Government Broadcasting Operation Shields Its Publications From The American Press and Public By Michael Ravnitzky, Attorney at Law, MikeRav@ix.netcom.com U.S. Government broadcasting agencies refuse to permit public scrutiny of their publications. These agencies, formerly known as the Voice of America, deny access to the American public to the very materials those organizations broadcast to the rest of the world. Surprisingly, these agencies fight any attempts at access by the press under the Freedom of Information Act. For the first time, this article describes the existence and identity of the government¹s pre-written obituaries for hundreds of newsworthy and controversial figures, and provides instructions on how to get a copy of these interesting documents. THE PLAYERS The International Broadcasting Bureau (IBB) is an agency of the U.S. government. It was established by the International Broadcasting Act of 1994 to consolidate U.S. nonmilitary broadcast services. The IBB is responsible to the Broadcasting Board of Governors, which is appointed by the U.S. president and confirmed by the Senate. The bureau was formerly funded under the U.S. Information Agency (USIA) until Congress passed the Foreign Affairs Agencies Consolidation Act of 1998, which abolished the USIA. The largest portion of the IBB is the Voice of America (VOA), established in 1942. The VOA provides news, features, music, and U.S. government policy statements to an audience estimated at over 85 million people per week. VOA broadcasts on short- and medium-wave radio in more than 50 languages, and operates television programming and Internet services. Another division of the IBB is Worldnet Television and Film Service, a satellite broadcasting facility established in 1983. The IBB's Office of Cuba Broadcasting operates the controversial Radio Marti, which started broadcasting in 1985, and TV Marti, which telecast its first program in 1990. The Broadcasting Board of Governors also oversees the operations of two private, nonprofit corporations that are funded by the U.S. Congress: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, which each week sends 700 hours of radio programming in two dozen languages toward the countries of Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union; and Radio Free Asia, which broadcasts in eight Asian languages. WHY ISN¹T THE INFORMATION AVAILABLE? Does the American press have access to any of this massive amount of broadcast material, to ascertain what the U.S. government is disseminating overseas? It seems that the answer is no. The Broadcasting Board of Governors refuses to disclose to the press and the public the contents of news and information it sends out to the rest of the world. It does so under a little known clause in its statutory operating charter that prevents broadcast of Voice of America-type material in the United States. Congress has indicated that the purpose of this clause is to keep the federal government from broadcasting propaganda to United States citizens. Citing this clause, the Broadcasting Board of Governors simply declines to make its materials available. Even when the Board receives a specific Freedom of Information Act request from the public or the press, it declines to provide documents on the grounds of the b-3 exemption, which is intended to protect records which are specifically prohibited from disclosure by a statute other than FOIA. The Board cites the U.S. Information and Educational Exchange Act of 1948 (22 USC. 1461), which it claims prohibits the BBG from releasing within the United States information about the U.S., its people, and its policies when the information has been prepared for audiences abroad. Thus far, the federal courts have upheld challenges to this policy, deferring to administrative discretion and inviting Congress to clarify the matter. ARE THERE ANY EXCEPTIONS? The BBG admits to two small loopholes. First, overseas individuals and press can request documents from the Board and its components using the Freedom of Information Act. The requester must be outside of the United States. However, it is unclear whether an overseas arm of an American press organization would be granted records access in this manner. The other loophole is that the law appears to provide that upon request such information shall be made available at the BBG offices in Washington, DC, but for examination only (i.e. copying is not permitted). Another partial exception is the availability of certain programs placed on the agency website, at www.ibb.gov. THE PRE-WRITTEN OBITUARIES Like some other news organizations, the Broadcasting Board of Governors maintains a file of pre-written obituaries of world notable figures. These obituaries are compiled and maintained in both textual (transcript) and also in pre-recorded audio format. (Obviously such details as the date and manner of death are omitted until required.) The BBG has recently denied access to copies of many of these obituaries, citing the b-3 and b-6 (personal privacy) exemptions, but for some reason has released two of these obituaries (Boris Yeltsin and Fidel Castro) in response to a FOIA request. The case number of that request was 00-1047F1, the request for which was submitted on April 4, 2000 and the response sent on May 2, 2000. In an odd development of questionable legality, the Board is now refusing to release even these two obituaries to other requesters despite the statutory requirement that requires release to all requesters if a document has already been released to one requester. The FOIA Counselors at the Justice Department¹s Office of Information and Privacy have no explanation for the Board¹s selective release to one requestor but not to other requesters, which they confirm is contrary to