Political Prejudice Before Professional Demands

In his article published in "The Wall Street Journal" (carried by VREME last week), Gene Secunda, Professor of Media at the New York University, discussed the possibilities of how NATO alliance propaganda could reach the citizens of Yugoslavia.  He confirmed that a specially equipped airplane C130 Lockheed Hercules has been broadcasting programming in "Serbo-Croatian" (although this language no longer exists officially anywhere) practically since the beginning of the war, explaining that the programming is not of adequate technical quality.  That is why he proposed that if all Yugoslav centers for broadcasting are completely destroyed by bombing, that NATO should form "a powerful network of television and radio transmitters on boats in the Adriatic Sea, and in some neighboring countries well disposed toward NATO."  The programing would be broadcast on the same frequencies on which domestic programing is being presently broadcast, and that would probably be a way in which Serbs would be told that they are being bombed in the hope that they might improve.

However, Professor Secunda forgot a vital detail   such a form of media war is illegal according to both the Constitution and the Conventions of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU).  These documents have the weight of international agreements, with the ones adopted in Kyoto in 1994 being the ones presently in effect.  The appended parts of these documents include Regulations on Radio Communication.  Article S23 of the Regulations reads: "Establishing and use of radio broadcasting stations (sound radio stations and television broadcasting stations) on ships, planes or any other floating, hovering or flying object outside of national borders is prohibited."  Another very important decree of the same set of Regulations states that in principle, except for certain frequency ranges, radio broadcasting stations "are not permitted to use strength which exceeds the economy and efficiency necessary for covering one's country of origin."  It is understood that so-called technical overlapping is inevitable when radio stations in border towns are at issue, but the  existence of a station whose purpose is to cover the territory of another country is illegal.  The only exception are short-wave programs. Otherwise, the ITU is one of the specialized agencies of the United Nations (like UNICEF, UNESCO, FAO, etc.), being the oldest one among them, functioning as part of the world organization since 1947, drawing its "roots" as far back as 1865 when the International Telegraphers Union was formed.  The decrees of the Constitution and Convention of the ITU are binding for all countries which signed them (including Yugoslavia, as well as all countries which are presently bombing it), while it is interesting that it is precisely Anglo-Saxon countries, lead by Great Britain foremost and United States following closely, which supported for years precise regulation of the rules of radio communication.  Now it turns out that they are the leaders when the braking of those rules is at issue.

Several instances of braking these regulations have been noted thus far, the more famous ones being "Radio Carolina" and "Boat Radio."  During the seventies a ship owned by the private company "Radio Carolina" was located in the Irish Sea beyond the sea limits of Ireland and the United Kingdom, broadcasting music and commercials (at rates that were far lower and more attractive than the ones of the practically monopolistic BBC rates).  Her Majesties Government invested a lot of effort, using a set of legal and technical measures to put a stop to this.  Finally they succeeded.  The "Boat Radio" is a story unto itself, having been founded at the beginning of the war in Bosnia.  The boat was anchored beyond Yugoslav territorial waters, while its staff was made up of journalists from Yugoslavia, Bosnia and Croatia which were extremely hostile toward each other at the time.  Through the ITU the Government of FR Yugoslavia intervened with the responsible authorities from the countries which owned that boat, and the broadcasting was stopped.  (Admittedly, the programming in which more money was invested than the total annual investment in independent media in Eastern Europe, could only be heard in Dalmatia and the Montenegrin Coast.  Its listeners also included seashells and fish   the signal could not cross the mountains of the Dinar Range.) This time also the responsible authorities in FR Yugoslavia reacted against the TV programming which is being broadcast   it is said in faulty Serbian language  from the mentioned airplane on TV channel 26.  This time it turned out that even the bureaucrats of the exclusively expert organization of the United Nations are not immune to prevalent political prejudices: initially the ITU dragged its feet, only to inform NATO member nations that what is at issue is the breaking of an international agreement.  Not a word about an eventual demand for putting a stop to this.