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RSID: <<2014-09-06T16:01Z
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17860000+1500>>
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Welcome to program 75 of VOA Radiogram from the Voice of America.
I'm Kim Andrew Elliott in Washington.
Here is the lineup for today's program:
1:31 Program preview (now)
2:26 Internet Governance Forum in Turkey, with image
11:02 Russia's renamed TASS news agency, with image
21:31 VOA Russian: paper microscope, with image
25:57 Closing announcements
Please send reception reports to radiogram@voanews.com.
And visit voaradiogram.net.
Twitter: @VOARadiogram
<EOT>
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VOA NEWS
Turkey Hosts Internet Forum Despite Its Dismal Web Freedom
Dorian Jones
September 03, 2014 6:46 PM
ANKARA, TURKEY - The site selected for the United Nations forum
on developing Internet policy is generating a great deal of
controversy, with critics taking aim at the irony of Turkey's
poor record regarding social media, Web sites and press freedom.
Over the past year alone, Turkey has shut down Twitter, blocked
YouTube, and jailed journalists and bloggers. President Recep
Tayyip Erdogan even called Twitter a "menace to society."
A number of non-governmental organizations and activists are
boycotting the four-day event this week over Turkey's Internet
freedom record, according to Yaman Akdeniz, an Internet activist
and professor of cyber law at Istanbul's Bilgi University.
"The situation in Turkey has moved from bad to worse. When you
have such a problematic approach to Internet governance, then
that should not be the host for such a major annual event," said
Akdeniz.
Web use
The forum is an annual global gathering that aims to bring
together governments, activists and business to discuss how to
regulate and encourage use of the Web.
Organizations and activists are accusing the forum of caving in
to Turkish government demands to remove a number of controversial
topics from the session, a charge denied both by Ankara and the
organizers.
Observers say Turkey has a very poor record of protecting free
expression online, with tens of thousands of websites being
blocked under legislation passed in 2007. Internet controls were
further tightened in February this year.
The world spotlight was cast on Turkey when social media sites
You Tube and Twitter were banned earlier this year by
authorities, who claimed they were being used to spread
accusations of high-level government graft. The bans were
subsequently overturned by the country's constitutional court.
Human rights
EU Commissioner for Digital Affairs Neelie Kroes, speaking
Tuesday in Istanbul, said the 28-nation grouping remains
concerned.
"It's part of a troubling trend for free speech and free media in
Turkey that is a trend, and concern that many in the
international community have been highlighting for some time,"
said Kroes.
Ankara's bid to join the EU has been stalled, in part due to
growing concerns over human rights and, in particular, freedom of
expression. Observers say concerns have grown since last year's
crackdown on anti-government protests.
The U.N. insists the choice of Turkey was normal, as it has
rotated between all member nations. Assistant Secretary-General
Thomas Gaas defended the Istanbul venue at Tuesday's press
conference.
"The United Nations works to promote an in-depth discussion of an
open, free Internet and we believe this discussion has to take
place; it is good that this discussion is taking place here,"
said Gaas.
Freedom of speech
So far, Ankara has refused to comment on the controversy. Most
plenary sessions organized by Turkish authorities are focusing on
the protection of the family. The Turkish government argues its
controversial Internet legislation is intended only to protect
children.
But Emma Sinclair Webb, senior researcher for Turkey for New York
based Human Rights Watch, said forum organizers should not turn a
blind eye to the Turkish government's increasingly stringent
approach to freedom of speech online.
"The striking irony of Turkey hosting the Internet Governance
Forum is that Turkey's own record on Internet freedom is abysmal.
From our point of view, holding the governance forum gives us
good opportunity to throw the international spotlight on Turkey's
appalling Internet freedom record," said Webb.
With opponents of the forum planning a series of events in its
last two days, some say Ankara's hopes that the controversy will
dissipate and the country would be able to raise its
international profile as a fast developing country seem set to be
dashed.
http://www.voanews.com/content/turkey-hosts-internet-forum-despite-its-dismal-web-freedom/2437814.html
See also http://www.intgovforum.org/
<EOT>
<STX>
Image: Internet Governance Forum 2014 logo...
<EOT>
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RSID: <<2014-09-07T02:31Z MFSK-32
@ 5745000+1500>>
<STX>
Welcome to program 75 of VOA Radiogram from the Voice of America.
I'm Kim Andrew Elliott in Washington.
