TV, Soviet style

For some strange reason, one of the locally-owned government television station asked myself, my co-worker Steve Adams, the publisher of Panorama and the local coordinator of the IREX program to appear on a television show called Rhythm of the City.

It's a 30-minute public affairs television show that will be aired on Friday.

The interview was fine, but sitting on the set of the television studio made me feel like it was going back in time to the Soviet era.

The spartan set doesn't look anything like the bright, glitzy sets of American television. It felt like being on a movie about the old Soviet Union. I wondered what information and what television propoganda has been broadcasted at the station over the years.

The station is all local and sells very little advertising, so they have plenty of time to air a 30-minute show about two Americans and a local newspaper. It's funded by the government.

The good thing for Panorama: it was pretty much a free commercial for the newspaper.

A tour of the station revealed they have fairly modern equipment and computers, but probably a good 10-15 years behind most American station technology.