“To answer the question as to why we have switched to 24-hour (year-round, to be more precise) broadcasting, I can answer with Ostap Bender’s famous phrase: ‘The idiot’s dream came true,’” says the owner of “Narodnaya Volna” [the People’s Radio Station] Valery Weinberg. “I’ve dreamt about this for a long time—ever since the station first went on the air. As you know, we were constantly expanding—six hours of broadcasting, eight hours and so forth. A few weeks ago I found out that there was an opportunity to occupy 1380 entirely. We set a record that should go in the Guinness book. We switched over to a new time format in record time...
Why the rush, Valery? Didn’t the appearance of a competitor [“Novaya Zhizn”] act as a stimulus to expand your time?
Naturally. But even more of a stimulus was the fact that we never went on air on weekends, when radio is basically the main form of communication. Now we’ve put on the finishing touches. When a station broadcasts 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week, 365-days-a-year, it’s hard to compete with that. It’s hard to defeat.
Isn’t it true that by improving a program’s quality...
Certainly. That’s why our next strategic move will be to improve the quality of our programs, hire new, highly qualified professional radio journalists. We want our programs to be as interesting as possible—not just informative or entertaining but sharp, engaging, and of course, not one-sided. For our Russian-speaking community is very diverse, motley, it includes people from the different republics of the former U.S.S.R., different waves of immigration, different age groups. The only thing that we all have in common is the Russian language.
Don’t you feel that the Russian language isn’t the most durable foundation on which to unite people? I mean, as you said yourself, immigrants from the U.S.S.R.—C.I.S.—are a heterogeneous group. So that, for a “new Russian” who’s come to the United States to start his own business, Russia’s interests are the main thing, whereas a Jewish refugee’s very soul is drawn to Israel...
Believe it or not, the interests of entirely different people often coincide. I’ll give an example. Recently, during Victor Topaller’s program “Lozhka dyogtya...”
Which is sort of like “Politically Incorrect” but with a rightist slant?
Sure, if you will. This program is very popular because listeners like Victor’s irreconcilably “rightist” position, his passionate Israeli patriotism. So, recently this guy called into the program, calling himself Alexander and stressing the fact that he is not Jewish. So this Alexander said that he shares Victor’s views entirely, especially those concerning the fight with terrorism. Furthermore, he said that terrorism must be fought in all countries – Israel, Russia and the United States...
You were lucky. I mean, a different Alexander could have called in saying that he hates the Israeli occupiers and feels sorry for the unfortunate, freedom-loving, oppressed Palestinians...
And we would have heard him out as well. And actually, we’re happy to hear Arabs out, too. Not long ago, Mikhail Edich invited Israeli Arabs onto his show – prominent academics who also condemn terrorism but have serious complaints about the Israeli government. And we heard them out—their complaints and “grievances,” of course sticking to our pro-Israeli positions throughout.
And what are the priorities of “Narodnaya Volna” in American politics?
In this too, we try to take into account the interests and respect the views of all our listeners, people with all kinds of political convictions. We are not trying to persuade anyone or change anyone’s mind. I would be really happy if “Narodnaya Volna” had journalists with polar opposite views. Mutual respect, tolerance—that is the foundation of American democracy. They call American society a “mutual admiration society.” Everyone is proud of their own nationality or religion, their political views, but one must treat others with respect. And it is namely this mutual admiration, this policy of tolerance that must be present on the programs of “Narodnaya Volna.”
Where were your political views formed and do they influence the occasionally strange position of “Narodnaya Volna”?
You will agree that the most diverse convictions may be found not only within a collective, but even within one family. My father, for instance, was a staunch labor unionist and always defended the rights of workers. When I registered with the Republican Party he didn’t speak to me for three weeks. And afterwards, during each election he would tell me with pleasure that by voting for the Democrats, he had just nullified my vote for the Republicans. Yes, I am a Republican, but very liberal, much more liberal than many of my journalists—Orlov, Kozlovsky, Yarmolinets. I don’t impose my opinion upon them, because then their programs would go from being independent and interesting and turn into boring, made to order programs. It’s possible that their extreme position is what makes the programs lively, exciting. The only thing that I do not accept is a negative attitude towards America overall. A person can be critical of the president; we live in a free country, but to curse this country as a whole, that I won’t accept. I won’t accept harsh, offensive speeches on the air.