Here is the lineup for today's program:
1:31 Program preview (now)
2:26 Internet Governance Forum in Turkey, with
image
11:02 Russia's renamed TASS news agency, with image
21:31 VOA Russian: paper microscope, with image
25:57 Closing announcements
Please send reception reports to radiogram@voanews.com.
And visit voaradiogram.net.
Twitter: @VOARadiogram
<EOT>
<STX>
VOA NEWS
Turkey Hosts Internet Forum Despite Its Dismal Web Freedom
Dorian Jones
September 03, 2014 6:46 PM
ANKARA, TURKEY - The site selected for the United Nations forum
on developing Internet policy is generating a great deal of
controversy, with critics taking aim at the irony of Turkey's
poor record regarding social media, Web sites and press freedom.
Over the past year alone, Turkey has shut down Twitter, blocked
YouTube, and jailed journalists and bloggers. President Recep
Tayyip Erdogan even called Twitter a "menace to society."
A number of non-governmental organizations and activists are
boycotting the four-day event this week over Turkey's Internet
freedom record, according to Yaman Akdeniz, an Internet activist
and professor of cyber law at Istanbul's Bilgi University.
"The situation in Turkey has moved from bad to worse. When you
have such a problematic approach to Internet governance, then
that should not be the host for such a major annual event," said
Akdeniz.
Web use
The forum is an annual global gathering that aims to bring
together governments, activists and business to discuss how to
regulate and encourage use of the Web.
Organizations and activists are accusing the forum of caving in
to Turkish government demands to remove a number of controversial
topics from the session, a charge denied both by Ankara and the
organizers.
Observers say Turkey has a very poor record of protecting free
expression online, with tens of thousands of websites being
blocked under legislation passed in 2007. Internet controls were
further tightened in February this year.
The world spotlight was cast on Turkey when social media sites
You Tube and Twitter were banned earlier this year by
authorities, who claimed they were being used to spread
accusations of high-level government graft. The bans were
subsequently overturned by the country's constitutional court.
Human rights
EU Commissioner for Digital Affairs Neelie Kroes, speaking
Tuesday in Istanbul, said the 28-nation grouping remains
concerned.
"It's part of a troubling trend for free speech and free media in
Turkey that is a trend, and concern that many in the
international community have been highlighting for some time,"
said Kroes.
Ankara's bid to join the EU has been stalled, in part due to
growing concerns over human rights and, in particular, freedom of
expression. Observers say concerns have grown since last year's
crackdown on anti-government protests.
The U.N. insists the choice of Turkey was normal, as it has
rotated between all member nations. Assistant Secretary-General
Thomas Gaas defended the Istanbul venue at Tuesday's press
conference.
"The United Nations works to promote an in-depth discussion of an
open, free Internet and we believe this discussion has to take
place; it is good that this discussion is taking place here,"
said Gaas.
Freedom of speech
So far, Ankara has refused to comment on the controversy. Most
plenary sessions organized by Turkish authorities are focusing on
the protection of the family. The Turkish government argues its
controversial Internet legislation is intended only to protect
children.
But Emma Sinclair Webb, senior researcher for Turkey for New York
based Human Rights Watch, said forum organizers should not turn a
blind eye to the Turkish government's increasingly stringent
approach to freedom of speech online.
"The striking irony of Turkey hosting the Internet Governance
Forum is that Turkey's own record on Internet freedom is abysmal.
From our point of view, holding the governance forum gives us
good opportunity to throw the international spotlight on Turkey's
appalling Internet freedom record," said Webb.
With opponents of the forum planning a series of events in its
last two days, some say Ankara's hopes that the controversy will
dissipate and the country would be able to raise its
international profile as a fast developing country seem set to be
dashed.
http://www.voanews.com/content/turkey-hosts-internet-forum-despite-its-dismal-web-freedom/2437814.html
See also http://www.intgovforum.org/
<EOT>
<STX>
Image: Internet Governance Forum 2014 logo...
<EOT>
|
|
RSID: <<2014-09-06T16:10Z MFSK-32
@ 17860000+1500>>
<STX>
This is VOA Radiogram from the Voice of America.
Please send reception reports to radiogram@voanews.com.
From Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty:
ITAR-TASS Looks Ahead By Traveling Back To Soviet-Era Name
By Charles Recknagel
September 02, 2014
The Soviet Union's state news agency TASS was once so closely
identified with the Kremlin that it reserved a special phrase to
use whenever it related official news to the Soviet people.
