BBG Strategy & Budget Committee Holds Panel Discussions on Russia, Iran
The Broadcasting Board of Governors Strategy and Budget Committee hosted two panel discussions on broadcasting strategies for Russia and Iran with internal and external experts at its Dec. 13 meeting at agency headquarters in Washington, D.C. Governors Michael Meehan, Victor Ashe and Dennis Mulhaupt participated in the wide-ranging discussion moderated by International Broadcasting Bureau Deputy Director Jeffrey Trimble. Topics included the evolving broadcasting environments, Internet freedom, and analysis of audience research for each country. Governor Meehan, the committee’s chairman, was to provide a summary of the meeting to the full Board.
External expert panelists on Russia strategy included: Julia Berezovskaya, CEO and editor at Grani.Ru, a Moscow-based independent online newspaper; Dr. Mark Galeotti, Academic Chair of New York University’s Center for Global Affairs, and Clinical Professor of Global Affairs; Vladimir V. Kara-Murza, Senior Policy Advisor, Institute of Modern Russia; David J. Kramer, President, Freedom House; Leonard P. Lidov, President, Morningside Analytics; Mikhail Zygar, Editor-In-Chief, Dozhd TV.
External expert panelists on Iran strategy included: Mahmood Enayat, Founder and Executive Director, Small Media Consultancy; Alan Eyre, Director of the Iran Reporting Office at the U.S. Consulate in Dubai, U.A.E. under the State Department’s Near Eastern Affairs Bureau; Leonard P. Lidov, President, Morningside Analytics; Briar Smith, Director, Iran Media Program, University of Pennsylvania Annenberg School for Communication; S. Enders Wimbush, independent consultant, author, and former BBG board member; Mehdi Yahyanejad, Founder, Balatarin.com, the most popular social news website in Persian.