Coburn is the junior Senator form Oklahoma who was first elected to
Congress in 1994. A fiscal and social conservative, Coburn, a medical
doctor by training, was elected to the Senate in 2004 after serving
six years in the House of Representatives. In 2010 Oklahomans returned
him to the Senate with a whooping 73 % of the votes cast. In 2004 his
plurality had stood at only 53%.
What has impressed conservative Oklahoma most about Coburn is his war
against government waste. He is celebrated for his battles against
pork-barrel and the expansion of the federal government. And no
government agency than BBG irks him more. “The BBG is the most
worthless organization in the federal government,” he has said in an
interview with The Cable in 2010. “All they are doing is spending
money.”
BBG was established in 1994 with an oversight mandate over all
non-military U.S. government international broadcastings. This means,
in the words of a GAO report, “five separate broadcast entities,”
including the VOA. But amazingly, all of the eight bi-partisan
governors that make up the BBG, which has management responsibilities
over a 600 million dollars budget and nearly 4000 employees, are
unpaid part-time volunteers. And Coburn insists, perhaps a bit too
harshly, that BBG board members are “people who know nothing about
media and foreign policy.” (Dana Perino, once a White House press
secretary and now a BBG board member, concedes she did not know about
the Cuban missile crisis until recently.)
Three members of this BBG, Susan McCue, Dana Perino(yes, of the Cuban
missile crisis fame), and Michael Meehan traveled to three African
countries between June 21 and June 27, 2011. They came primarily as
part of BBG’s expansive “review of broadcast operations in Africa,”
and no doubt with Ethiopia in mind, which jams VOA, “(to) stress the
importance of a free and unfettered press.”
They came to Ethiopia hoping to meet with government officials. Meles,
of course, would have been the ideal person to see. He continues to
sanction jamming and had abysmally accused the VOA of “genocidal
disposition.” (Ironically, it was one of his favorite radio stations
during his years as an insurgent.) But he snubbed them. They had to
settle for his decidedly less pleasant underling, Berket Simon.
Berket is notably incapable of either dialogue or negotiation. He
instinctively lectures or demands. And had it not been for the
extraordinary courage of David Abnor, then VOA’s horn of Africa chief
and one of four media officials traveling with the board members,
Berket’s bizarre demands and complaints would never have seen light of
day.
Astonishingly, Abnor did not opt for the safest means of exposing
wrong. He could have easily leaked the documents and watched the story
unfold from the sidelines, as is conventionally done. But Berket’s
prejudice and malice must have riled him. He went on to personally
publicize and refute the complaints Berket had obviously assumed would
stay behind closed doors; heroically jeopardizing his career
prospects. He was soon suspended (and later reinstated to a different
position.)
The diversity of the people blacklisted by Berket, first disclosed
partially by Abnor, and then fully by the outstanding investigative
reporting of Addis Voices’ editor, Abebe Gelaw, illustrates just how
insecure EPRDF’s key leaders have become since the dramatic events of
the Arab spring.
One could reasonably expect Dr Berhanu Nega, leader of outlawed
Ginbot-7, and Dr Beyana Soba, spokesperson of outlawed OLF, to be on
any blacklist the EPRDF would have. But what, if not hysteria,
explains the inclusion of even Dr Beyene Petros, a member of
parliament for nineteen of the past twenty years? This neither is
fanatical intolerance nor, as some may suspect, calculated posturing
to garner maximum concession before an eventual settlement. Rather,
this is neurosis revealed of a regime profoundly uncertain of its
future. Here is proof if ever there was the need of a government in a
state of crisis. This is the blessing in disguise the public had
needed for some time. In plain sight now stands an authoritarian EPRDF
visibly less stable and less sure of itself than popularly imagined.
But there is also the disquieting facet to this still unfolding saga.
In a July 18th report, VOA censorship revealed, Abebe Gellaw,
published the contents of a leaked email from Gwen Dillard, who heads
VOA’s African division, to journalists in the horn of Africa section.
“VOA should be more focused on development matters,” she wrote,
apparently acquiescing to Bereket’s core demand. “There should be less
attention to the Ethiopian Diaspora as well as issues focused on
political affairs.”
The editorial shift was highlighted within days when a story about a
high-profile public discourse between major political parties held in
Washington was abruptly dropped. Outraged Ethiopians have vowed to
protest on Monday.
The VOA’s standing in the Ethiopian market was meticulously cultivated
by consistency in reporting up-to-date hard news and events. This
excellence, rather than bias in favor of his party, was what had once
made Meles Zenawi an avid listener. And it is also this dependability
that has ensured VOA’s phenomenally high listener’s devotion over the
years. Tamper with the nucleus of this standard, as a coerced rather
than market-driven focus on development issues will inevitably entail,
and listeners will simply tune off in droves. No media can take its
market for granted.
There are indeed scores of VOA services, Arabic, Persian, and Pashto
amongst others, which would clearly gain from a strategic overhaul.
But the horn of Africa section is hardly one of them.
A word of advice to BBG: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!
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