the FOIA laws. Release of the Yeltsin and Castro obituaries demonstrates that release of these obituaries is free from any foreseeable harm. More important, the disclosure of such factual information about the public life of a high-visibility figure as might appear in an obituary is not a "clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy" of the type discussed in the b-6 FOIA exemption such as personnel and medical records. Even if there were portions that the Government felt were unreleasable, it would still be required under the FOIA law to release "all segregable releasable portions", in other words, all parts that did not fall squarely under one of the exemptions. The existence and contents of the obituaries of world figures identified below not only illustrates how an agency of the United States Government addresses controversial topics in domestic and foreign relations but also helps to explain to the public the operations of these taxpayer-funded government agencies. Despite this clear value to the public, the Board refuses to release these records. When asked about the status of these records last month, the FOIA Manager at the Board stated: "why don¹t you do your own research on these people in the encyclopedia?" Nevertheless, the primary reason for press interest in these obituaries, which is to assess the government¹s stance on the life and accomplishments of these individuals, which sheds light on the operations of government, the primary reason for the Freedom of Information Act and of the existence of a free and independent press. If you are interested in obtaining copies or audio tapes, or both, for the pre-written obituaries (sometimes referred to as "profiles" or "draft obituaries" cited below, you may send a letter, requesting a copy of, or access to the specific records described, to: The Broadcasting Board of Governors Attn: Ms. Lola Secora, Freedom of Information Act Manager Office of Administration Cohen Building, Room 3360 330 Independence Avenue S.W. Washington, DC 20547 USA Their phone number is 202-619-5499. In the letter, you should identify if you are a private individual or a representative of the press, and you should include a statement that indicates that you are willing to pay, if necessary, reasonable costs associated with the request. It is unlikely that there would actually be any fees assessed. Each obituary transcript is several pages the Yeltsin and Castro obituaries, for example, are about a dozen pages each. You can also request a list of all of the pre-written obituaries, which includes additional information such as the date the pre-written obituary or profile was written, some description about the individual, and whether audio tape is available for that obituary. Idi Amin Kofi Annan Corazon Aquino Yasser Arafat Kamuzu Banda Bhutto P.W. Botha James Brady George H. W. Bush Mangosuthu Buthelezi Fernando Cardoso James Earl Carter Fidel Castro Arthur C. Clarke Robert Dole Louis Farrakhan John Glenn Grass - Germany Alan Greenspan Alec Guiness (now deceased) Jesse Helms Chaim Herzog Ladybird Johnson Ted Kennedy King Michael of Romania Ed Koch Kumaratunga John McCain Eugene McCarthy Ralph Nader Nujoma Obuchi Cardinal O¹Connor (now deceased) Colin Powell Nancy Reagan Ronald Reagan Helmut Schmidt John Paul Stevens Suharto Strom Thurmond Bishop Desmond Tutu Von Weizsaecker Lech Walesa Shah Mohammed Zahir Jean Claude Duvalier Fujimori Sonia Gandhi Mikhail Gorbachev Hun Sen Lee Iacocca Henry Kissenger Helmut Kohl Nelson Mandela Daniel Arap Moi Robert Mugabe Bravo Obando Yuri Orlov Daniel Ortega Eden Pastora Aristides Pereira Pinochet Pope John Paul Prince Charles Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani Rene Edward Seaga Sharif Anatoly Shcharansky Eduard Shevardnadze Prince Sihanouk Ndabaningi Sithole Ian Smith Aleksandr Solzehenitsyn Sann Son Thailand Suharto Helen Suzman Kakuei Tanaka Margaret Thatcher Andimba toivo Atal bihari vajpayee Joao bernardo Viera Kurt Waldheim Caspar Weinberger Byron Whizzer White Boris Yeltsin Assad Yelena Bonner William Brennan Warren Burger (deceased) Anna Chennault Valery giscard D¹Estaing King Fahd of Saudi Arabia Gerald Ford General Vo Nguyen giap Gonzalez George Habash Alexander M. Haig Katharine Hepburn Wojciech Jaruzelski Kenneth Kaunda George F. Kennan Jeane Kirkpatrick Klerk Oskar LaFontaine Kuan Yew Lee Lorin Maazel Mike Mansfield Haile Mengistumengistu Mihajlo Mihajlov Hosni Mubarak Yasuhiro Nakaxone General Ne Win Milton Obote Van Dong Pham Tinsulanonda Prem Prince Bernhard Queen Beatrix Queen Juliana Elizabeth Taylor Cyrus Vance Oliver Tambo Velopillai Probhakaran Hans Dietrich Gensher Dos Santos Janas Savimbi Billy Graham Vaclav Havel King Juan Carlos Kinel Prince Philip of Britain Queen Elizabeth Donald Trump UNITED STATES AND UNITED NATIONS Madeleine Albright Buzz Aldrin Lamar Alexander Mario andretti Dick Armey Neil Armstrong Bruce Babbitt James Baker Marion Barry Reginald Bartholomew William Bennett Lloyd Bentsen Nicholas Brady Carol Mosely Braunh Stephen Breyer Gro Brundtland Patrick Buchanan Micheld Camdssus Dick Cheney Warren Christopher Henry Cisneros Barber Conable Alan Cranston Mario Cuomo Tom Dashle Ron Dellums David Dinkins Bob Dole Elizabeth Dole Bob Dornan Michael Dukakis Rolf Ekeus Michael Espy Tom Foley George Foreman Mary Futrell Robert Gates Butros Ghali Ruth Bader Ginsberg Al Gore Marvelous Marvin Hagler Tom Harkin Jesse Helms Richard Holbrooke Susan Insley Bo Jackson Jesse Jackson Franklyn Jenifer Lynn Jennings Earvin Magic Johnson General Robert Johnston Jackie Joyner Kersee Jack Kemp Senator Bob Kerrey Toddy Kollek Lyndon La Rouche Anthony Lake Richard Lamm Mario Lemieux Bob Livington General Merrill McPeak Kweisi Mfume Sen. 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