emailtje: "Media Freedom Groups"
Anonym - 19.02.2002 01:37
Interesant! "Media Freedom Groups"
US FUNDS PENETRATE ZIMBABWE AIRWAVES
The Guardian
January 24, 2002
US FUNDS PENETRATE ZIMBABWE AIRWAVES
Chris McGreal in Harare
The United States is secretly funding a radio station
in London which has infuriated Robert Mugabe with
its nightly broadcasts to Zimbabwe and led his
government in Harare to blame the BBC.
SW Radio Africa, which broadcasts three
hours a night on short wave from clandestine
studios in Borehamwood, receives millions of
dollars from a department of the US international
development agency, the office of transition
initiatives (OTI).
The Zimbabwean exiles running the station say
the money comes from "human rights and media
freedom groups" but decline to name them.
SWRA, which has been on the air for a month,
has angered the Zimbabwean ruling party by
giving the opposition a platform and providing
a credible alternative to the endless diet of
propaganda and falsehoods on state radio.
It has embarrassed and irritated British
officials, who have publicly deniedthat
Britain plays any role in it.
The Zimbabwean information minister,
Jonathan Moyo, has accused the BBC
of providing it with studios, transmitters
and frequencies but the BBC World
Service director, Mark Byford, says the
BBC has no connection with it.
Diplomatic sources say OTI pays for the
studios, equipment and airtime on the
transmitters of what SWRA calls a
"global communications provider" but
declines to name.
The Voice of America, which is owned by
the US government, has transmitters in a
number of southern and central African
states.
The US embassy in Harare said it could
not confirm or deny Washington"s involvement.
SWRA´s spokeswoman, Georgina Godwin, said
by email that the funding came from "human
rights/media freedom groups", but would answer
no further questions.
SW Radio Africa is headed by Gerry Jackson,
who was sacked by the Zimbabwe Broadcasting
Corporation five years ago for broadcasting
telephone calls describing aslleged police brutality.
She then opened an independent station,
which the police closed after six days.
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