Your Jan. 8 editorial supports the move of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty to Prague. But if storm clouds are appearing in the former Soviet Union, why should the United States continue to split its transmitting and newsgathering resources between RFE/RL and the Voice of America, which broadcasts in many of the same languages of the region?
By combining these resources, we would have a really effective international broadcasting effort, capable of dealing with any political eventuality. This merger also would remove one of two expensive administrative structures.
Moving RFE/RL to Prague will entrench it there as a bureaucracy and make it more difficult to consolidate with the rest of U.S. international broadcasting. Hopes for a more effective and economical network that “nimbly responds to change” would be quashed for a couple of decades at least.
Instead of moving RFE/RL to Prague, here’s another idea: Let’s combine RFE/RL and VOA, add television capability and move this dynamic new international broadcasting operation to Chicago. This would symbolize its journalistic insulation from the federal government in Washington and place it in a city rich in media resources and global heritage.
