Colonialist media being used in practising hegemonism

J Hill was a British intelligence officer. He wrote a book, Radio . In his book he stated that radio broadcasts would be more effective when they were used in political purpose. He said the broadcasts could penetrate the borders whether the targeted nation approved it or not. The desired message could be sent to the world in seconds or minutes. So, he said, the service should not be stopped.

The west bloc practising neo-colonialism has made good use of the ideas of J Hill. Such broadcasting stations are BBC, VOA, Radio Malti, Radio Liberty and Radio Free Europe.

BBC, the British Broadcasting Corporation, is a broadcasting service that got registered in 1949 in the Ministry of Posts and Telegraphs of the British Government. According to the terms and regulations of the licence, BBC can freely broadcast. It is said, however, that if BBC broadcasts controversial issues among the nations, Home Ministry can intervene. The licence may be revoked if necessary. Under the rules and regulations, the government can ban BBC from broadcasting the news reports about IRA of Northern Ireland that wanted to be free from the rule of the Queen for independence.

Twelve members of the BBC administrative board are chosen and approved by the British cabinet. I have noted that the British Parliament is said to have provided over £150 million for BBC and about £ 20 million for overseas programmes. Although BBC has rejected that its programmes have nothing to do with the British government, it is undeniable fact that BBC received the assistance of the government. BBC broadcast world news in English on World Service programme round the clock. BBC interferes in the internal affairs of many nations of the world. As a result, its dignity is being tarnished.

During a three-day coup by Soviet communist hard-cores in August 1991, broadcasting service of the Soviet Union stopped. At that time, BBC meddled in the affairs of the Soviet Union by broadcasting round the clock.

At one time, world broadcasting stations aired accurate news. Broadcasting stations established by the governments broadcast programmes with the aim of informing, educating and entertaining the people. Broadcasting news and songs, private entrepreneurs and corporations aimed at gaining profit only.

When wars among the nations, regional wars or the World War broke out, broadcasting was utilized for propaganda, agitation and attacking the enemy.

When the capitalist nations and socialist (Communist) nations waged ideological war and cold war after the end of the Second World War, the broadcasting stations, TV stations and the press became the weapons of the cold war. Breaking the press ethics and regulations, they broadcast fabricated news rather than accurate ones.

The Voice of America (VOA) was established by the US Government Information Agency. During the cold war after World War Two, it started broadcasting in many languages including Myanmar. The VOA is airing internal affairs of the countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America. It is learnt that its annual expenses are about 200 million US dollars. It is spending hundreds of millions to expand its programmes for Latin America and Asia. It is also learnt that India is voicing its objections to the plan in that a branch station of VOA is being built in Sri Lanka. The VOA also meddled in the affairs of Soviet Union during a coup by communist hardcores by broadcasting its 18-hour programmes a day.

American Santa Fay, the rightist group, and CIA spent a huge amount of money in order to topple leftist governments of Latin America with the use of VOA programmes. The US Senate in September 1984 approved the establishment of the broadcasting station of Radio Malti with intent to break up certain countries of Latin America and Caribbean region, especially Castro-led Cuba. It approved 30 million US dollars a year for expenses of Radio Malti.

Radio Malti was dubbed after ‘Jose Malti’, a Cuban writer (1853-1895), to influence the peoples of Cuba and Latin America. In late 1989 a TV Malti programme was aired under the aegis of CIA; Cubans were bluffed by fabricated news including American Rock’n Roll songs and dances with intent to overthrow the Cuban Government. A hot-air balloon with a small broadcasting station was flown over the sea in order that TV Malti programmes from Washington could be relayed to Miami of Florida and then to Cuba, about 110 miles from Miami. However, Cuban scientists immediately disrupted the programmes of TV Malti.

In an attempt to break up European socialist countries, CIA established Radio Free Europe along with Radio Liberty. Radio Free Europe with a broadcasting station in Munich, Germany, put its programmes into air 20 hours and 30 minutes per day in Czechoslovakia, 19 hours per day in Poland and Hungry, seven hours and 30 minutes per day in Bulgaria and 12 hours per day in Romania. Programmes of Radio Liberty were broadcast in languages of the republics of the Soviet Union. The book on policy of Radio Liberty publicly stated that its ultimate aim is to break up socialism of the Soviet Union.

Free Europe Organization based in New York was licensed to run Radio Free Europe. Radio Liberty run by a group of Americans was registered in Germany to build a broadcasting station. At first, CIA bore 85 per cent of the expenses of the stations. And the remaining 15 per cent were provided with outside contributions. In 1971, US Congress approved the budget of US Government for these stations. As a result, both stations in collusion with the CIA became legal stations of the US government. During the period from 1988 to 1990 BBC, VOA, Radio Malti, Radio Liberty and Radio Free Europe incited chaos in many global nations.

Those broadcasting stations were constantly airing news about a three-day coup staged by the hard cores of the Soviet Communists in August 1991. The US government provided those broadcasting stations with US$ 50 million yearly.

The authorities of the People’s Republic of China expelled a VOA correspondent who was involved in instigating a riot in the PRC in 1989. The PRC government cracked down uprisings that broke out in Beijing on 4 June 1989. The CIA established the Zonlay broadcasting station to be used by Chinese expatriates near Michigan in the USA. The broadcasting station came on the air every day in Chinese language with a view to instigating disturbances in the PRC.

In Myanmar, BBC and VOA came on the air in collusion during the disturbances that occurred in 1988 to throw the nation into disarray. Those broadcasting stations were airing fabricated and false news to cause disintegration of the Union and collapse of sovereignty of the State. The nation was on the verge of disintegration and the Tatmadaw had to assume the State responsibilities unavoidably. Today, the broadcasting stations of the West Bloc are airing fabricated news with every intention of breaking up the Tatmadaw and jeopardizing peace and stability in the nation. The Tatmadaw government has built a large number of development infrastructures in its efforts to build a modern, developed nation based on national reconsolidation as peace and stability prevails in the nation.

The broadcasting stations of the West Bloc including BBC, VOA and RFA ignored developments brought about the length and breadth of the nation including border areas. They were broadcasting free of charge a series of announcements of a handful of expatriates and opium bandits under the name of national race armed groups and making instigation to destroy Myanmar that has been on the right path of development.

At present, they are broadcasting the report of Havel and Desmond Tutu, which is full of allegations and fabrications, in exaggeration as well as personal complaints and exaggerated words under the name of public opinion that are coming from unreliable sources.

In one evening, a friend of mine phoned me up from Mandalay, saying anxiously that the Maha Muni Buddha image had become dark and that all the replicas of the Buddha image and photos of the Buddha image on calendars had become dark. In reality, it can be found that the bronze face of the Buddha image in Mandalay is bright and glittering as it is being washed and cleansed daily. Based in this event, the media of the West Bloc in synchronization and collusion with internal and external destructive elements are found to be manufacturing fabricated news with the intention of destabilizing the nation.

Nowadays, BBC, VOA and RFA are broadcasting the STAR Asia satellite TV programmes in their attempts to inject Western culture and traditions into Asian countries. Those colonialist media has strictly followed and practised the ideas of J Hill to destroy the nations of Asia that do not yield to the West Bloc and to drive a wedge among developing nations which are vying with the capitalist world.

Therefore, members of Myanmar Writers and Journalists Association, who are national forces with nationalist fervour, need to establish an information pillar capable of countering the attacks of the colonialist media that are strictly following the ideas of J Hill.

Author : Chingya (Maubin)