|
|
|
USAID
Sets Sights on On July 1, USAID issued a request for applications for an important new initiative to assist non-government media in Russia. The goal is to encourage “partnerships” between U.S. entities and entities in Russia. The document is an interesting statement in itself. The bulk of it is published in this Newsletter. Applications are due August 15, 1994. From the competition, a winning Management Group will emerge, to be funded for a staff in the United States and Moscow. Its initial function will be to recommend a group of thirty or so potential partnerships to USAID, from which a smaller number will be mutually selected. The grant to the Management Group will be for approximately $500,000 a year for three years (an amount that the Newsletter estimates from the information provided). The amount to be awarded and managed by the Group (in conjunction with USAID) depends on Congressional appropriations. Figures in the order of $8 to $20 million have been mentioned. A critical feature of the Request is that members of the Management Group cannot be “partners” in the subsequent round of awards. Many of the major participants in assisting the independent media in Russia—Internews, the Russian-American Press and Information Center, for example—may be bidders for Management Group status, meaning that they cannot, themselves be partners. On the other hand, USAID funds would go principally to Russian partners (as awarded by the Management Group) with the Americans expected to provide in-kind contributions. A substantial amount of the ultimate award will be for equipment. The AID funds will pay for the purchase of equipment and the transportation of equipment from American donors. A premise of the RFA is that an independent media must be freed from over-reliance on equipment, including printing presses, cameras and transmission facilities, owned by the state. The document shows the USAID strategy: It is dedicated to non-government media. The state broadcasting giants cannot be Russian partners unless there are some creative arrangements. The RFA does not set detailed standards for what constitutes the non-government media. In many instances, equity in “independent” media is held by local governments, or is obliged to use government transmitters under circumstances that make them dependent on government. As the RFA points out, many independent newspapers are highly reliant on government subsidies. The partnership grants are designed to wean the media from this dependence. But difficult lines will have to be drawn to distinguish who are “independent” in terms of qualifying for the partnerships. A typical partnership will be between an independent television company, like NTV, and an American company, like CBS or even Bill Moyer’s production company. The USAID funds, if they were awarded to such a partnership, might provide travel money for experts from the U.S., for interns from Russia, for production equipment and for other special expertise. The American company might be expected to donate expertise and equipment. A Russian company like TV6, the joint venture with Turner Broadcasting, may be eligible, though the fact of significant U.S. equity may affect the priority the project receives for a final grant. There will be a priority for Russian partners who are news organizations or regional media entities. Major tasks for the Management Group will include: identifying and encouraging applications from the Russian side; finding American companies or nonprofits that want to spend time and some of their own money as part of the Great Media Experiment; putting together these partnerships; and then evaluating which one of them should be recommended to USAID. Among the prospective partners, both in Russia and the US can be journalism schools or other non-profit organizations. These partners have to be able, however, to contribute to the overall goal, i.e., an independent media that has the potential to make it on its own. There will be a question, for example, whether a government-connected journalism school in Russia can be a partner. It may be, that the Russian partners have to be media organizations, while American partners can be schools of journalism (or business, given the emphasis on management acumen). |
Last Updated: 11/20/99 |
|
© 1999 Post-Soviet Media Law &
Policy Newsletter |