But you yourself during...
Yes, in an outburst of emotion I spoke out harshly against the security measures of El Al airlines after an unpleasant incident with a Novoye Russkoe Slovo journalist at Kennedy airport. I got carried away, went too far, and this elicited a series of equally harsh speeches on the part of our listeners. Of course, I made a mistake. No, I don’t repent but I admit that I made a mistake. I understand that El Al passengers should be inspected with particular thoroughness but I really wanted to defend our journalist! And actually, what I would really like is if the security guards of El Al would inspect us differently, with a smile, something...
How do you evaluate “Narodnaya Volna’s” morning program? It elicits the most controversial responses. Our readers criticize it often.
Yes, I know that not everyone likes the topics that are discussed on the morning programs, not everyone likes the manner in which the host, Seva Kaplan, discusses these subjects. Of course, we could fill the morning programs with Jewish folklore or classical music but it’s unlikely that they would attract the kind of attention that Kaplan’s programs do.
Are you sure they do attract attention?
I’m sure. Not long ago we took a survey about our radio programs, and 90 percent of the respondents responded very positively to Kaplan. Furthermore, the majority of them —which really amazed me—were elderly people. They said they had learned a lot thanks to Seva, they had learned a lot about American reality. Actually, if you noticed, Seva Kaplan’s programs have started to change recently—no, not in order to please the public. He’s just experimenting, trying things out—he wants to do a real show. Of course, we could just not talk about sex, crime, the bloody incidents in our community, we could refrain from critical comments regarding certain things. But then we would turn into “Mayak” radio station. I think that criticism of Seva is due to the fact that some of our immigrants have not yet fully adapted to the American way of life, haven’t gotten accustomed to calling things by their name, especially when dealing with sex.
By the way, speaking of the elderly, one of your listeners called them the “rot from Brighton.” Unfortunately, quite a few young immigrants share that point of view; they think that elderly people are dependents, who haven’t done anything for America even though they get all the blessings of America, that is, social programs...
I have a great deal of respect for the elderly. I mean, they did a great thing—they brought us to America or came here with us, allowing us to build our lives in a free country, to become its worthy citizens. In doing so, they sacrificed everything they had —their social life, their accomplishments, they broke with their homes of many years. Their children and grandchildren are educated, talented people who have accomplished a lot in the United States. But behind every success story there are grandfathers and grandmothers who either didn’t have the time or the strength to become successful in America. But they are really active—they’re interested in culture, politics, they participate in election campaigns. I repeat that I have the greatest respect for the elderly and I will definitely find a niche for them in our radio programs; actually, I will provide them with a platform.
Will there be new programs on “Narodnaya Volna” on the Jewish theme?
Yes, certainly, we will be broadening our coverage of Jewish themes. There is already a program “Evreisky Aktsent,” led by Mikhail Nemirovsky. I would like to have on our air the voices of people who have built a Jewish life in America and other countries, who have invested a lot in the development of Jewish culture, communities and politics.
Let’s talk about business matters. Is it true that the famous businessman Sam Kislin is no longer a co-owner of “Narodnaya Volna”?
Yes, that’s true, Novoye Russkoe Slovo bought his share.
The 24-hour broadcasting is connected with huge financial expenses. How do you plan to deal with these expenses?
Some people are calling our switch to a new time format a risky venture. But we have a concrete business plan. In general, I prefer to look ahead, wearing not glasses but rather binoculars. I am trying to see not only the near future but the bigger picture. I think that we will succeed in drawing all émigrés from the U.S.S.R./C.I.S. to our radio, not only within the United States but throughout the world.
