BBG Watch Commentary
In a Washington Post op-ed, “A fearful new world, imperiled by Russia’s subterfuge,” Pulitzer Prize winning author, journalist and historian Anne Applebaum suggested that Europe and the United States can better counter the Kremlin’s propaganda and attempts to destabilize Ukraine by increasing funding for their international broadcasting programs and improving their performance.
“Americans and Europeans should begin to rethink the funding and governance of our international broadcasters in order to counter the new war of words.” Anne Applebaum
In an earlier an op-ed for The Telegraph about the Kremlin’s propaganda onslaught over Ukraine, Applebaum suggested that maybe it’s time to look again at the funding of such U.S. taxpayer-supported media outlets such as Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), “and to find ways to spread their reach once more.” She observed that “Russia’s information warriors are on the march” and “we must respond.”
“Unfortunately, the only response to an all-out information war is an all-out information defence. The West used to be quite good at this: simply by being credible truth-tellers, Radio Free Europe and the BBC language services provided our most effective tools in the struggle against communism. Maybe it’s time to look again at their funding, and to find ways to spread their reach once more.” “Russia’s information warriors are on the march – we must respond,” by Anne Applebaum, The Telegraph, March 7, 2014.