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Radio Liberty, once a crude propaganda tool designed to pierce the Iron Curtain, has remade itself into as a respected news outlet. But with the Kremlin blocking it in most regions of Russia, and possible budget cuts at home, Liberty is fighting to be heard.
U.S.-paid private contractors in Iraq now outnumber military combat troops there. But you’d never know that from listening to officials and watching the news. Political scientist Deborah Avant talks about why the war’s privatization is slipping through the media’s cracks.
Despite the many obstacles to reporting on military contractors, a few journalists have pursued the story. Jeremy Scahill, author of Blackwater: The Rise Of The World’s Most Powerful Mercenary Army, talks about what it takes to see even a small part of the contracting picture.
Young fans of Croatian rock star Marko Perkovic attend his concerts sporting symbols from Croatia’s fascist past. They say it’s not about fascism, but national pride. Sdrjan Dvornik of the Croatian Helsinki Committee for Human Rights says Croatian youth don’t know their country's history because it's not covered in schools.
In Russia, two new Kremlin-supported teaching manuals read like throwbacks to a time when textbooks were filled with state propaganda. The Kremlin says it's not a return to Soviet-style education. But Wall Street Journal Moscow correspondent Andrew Osborn says Kremlin critics are dubious.
There’s been a lot of debate lately over how much trouble al Qaeda in Iraq is really causing. One way of gauging the group’s relative strength is to look at their media output. In a new report from Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, analyst Daniel Kimmage does just that.
The AK-47, one of Russia’s most popular exports, turned 60 this month. Michael Hodges, author of AK47: The Story of the People’s Gun, says that the weapon Mikhail Kalashnikov invented to defend his motherland has become a symbol of Third World revolutionary struggle and Islamic jihad.
Highlights from Past Shows
More than a decade after the Rwandan genocide, reconciliation comes in forms not only political and diplomatic, but also artistic. Michael Kavanagh reports on a radio soap opera in Kigali – a Shakespearean love story complete with murder, thievery, a Romeo, and his Juliet.
When Tony Blair became Britain’s prime minister a decade ago, his nickname was “Bambi,” a reference to his doe-eyed optimism. Now tarnished by the “low skullduggery” of politics, Blair left office on Wednesday deeply unpopular among his people. Longtime Blair spokesman Alastair Campbell points a finger at the press.
On the Media is funded by The Bydale Foundation, The Ford Foundation, The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Overbrook Foundation.
