DC Radio Station Must Register As Russian Agent, Judge Rules

May 21, 2019 by Tom Ramstack
DC Radio Station Must Register As Russian Agent, Judge Rules

WASHINGTON — A Washington, D.C. radio station must register as a foreign agent because of its persistent broadcasts of Russian news and information that critics describe as propaganda, a federal judge ruled last week.

This week, the Justice Department hailed the ruling for demonstrating how the Russian government tries to manipulate news and politics in the United States.

Since December 2017, Washington station WZHF-AM has broadcast the English version of Russian government-controlled Radio Sputnik.

The radio broadcasts are part of the Russian government-owned news agency Rossiya Segodnya, headquartered in Moscow but operating with bureaus worldwide. It directs its news about global politics and economics toward non-Russian audiences.

The New York Times has accused the news agency of deliberate disinformation and running Russian propaganda outlets in the United States and other countries.

A Justice Department statement this week said Americans “have a right to know if a foreign flag waves behind speech broadcast in the United States.”

It added, “Our concern is not the content of the speech but providing transparency about the true identity of the speaker.”

Hosts of the Radio Sputnik news programs have included Eugene Puryear, a former U.S. vice presidential candidate for the Party for Socialism and Liberation; and John Kiriakou, a former CIA analyst who confirmed the United States used waterboarding to interrogate al Qaeda prisoners.

The Justice Department last year ordered WZHF’s owner, RM Broadcasting of Jupiter, Florida, to register as a foreign agent under the Foreign Agents Registration Act.

Instead, RM filed a counterclaim, saying it did not control the station’s content or intend to spread foreign propaganda.

However, Judge Robin Rosenberg ruled last week in U.S. District Court in West Palm Beach, Florida, that RM’s intentions were irrelevant. The controlling issue was a contract in which RM agreed to accept payment for broadcast services from Rossíya Segódnya, thereby making Radio Sputnik a foreign agent.

The dispute also is reviving long-dormant concerns the Foreign Agents Registration Act will be used more broadly by the Justice Department against the foreign media.

Congress approved the Foreign Agents Registration Act in 1938 to counter Nazi propaganda. It requires agents of foreign governments to register with the U.S. government, disclose their associations and report their financing sources.

Most commonly, it has been used against lobbyists and business executives representing foreign interests. Only rarely have members of the media been required to register.

The judge in the Radio Sputnik case acknowledged uncertainties created by the Foreign Agents Registration Act.

“This Court acknowledges, as have others, that the language of FARA is broad,” Rosenberg wrote. “Nevertheless, the Court must apply the statutory language as written; it is not for the Court to rewrite the statute.”

In her decision to grant a judgment on the Justice Department’s pleadings, she wrote, “RM Broadcasting contends … that it simply buys and resells radio airtime and has resold some of that airtime to Rossiya Segodnya.”

She added, “However, under the explicit language of the Services Agreement that the Court has quoted above, RM Broadcasting is required to do much more than resell radio airtime to Rossiya Segodnya. Notably, RM Broadcasting is required to ‘broadcast/transmit Radio Programs.”

As a result, RM “satisfies the definition of an agent of a foreign principal,” Rosenberg wrote.

The court ruling continues a rising struggle between Russian and American media outlets that started amid suspicions that Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin tried to influence the 2016 presidential election in favor of Donald Trump.

It was followed by a January 2017 report from U.S. intelligence agencies that said RM’s television affiliate, RT America, was “Russia’s state-run propaganda machine.” Some of its programming was intended to influence the 2016 election, the report said.

A few months later, the U.S. government officially classified RT America as a foreign agent. Other foreign news organizations, such as Britain’s BBC and China’s CCTV, are not listed as foreign agents.

Putin responded by authorizing the Russian government to require U.S. media organizations, such as Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, to register as foreign agents.

A+
a-
  • court ruling
  • foreign agent
  • Radio Sputnik
  • WZHF-AM
  • In The News

    Health

    Voting

    Interior Department Rule Aims to Crack Down on Methane Leaks From Drilling on Public Lands

    WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration issued a final rule Wednesday aimed at curbing methane leaks from oil and gas... Read More

    WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration issued a final rule Wednesday aimed at curbing methane leaks from oil and gas drilling on federal and tribal lands, its latest action to crack down on emissions of methane, a potent greenhouse gas that contributes significantly to global warming.... Read More

    Many Americans Say Immigrants Contribute to Economy but There's Worry Over Risks, AP-NORC Poll Finds

    WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans are more worried about legal immigrants committing crimes in the U.S. than they were a few... Read More

    WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans are more worried about legal immigrants committing crimes in the U.S. than they were a few years ago, a change driven largely by increased concern among Republicans, while Democrats continue to see a broad range of benefits from immigration, a new poll... Read More

    Louis Gossett Jr., 1st Black Man to Win Supporting Actor Oscar, Dies at 87

    LOS ANGELES (AP) — Louis Gossett Jr., the first Black man to win a supporting actor Oscar and an Emmy winner for... Read More

    LOS ANGELES (AP) — Louis Gossett Jr., the first Black man to win a supporting actor Oscar and an Emmy winner for his role in the seminal TV miniseries “Roots,” has died. He was 87. Gossett's nephew told The Associated Press that the actor died Thursday night in Santa Monica,... Read More

    March 28, 2024
    by Dan McCue
    Silicon Valley-Based Firm Launches ‘Radar as a Service’

    BELMONT, Calif. — At first the idea sounds about as un-Silicon Valley as one can get. After all, the basic... Read More

    BELMONT, Calif. — At first the idea sounds about as un-Silicon Valley as one can get. After all, the basic concept underlying radar was proven in 1886, when a German physicist named Heinrich Hertz showed that radio waves could be reflected from solid objects. And the... Read More

    New Poll Results Show Americans Are Concerned About Political Division and What Can Be Done to Fix It

    As we head into this election year with a likely rematch between two relatively unpopular candidates, it may seem political divisions... Read More

    As we head into this election year with a likely rematch between two relatively unpopular candidates, it may seem political divisions are higher than ever. Many controversial issues like immigration, taxes and debate over foreign aid dominate the news, so much so that many Americans may think... Read More

    March 28, 2024
    by Dan McCue
    Elections Task Force Prosecutes 2020 ‘Vigilantes,’ Seeks More Civic Dialogue

    PHOENIX, Ariz. — A 46-year-old Ohio man has been sentenced to 30 months in prison for sending death threats to... Read More

    PHOENIX, Ariz. — A 46-year-old Ohio man has been sentenced to 30 months in prison for sending death threats to an Arizona election official. The sentencing of Joshua Russell, of Bucyrus, Ohio, came after he pleaded guilty to one count of making a threatening interstate communication.... Read More

    News From The Well
    scroll top