Nonetheless, given the quagmire the country was in when your Amharic service was started, I would also say that the Amharic service was meant to help fighting the rogue socialism which Ethiopia was living with partially due to the unwavering support of your socialist half – East Germany. Thank you so much though for what you have done and will be doing for Ethiopians and lovers of Ethiopia.
How much do you know Ethiopia? What do you know about the personality of our politicians? Do you know who Bereket is? What do you mean by hatred? What makes you think that you are good enough to judge good or bad for Ethiopians? Or have our politicians become endeared to you simply because they are doing everything to please your big brother – USA? You are entitled to your opinion, but you cannot blindly judge the die-hard Ethiopians who are struggling to the prosperity of Ethiopia and Ethiopians. We always appreciated but never needed the help of Europeans and whoever else to deal with our dictators and in fact invaders.
It is however unfortunate and sad to see DW-Amharic service bowing to our dictators just like BBC. I hope you remember that Bereket went all the way to Bush House, London, to complain about BBC’s neutrality in covering Ethiopian issues. Anyway, I encourage you to think it through again and again. You have been part of the struggle that ousted our former dictator. That keeps me believing that you will never intentionally nurture an already matured dictator – along with his cronies – who hates his own people for the very reason that they were not born in his village. Given Germany’s recent history, we Ethiopians expect a lot more neutrality and rationality from DW-Amharic service and you in particular.
Bereket will throw names to you whenever you meet. He will keep on doing that. That is his job, Sir! Why don’t you do your job?
Respectfully,
Kassa Hailu (PhD)
DW Amharic credibility underfire
Dear Mr. Schadomsky,
Head of DW Amharic,
I have been an ardent fan of DW-Amharic program. It goes back at least two decades. I enjoyed many of the programs. I am grateful for that. Moreover, I took it for granted that your programs were trustworthy.
However, lately…DW-Amharic service is facing a blunt trouble. You have set yourself up to be oriented by the regime in Addis Ababa. Your actions(including your exposed memo) reveal that you are bowing to the pressure from Bereket Simon[Meles Zenawi]. This is the very official responsible for the total media blockade in Ethiopia. Now, it looks he has succeeded in putting considerable pressure on DW too. If DW is not reporting independently, why the need for you to have DW Amharic? If you are broadcasting what the Ethiopian government likes to hear, you will be an extended voice of Mr. Zenawi’s propaganda machine.
Mr. Schadomsky, in your open letter to Ethiomedia, you categorized the majority of Ethiopians who are the very victim of the Meles Zenawi repressive regime as “radicalized opposition figures and organizations”. Your own words expose your partiality and bias. It will be very difficult for you to reclaim public trust. It will be much more troubling for ordinary Ethiopians to trust your judgment and the programs coming out of DW-Amharic. Hence, you created A HUGE DEFICIT OF TRUST. That calls for you to stay aside so that DW can get an independent minded, impartial, unbiased, and uncontroversial person.
In the meantime, we Ethiopians will continue to work hard to strengthen our own media outlets.
Best Wishes,
MULUNEH YOHANNES
“But why?”
Sehr Geehrter Herrn Schadomsky,
Liebe Gruesse an Sie!
Ihr Nachname sagt dass Sie eine slavishe/polishe Herrkunft haben. Aber warum ich dieses Email schreibe is um etwas andres, naemlich ueber ihr Anschreiben zu ihren Untergebenen.
Remember the time where the the German people were forced to get information from Reichsministerium für Volksaufklärung und Propaganda or Propagandaministerium)?, or the East Germans from the Ministry for State Security (German: Ministerium für Staatssicherheit (MfS))?
How about the ‘black money affair during Helmut Hohl (Schwarzgeld-Angelegenheit in der Zeit mit Helmut Kohl), which was brought to light by the free media in the unified and free Germany?
As a German citizen and a person of influence, the last thing you should consider is to use your power to silence free media, and your letter to your subordinates is nothing but an effort to do that,
But why?
If your concern is that the Ethiopian government will create difficulty to DW broadcasting, the way to deal with that is through a diplomatic pressure by the German government. So long as your employer is Angela Merkel and not Meles Zenawi, you should not do what you did.
If your concern is that the DW audience will get misinformation, let the listeners be judges for themselves.
