Friends:

It's late and I'm tired. Been working on production stuff all day, and my eyes are blurring from staring at the monitor. But, Paul Stamler, perhaps the most knowledgeable folkmusic DJ in radio (his show is broadcast from St. Louis) just sent this to the FOLKDJ-L to which I also subscribe. I thought I should share it with you. I hope I can shift it over to HTML.

Date: Fri, 2 Apr 1999 23:13:36 -0800
From: "Paul J. Stamler"
FOLKDJ-L@LISTS.PSU.EDU

Hi folks:

Like all of you, I've been following the terrible events taking place in Yugoslavia for the last several years, including the war that is now taking place. I'm sorry to report that our colleagues at B92, a dissident radio station in Belgrade, have been shut down by the police; they were forced to stop broadcasting last week, and today their internet broadcast was shut down as well. Their website (http://www.b92.net/) was still active as of a few minutes ago, and makes for very interesting reading (they are bitterly opposed to both the NATO airstrikes *and* the Serbian government's atrocities).

I *don't* want to start a discussion of the war here, particularly not a discussion of what we (and others) should do. This list isn't the place for it. But I'd like to make a couple of observations. The first is that the closing of B92 reminds us of how powerful a medium we have in our hands when we sit behind a broadcast console. Most of the time, what we broadcast isn't earth-shaking; we play music, hoping to move a few hearts and souls to laughter, tears or thought. Once in a while, though, there are reminders that radio can be a lifeline, a channel for free thought in the face of tyranny -- a worthwhile remembrance for this season of passover.

This internet over which we're speaking is likewise capable of being a powerful lifeline -- perhaps even more so than radio, since it's far less expensive to connect to the internet than it is to set up and run a broadcasting station. One of the facets of this is that the net has become the equivalent of short-wave broadcasting -- a way to hear the points of view of *all* the protagonists, in their own words. Again, a blow for freedom. As an example, there is a website:

http://www.commondreams.org/kosovo/kosovo.htm

whereat are posted links to everyone, and I mean everyone, from the BBC and Reuters news services to the US State Dept. to the Serbian government to the KLA to nonviolent resistance movements in Kosovo to British military briefings to pacifist groups to humanitarian organizations. I strongly recommend spending an hour browsing these primary sources.

As a radio and internet broadcaster, I am very proud of the roles broadcasters and netcasters have taken in the last several weeks, and am deeply grateful for their efforts. And in this season which is holy to two major religions, I pray for the safety of our colleagues at B92, and for peace.

Salaam aleikum.

Paul

You've just heard from a really good man.

Sandy