{"id":5291,"date":"2013-01-04T18:20:09","date_gmt":"2013-01-04T22:20:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=5291"},"modified":"2013-01-04T18:20:09","modified_gmt":"2013-01-04T22:20:09","slug":"radio-liberty-president-steve-korn-has-resigned-in-wake-of-closure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2013\/01\/radio-liberty-president-steve-korn-has-resigned-in-wake-of-closure\/","title":{"rendered":"Radio Liberty President Steve Korn has resigned in wake of closure"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"RFE-RadioLiberty\"(Source: The Washington Post<\/a>)<\/p>\n

American-financed Radio Liberty, which penetrated the Iron Curtain with news of the outside world during the Cold War, has been trying to join today\u2019s information revolution \u2014 and the static crackling around its efforts has been loud enough to reach Washington.<\/p>\n

The radio station, funded by Congress but independent of it, has embraced a digital future, dismissing 37 journalists as it downsized just before it lost its only local broadcasting license here in November, when a 2011 law preventing foreign ownership came into effect.<\/p>\n

[H]ere in the Russia of Vladimir Putin, where news is highly political and controlled, a small but loyal radio audience that treasures unbiased reporting has declared itself betrayed. Even Mikhail Gorbachev, the last Soviet president, has complained. The name Radio Liberty \u2014 Svoboda in Russian \u2014 carries memories of overcoming Soviet oppression, freighted with disappointment over failed democracy, and its transformation is mourned.<\/p>\n

On New Year\u2019s Eve, after weeks of growing controversy, Radio Free Europe\/Radio Liberty President and Chief Executive Officer Steven Korn resigned, effective Jan. 25. […]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The forced closure of Radio Liberty is hypocritical–especially since the Voice of Russia’s own strategy<\/em><\/a> is to pull out of shortwave radio broadcasting into North America<\/a> and invest in local radio\/television stations within major US markets (like Washington DC) where they, of course, receive no resistance.<\/p>\n

Korn has been heavily criticized<\/a> for how he handled the “re-organization” of Radio Liberty in Moscow<\/a>. He certainly disposed of a lot of talented journalists, many of whom could have been instrumental in gathering and reporting news into<\/em>\u00a0Russia via Internet.<\/p>\n

