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Real0ne -> Moscow no longer relaying BBC's Russian-language FM programs (8/18/2007 1:03:09 AM)
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BBC says Moscow company no longer relaying broadcasts of BBC's Russian-language FM programs
The Associated Press
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 08.18.2007
MOSCOW — British Broadcasting Corp. said Friday that its Russian-language FM broadcasts have been taken off the air by its Moscow distributor, which called the programs "foreign propaganda."
The decision by Bolshoye Radio — and similar moves by two other radio stations in the past year — leaves the BBC's Russian-language services available only on medium- and short-wave broadcasts, the BBC said.
Bolshoye Radio's parent company, financial group Finam, said that its license did not allow it to retransmit BBC's programs and that the station will instead focus on originally produced material.
"It's no secret that the BBC was established as a broadcaster of foreign propaganda," company spokesman Igor Ermachenkov told The Associated Press.
Ermachenkov said management made the decision without outside interference. However, the move comes amid criticism that President Vladimir Putin's government has stifled media freedoms as part of an effort to increase Kremlin control over Russian political life. It also comes as British-Russian relations have soured, in part over the poisoning death of a former KGB agent.
As Russia heads into parliamentary elections in December and a presidential election in March, observers say government influence over news media appears to be at its strongest since the end of the Soviet era.
Several foreign language broadcasters have seen their programming curtailed or pulled off the air in Russia in recent years. Last year, Russian authorities dramatically curtailed the number of stations broadcasting Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Voice of America news programs.
http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/news/197001.php
Now if we in the usa did that with our propaganda machine the future might take a turn for the better.
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