Vietnam to Broadcast Satellite Signal to U.S.
LOS ANGELES - In a throwback to Cold War-era strategies, Vietnam's
Communist government was to begin a daily satellite TV broadcast
Thursday to North America aimed at expatriate Vietnamese.
While skeptics question the broadcast's impact, the timing of the kickoff -
three days before the 25th anniversary of the fall of Saigon - has inflamed
passions among Vietnamese émigrés who view Vietnam's Liberation Day,
April 30, as the blackest day in so-called Black April.
''I would never watch it even if they gave me a free satellite dish,'' said Hoi
Thi Le, 73, of Santa Ana, California, a critic of the Vietnamese government.
He added: ''Why would I watch? They will show beautiful girls, nice
beaches and happy people jogging. But they won't show the poverty, the
13-year-old dropout who sells her body to make a living, the child beggars,
the rash of AIDS epidemic, the unsanitary living conditions.''
Programming will focus on current events, human interest stories and
profiles. It will include live coverage this weekend of Vietnamese
celebrations of the anniversary of the end of the war, said a spokeswoman
for VTV 4 in Hanoi, the government-owned station that will supply
programs for satellite broadcast. The shows will be available daily to
viewers in North America via satellite dish from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Pacific
time.
While videos from Vietnam are easy to find in the so-called Little Saigon in
Southern California's Orange County region, the idea of the Vietnamese
government beaming broadcasts into American homes has sparked outrage.
Many see it as an act of provocation.
''They know that to the Vietnamese community abroad April 30 represents
the date when we lost everything,'' said Kinh Luan Tran, a Los Angeles
attorney and community activist. ''We have every reason to be upset that
the same regime would now choose to have a permanent propaganda tool''
beamed ''right in the middle of our living rooms.''
A particular worry among activists is that a new generation will be seduced
by government images of life under communism.
''We don't want the younger generation to be tricked by them,'' said Du
Mien, president of the Vietnamese Journalists Association. ''This
propaganda is just the beginning.''
The broadcasts, however, may appeal to some viewers outside the reach of
American-produced Vietnamese-language shows in Houston, San Jose,
California, and Little Saigon - the largest Vietnamese population outside
Vietnam itself.
Hai Ta of Biloxi, Mississippi, for example, said she has trouble finding
Vietnamese-language media along the Gulf Coast and would welcome the
broadcast.
''I don't have money to buy a satellite dish, but if I had one, I'd tune in,''
Miss Ta, 46, said. ''I would watch it because I want to see my homeland
and how it has changed.''
Officials at the Vietnamese consulate in San Francisco deflected criticism.
''We are confident that the program,'' a spokesman said, ''can partly meet
the information and emotional needs of Vietnamese people residing in the
U.S.A.''
Despite the émigrés' fears, one expert said he'd be surprised if the
broadcasts find many viewers.
''I wouldn't want to invest in it,'' said Alvin Snyder, a former director of
worldwide television operations for the U.S. Information Agency. ''The
signal might leave the country, but very few people are going to look at it.''
Mr. Snyder said other governments, including the former Soviet Union,
have broadcast propaganda and general programming internationally with
limited success.
The Chinese government broadcasts a wide range of programming over
several satellites, including some in English. It is unclear how much of an
audience those programs have in the United States.
By Scott Martelle and Mai Tran - Los Angeles Times - April 28, 2000.
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