Kim Elliott has done an excellent job following the Radio Liberty story<\/a> as it appears in the media.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Source: The Washington Post) American-financed Radio Liberty, which penetrated the Iron Curtain with news of the outside world during the Cold War, has been trying to join today\u2019s information revolution \u2014 and the static crackling around its efforts has been loud enough to reach Washington. The radio station, funded by Congress but independent of it, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[56,3],"tags":[1160,1528,1588,1094,1587,1586,1585],"class_list":["post-5291","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-broadcasters","category-news","tag-radio-free-europe","tag-radio-liberty","tag-radio-liberty-moscow-closure","tag-rfe","tag-rl","tag-steve-korn","tag-steven-korn-resignation"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-1nl","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":40151,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2019\/10\/platja-de-pals-once-a-cold-war-front-line-for-radio-liberty\/","url_meta":{"origin":5291,"position":0},"title":"Platja de Pals: Once a Cold War “front line” for Radio Liberty","author":"Thomas","date":"October 12, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"(Source: CNN via Tracy Wood) (CNN) \u2014 It's March 23, 1959. The radio waves crackle and broadcast begins: \"Govorit Radio Svoboda\" (??????? ????? ??????? - \"This is Radio Liberty speaking...\") From the other side of the Iron Curtain, the radio broadcasts of US-funded Radio Liberty reached deep inside the Soviet\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Clandestine"","block_context":{"text":"Clandestine","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/clandestine\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Soviet-Radio-Dial-1024x576.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Soviet-Radio-Dial-1024x576.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Soviet-Radio-Dial-1024x576.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":19302,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2016\/06\/radio-liberty-to-close-shortwave-broadcasting-service\/","url_meta":{"origin":5291,"position":1},"title":"Radio Liberty to close shortwave broadcasting service","author":"Thomas","date":"June 1, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Andrea Borgnino, who shares the following news via Twitter: Radio Liberty to stop Russian broadcasts on shortwave https:\/\/t.co\/vFQB67erNo @SWLingDotCom @aborgnino @UlisK3LU \u2014 London Shortwave (@LondonShortwave) May 31, 2016 Click here to view via Twitter.","rel":"","context":"In "Broadcasters"","block_context":{"text":"Broadcasters","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/broadcasters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Radio-Liberty","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Radio-Liberty.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":55220,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2023\/01\/60-minutes-features-radio-free-europe-and-radio-liberty\/","url_meta":{"origin":5291,"position":2},"title":"60 Minutes Features Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty","author":"Thomas","date":"January 2, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Tracy Wood, who shares a link to the latest episode of CBS' 60 Minutes which highlights both the mission and work of Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty. This episode can be watched on the CBS website by clicking here. Thank you for the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Current Events"","block_context":{"text":"Current Events","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/current-events\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/RFE-Radio-Liberty-Logo.webp?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/RFE-Radio-Liberty-Logo.webp?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/RFE-Radio-Liberty-Logo.webp?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/RFE-Radio-Liberty-Logo.webp?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":19815,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2016\/07\/searchable-archive-of-rferadio-liberty-broadcasts-to-ussr-1953-1995\/","url_meta":{"origin":5291,"position":3},"title":"Searchable archive of RFE\/Radio Liberty broadcasts to USSR 1953-1995","author":"Thomas","date":"July 9, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor,\u00a0Martin Kraft, who shares the following: Here's something for the history buffs, an online searchable archive of Radio Free Europe\/Radio Liberty broadcasts to the USSR from 1953-1995: http:\/\/www.radioworld.com\/article\/radio-liberty-munich-period-russian-broadcasts-available\/278953 This is brilliant, Martin! I just started searching through the recordings at the Open Society Archives--an impressive\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Broadcasters"","block_context":{"text":"Broadcasters","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/broadcasters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"RFE-RadioLiberty","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/RFE-RadioLiberty.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":64686,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2025\/11\/radio-free-europe-radio-libertys-hungarian-service-ceases-operations\/","url_meta":{"origin":5291,"position":4},"title":"“Radio Free Europe\/Radio Liberty’s Hungarian Service Ceases Operations”","author":"Thomas","date":"November 21, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor Bal\u00e1zs, who shares the following news via Radio Free Europe\/Radio Liberty and the following remarks: \"USAGM notified Congress on November 5, 2025, that it intended to terminate RFE\/RL's Hungarian Service\" - perhaps it is just a coincidence that the delegation led by Viktor Orb\u00e1n\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "International Broadcasting"","block_context":{"text":"International Broadcasting","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/international-broadcasting\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/RFE-Radio-Liberty-Logo.webp?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/RFE-Radio-Liberty-Logo.webp?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/RFE-Radio-Liberty-Logo.webp?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/RFE-Radio-Liberty-Logo.webp?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":27888,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2017\/09\/rferadio-liberty-add-transmitter-in-lithuania\/","url_meta":{"origin":5291,"position":5},"title":"RFE\/Radio Liberty add transmitter in Lithuania","author":"Thomas","date":"September 1, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Kim Elliott, who notes that Radio Free Europe \/ Radio Liberty have added a new transmitter in Lithuania: (Source: The Baltic Course) A new transmitter will be launched in Lithuania this week for broadcasting the Russian and Belarusian-language services of the US Congress-funded Radio\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "AM"","block_context":{"text":"AM","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/am\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Lithuania-Map.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Lithuania-Map.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Lithuania-Map.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Lithuania-Map.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5291","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5291"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5291\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5291"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5291"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5291"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}