The phrase was "TASS is authorized to announce," and it prefaced
the Kremlin's statements on everything from Cold War diplomatic
crises to the progress of economic five-year plans. By stressing
the agency's special authorization, TASS -- an acronym for the
Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union -- maintained that whatever
other accounts the Soviet audience might hear or read, this was
the only approved, and therefore, accurate one.
Its signature phrase fell out of use when, after the collapse of
communism, the state news agency changed its name to ITAR-TASS --
ITAR being an acronym for Information Telegraph Agency of Russia.
In the spirit of the changing times, the agency was seeking to
emphasize the independence of its reporting, though it remained a
state news agency.
But now, ITAR-TASS is again adopting its Soviet-era acronym of
simply TASS in a step it says will strengthen its image. The name
change is expected to be phased in through the end of the year.
Announcing the change on the occasion of the agency's 110th
anniversary on September 1, Director-General Sergei Mikhailov
told staff in Moscow that "the decision was made to return to the
historic and globally recognized name of TASS."
He did not say precisely why the change was necessary but argued that the current media market, with its huge quantity of
information from varied sources, does not provide a full and
accurate picture of events. He said providing an "accurate"
picture would be the agency's main task.
The back-to-the-future branding choice strikes some observers as
odd.
Jefim Fistein, a Russian-Czech commentator and former director of
RFE/RL's Russian Service, says that in 1992 the acronym ITAR was
coupled to TASS in an effort to win the public's trust.
"The intention of changing the name was to bring a kind of
credibility to the old name of the Telegraph Agency of the Soviet
Union, because the name was empty of any credibility," he says.
TASS lost its credibility by being the mouthpiece for official
Soviet versions of events that were patently contradicted by
history, Fistein notes. That included announcing in 1968 that the
Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia was in response to a
counter-revolution.
As ITAR-TASS now returns to its Soviet-era acronym, the real
reasons behind the change may be less about the pros and cons of
choosing a specific brand name than about the Kremlin's own
ongoing efforts to highlight Russia's Soviet past.
The move echoes similar steps by Russian President Vladimir
Putin, including bringing back the Soviet national anthem,
reviving Soviet-style military parades, and restoring a
Stalin-era labor award.
Fistein says Putin's stoking of nostalgia for the Soviet era has
had considerable success in helping isolate his Western-leaning
opposition, encouraging him to go further.
"For many people now, the Soviet past, paradoxically, reflects
the happy future of present-day Russia," he observes. "They don't
expect a happy future to come in the form of modernization or in
the form of approaching the Westernized world. For them, the
future lies in the Soviet past of Russia."
At the same time, rebranding the news agency is in line with
steps by the Kremlin to bring other state-owned media assets more
visibly under its control.
In December, Putin ordered the closure of the RIA Novosti news
agency and Voice of Russia radio, with both to be absorbed into a
new media conglomerate called Rossiya Segodnya.
Sergei Ivanov, the head of Russia's presidential administration,
said upon announcing the reorganization that Russia "must tell
the truth and make it accessible to as any people as possible" as
Russia holds "an independent policy and unwaveringly protects its
national interests."
The name change is just one of many ITAR-TASS has undergone over
the course of its 110-year history, all of them reflecting the
spirit of the times.
The agency dates back to 1904 when tsarist Russia was at war with
Japan and needed rapid news from the battlefield. Its first name
was the Saint Petersburg Telegraph Agency (SPTA).
However, it was soon renamed. Seized by the Bolsheviks at the
start of the Russian Revolution, it became the Russian Telegraph
Agency (ROSTA) in 1918 and, in 1925, the Telegraph Agency of the
Soviet Union (TASS). Then, in 1992, it acquired the additional
acronym ITAR before losing it again this week.
At its height, TASS was known across the globe as the Soviet
Union's leading news agency, with bureaus in some 90 countries.
Today it is smaller, with bureaus in 70 countries, but remains
one of the world's largest news agencies.
http://www.rferl.org/content/itar-tass-rebranding-soviet-union/26563237.html
See also photos:
http://www.rferl.org/media/photogallery/26562828.html
As of 4 September, the TASS website was still branded ITAR-TASS:
http://en.itar-tass.com/russia/747574
<EOT>
<STX>
Image: TASS headquarters in Moscow...
<EOT> |
RSID: <<2014-09-07T02:40Z MFSK-32
@ 5745000+1500>>
<STX>
This is VOA Radiogram from the Voice of America.
Please send reception reports to radiogram@voanews.com.
From Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty:
ITAR-TASS Looks Ahead By Traveling Back To Soviet-Era Name
By Charles Recknagel
September 02, 2014
The Soviet Union's state news agency TASS was once so closely
identified with the Kremlin that it reserved a special phrase to
use whenever it related official news to the Soviet people.
The phrase was "TASS is authorized to announce," and it prefaced
the Kremlin's statements on everything from Cold War diplomatic
crises to the progress of economic five-year plans. By stressing
the agency's special authorization, TASS -- an acronym for the
Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union -- maintained that whatever
other accounts the Soviet audience might hear or read, this was
the only approved, and therefore, accurate one.
Its signature phrase fell out of use when, after the collapse of
communism, the state news agency changed its name to ITAR-TASS --
ITAR being an acronym for Information Telegraph Agency of Russia.
In the spirit of the changing times, the agency was seeking to
emphasize the independence of its reporting, though it remained a
state news agency.
But now, ITAR-TASS is again adopting its Soviet-era acronym of
simply TASS in a step it says will strengthen its image. The name
change is expected to be phased in through the end of the year.
Announcing the change on the occasion of the agency's 110th
anniversary on September 1, Director-General Sergei Mikhailov
told staff in Moscow that "the decision was made to return to the
historic and globally recognized name of TASS."
He did not say precisely why the change was necessary but argued
that the current media market, with its huge quantity of
information from varied sources, does not provide a full and
accurate picture of events. He said providing an "accurate"
picture would be the agency's main task.
The back-to-the-future branding choice strikes some observers as
odd.
Jefim Fistein, a Russian-Czech commentator and former director of
RFE/RL's Russian Service, says that in 1992 the acronym ITAR was
coupled to TASS in an effort to win the public's trust.
"The intention of changing the name was to bring a kind of
credibility to the old name of the Telegraph Agency of the Soviet
Union, because the name was empty of any credibility," he says.
TASS lost its credibility by being the mouthpiece for official
Soviet versions of events that were patently contradicted by
history, Fistein notes. That included announcing in 1968 that the
Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia was in response to a
counter-revolution.
As ITAR-TASS now returns to its Soviet-era acronym, the real
reasons behind the change may be less about the pros and cons of
choosing a specific brand name than about the Kremlin's own
ongoing efforts to highlight Russia's Soviet past.
The move echoes similar steps by Russian President Vladimir
Putin, including bringing back the Soviet national anthem,
reviving Soviet-style military parades, and restoring a
Stalin-era labor award.
Fistein says Putin's stoking of nostalgia for the Soviet era has
had considerable success in helping isolate his Western-leaning
opposition, encouraging him to go further.
"For many people now, the Soviet past, paradoxically, reflects
the happy future of present-day Russia," he observes. "They don't
expect a happy future to come in the form of modernization or in
the form of approaching the Westernized world. For them, the
future lies in the Soviet past of Russia."
At the same time, rebranding the news agency is in line with
steps by the Kremlin to bring other state-owned media assets more
visibly under its control.
In December, Putin ordered the closure of the RIA Novosti news
agency and Voice of Russia radio, with both to be absorbed into a
new media conglomerate called Rossiya Segodnya.
Sergei Ivanov, the head of Russia's presidential administration,
said upon announcing the reorganization that Russia "must tell
the truth and make it accessible to as any people as possible" as
Russia holds "an independent policy and unwaveringly protects its
national interests."
The name change is just one of many ITAR-TASS has undergone over
the course of its 110-year history, all of them reflecting the
spirit of the times.
The agency dates back to 1904 when tsarist Russia was at war with
Japan and needed rapid news from the battlefield. Its first name
was the Saint Petersburg Telegraph Agency (SPTA).
However, it was soon renamed. Seized by the Bolsheviks at the
start of the Russian Revolution, it became the Russian Telegraph
Agency (ROSTA) in 1918 and, in 1925, the Telegraph Agency of the
Soviet Union (TASS). Then, in 1992, it acquired the additional
acronym ITAR before losing it again this week.
At its height, TASS was known across the globe as the Soviet
Union's leading news agency, with bureaus in some 90 countries.
Today it is smaller, with bureaus in 70 countries, but remains
one of the world's largest news agencies.
http://www.rferl.org/content/itar-tass-rebranding-soviet-union/26563237.html
See also photos:
http://www.rferl.org/media/photogallery/26562828.html
As of 4 September, the TASS website was still branded ITAR-TASS:
http://en.itar-tass.com/russia/747574
<EOT>
<STX>
Image: TASS headquarters in Moscow...
<EOT> |
