BBG Watch Commentary
The Russian investigative journalism magazine Sovershenno Sekretno is reporting on the departure of two Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) managers. The headline, “Top-mededzhery Radio Svoboda, prichastnye k massovym uvol’neniiam v Russkoi sluzhbe, otpravleny v otstavku,” links them with the mass dismissals of Radio Liberty Russian Service journalists in Moscow in September 2012. Some of the fired members of the former Radio Liberty Internet team now work for Sovershenno Sekretno.
The Novaya Svoboda (New Liberty) news website published by volunteers of Radio Liberty in Exile also reports on the departure of RFE/RL managers, “Dva vitse-prezidenta Radio Svoboda podali v otstavku.” Radio Liberty in Exile includes fired journalists and their colleagues who resigned in protest as well as many supporters.
Interesting recent articles in English published outside of Russia include “Unilateral Disarmament: How the West Has Destroyed its Broadcasting to Russia” by former BBC broadcaster Masha Karp, published in Human Rights in Russia.
In Russia, fired Radio Liberty journalist Elena Rykovtseva published an article in Novaya Gazeta, a newspaper supported by former President Mikhail Gorbachev, describing how a group of former reporters are fighting for their jobs – and, they believe, the life of the station which celebrates 60 years of broadcasting, “Radio Liberty faces Die Hard moment.”
The list of “Russian and International Media Reports on Radio Liberty Crisis” now includes over 570 items.