to now Moscow had feared that it might lose. Now, however, it's receiving victory from the hands of its main enemy – America.”