US embassy cable - 05ADDISABABA3852

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADDIS ABABA 003852 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR AF/E (SCHOFIELD, GAREY), AF/PD 
LONDON, PARIS, ROME FOR AFRICA WATCHERS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM, KDEM, KPAO, PREL, ET, VOA, UNREST, ELEC 
SUBJECT:  VOA'S AMHARIC SERVICE CONDEMNED BY GOE - NEED FOR 
PROOF 
 
1.  This cable contains an action request.  See paragraph 
12. 
 
2. SUMMARY: On November 8, Charge d'Affaires met with local 
and London-based Voice of America correspondents.  She used 
the meeting to discuss U.S. policy regarding Ethiopia, the 
role the VOA is playing in Ethiopia at a time when its 
listenership is likely at record levels, and Government of 
Ethiopia concerns regarding the objectivity of the VOA 
Amharic service.  She provided them with background 
information on the country's evolving political situation 
and a brief on-the-record quote.  Government of Ethiopia 
unhappiness with the VOA Amharic service is well known and 
increasingly loudly expressed -- and now threatens to result 
in the loss of vital coverage to Ethiopians.  The most 
recent flare-up in GOE anger at VOA results from a VOA 
bulletin that calls for a stay-at-home strike and asks 
security forces to refuse to follow orders. Post requests 
confirmation on whether this item did in fact run on VOA and 
if so, please provide guidance on how to respond.  An 
independent analysis of VOA's Amharic reporting is badly 
needed in order to respond to GOE concerns and ensure that 
VOA is not jammed or receives interference. END SUMMARY. 
 
--------------------------------- 
SETTING AN AGENDA FOR COOPERATION 
--------------------------------- 
 
3. On November 8, Charge met with London-based VOA English 
service correspondent Michael Drudge, along with local 
stringers Iskender Firew and Meleskachew Amaha (the latter 
still wearing bandages as a result of an October 26 beating 
by unidentified assailants).  Joining the meeting were the 
Embassy's A/DCM, PA Counselor, IO, PolOff, and FSN 
Information Specialist. 
 
4. Charge welcomed the journalists and consoled Meleskachew 
on his injuries, telling him she had raised her concerns 
about his assault with the Government.  She noted the very 
real need for VOA reporting at a time when Ethiopians are 
unable to hear other independent voices -- and that both the 
Ethiopian people and the government were listening.  She 
expressed hope that, as a part of the U.S. Government, VOA 
would be sensitive to U.S. policy issues and uphold its 
history of fair and balanced reporting.  Referring to 
unconfirmed reports that the Government of Ethiopia may be 
attempting to interfere with the reception of VOA, she noted 
that, if true, it was a sign of how seriously VOA's 
reporting is taken.  She cited a recent specific GOE 
complaint (see below) and used it as an example of how 
perceived bias can further impede the relationship between 
the GOE and VOA. [NOTE: Since November 7, VOA reception in 
Ethiopia has been increasingly unintelligible because of an 
overlay to its frequency of Government-owned Radio Fana, 
which has successfully reduced VOA's ability to be heard. 
END NOTE.] 
 
5. Noting that she was well aware of the GOE's blanket 
reluctance to interact directly with the Amharic service, 
the Charge said that it was still possible to report on 
known GOE positions and important to present as broad a 
spectrum of opinion as possible.  COMMENT:  One of the 
problems is that VOA provides more news about the opposition 
and its activities than any other news.  Even if VOA does 
not report GOE views, it could provide more news about other 
events in the country.  END COMMENT. 
 
6. During a lively and positive Q&A, the Charge drew on 
points presented to international correspondents at a 
background briefing earlier in the day to explain U.S. 
policy on the current situation.  She described Ethiopia's 
current political situation and outlined the role the U.S. 
and the broader international community are playing to 
resolve the crisis and re-focus all sides on moving forward, 
including the November 6 joint EU/U.S. statement.  She 
recapped what had taken place since internationally brokered 
negotiations began in early October (and subsequently ended) 
and noted her optimism that progress was still possible. 
She said that dialogue -- and a democratic future -- is not 
possible without renunciation of violence and cooperation 
between the government and the opposition. 
 
7. She called for the VOA's help in focusing on the way 
forward, citing the absence of other voices and Ethiopians' 
always keen and increasing interest in VOA reporting 
guarantee it a crucial place in getting balanced, accurate 
information to them. 
 
------------------- 
THE VOA IN ETHIOPIA 
------------------- 
 
8.  The current clampdown on private newspapers (in place 
since November 2), combined with the state's monopoly on 
broadcast media and its content, has meant that Ethiopians 
are increasingly relying on short-wave, local-language radio 
broadcasts by the VOA (and, to a lesser extent, by Deutsche 
Welle) for information on the rapidly evolving political 
situation in the country.  A side effect of this increased 
prominence of VOA reporting has been ever-closer scrutiny of 
its coverage, especially through the Amharic service, by the 
government and its supporters.  (NOTE:  coverage by VOA's 
Tigrigna and Afaan Oromo services have escaped such 
criticism of late, although the former came under fire 
during the border war for alleged pro-Eritrean bias. Given 
that the opposition is heavily based in the Amhara region, 
the problem is specifically the Amharic service.  END NOTE.) 
 
9.  The GOE's perception of bias was demonstrated this week 
by a November 7 letter to the Charge from State Minister of 
Foreign Affairs Tekeda Alemu, who decried "the very 
destructive role that the VOA Amharic service has been 
playing in its broadcast to Ethiopia."  The letter goes on 
to call the broadcast "one of the major sources of 
instability...an instrument for stoking violence as well as 
for advancing and propagating the policies of the most 
hardliner section of the CUDP," and "a transmitter of the 
most destabilizing messages imaginable." 
 
10. Accompanying the letter was the Amharic text and an 
English transcription of an excerpt from the news in the 
Saturday, November 5 broadcast, during the height of the 
violence in Addis Ababa, that gave the direct text from a 
leader of the Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUDP). 
This bulletin called for a stay-at-home strike beginning 
November 7, to continue until CUDP leaders are released from 
prison and the ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary 
Democratic Front (EPRDF) agreed to negotiations.  The 
Ministry's English translation of the excerpt closed with 
what appeared to be a free-standing, unsourced statement: 
"The law enforcement agencies and the defence forces who are 
supposed to safeguard the safety of the public should 
immediately refrain from implementing orders."  [NOTE: At 
the time that VOA broadcast this information the CUDP leader 
quoted was in hiding and was being sought by the Ethiopian 
authorities. He was not authorized to speak for the CUDP. 
But more worrisome still is the call for security and 
defense forces to disobey orders.  END NOTE.] 
 
11.  COMMENT:  Government and EPRDF dissatisfaction with and 
allegations of bias in VOA Amharic reporting are 
longstanding.  The last such round took place in June, when 
VOA and DW local reporters lost their Ministry of 
Information accreditation (and at least one VOA stringer 
fled the country) and the state media carried denunciations 
of the reporting of both.  Whether or not actual reporting 
carries biased or inaccurate information (and in general 
that seems not to be the case), recent Post review of the 
Amharic service does indicate that much coverage focuses on 
opposition activities, both in the country and in the 
Diaspora, with comparatively little illustrating other 
points of view.  The very reluctance of the GOE and its 
supporters to engage with what it perceives as an opponent 
may in fact be a substantial contributing factor in the 
imbalance they perceive. END COMMENT. 
 
12.  ACTION ITEM: In order to reply to the Foreign 
Ministry's complaint, Post needs the complete text of the 
VOA broadcast and specifically wishes to know if the item 
calling on the armed forces to disobey orders was included. 
Post also requests guidance on how to reply to this specific 
complaint.  Post would like independent data that would 
allow provide a better window into VOA Amharic reporting, 
allowing a better ability to evaluate allegations of bias. 
Given that a strong perception of actual bias exists, and 
that at least some imbalance may be demonstrable, Post 
suggests an impartial review of VOA Amharic reporting over 
the past six months. This suggestion is not made with the 
intent of pointing fingers, but to better enable Post to 
respond appropriately to the VOA's vehement detractors in 
Ethiopia and to ensure that VOA lives up to its reputation 
for fair and balanced reporting. 
HUDDLESTON