The tiny radio station broadcasting Russian propaganda in D.C.

[Wicked Blue]

Washington Post

For a few seconds every hour, WZHF-AM interrupts its round-the-clock schedule of talk to air a curious disclaimer: “This radio programming is distributed by RM Broadcasting on behalf of the Federal State Unitary Enterprise Rossiya Segodnya International Information Agency, Moscow, Russia. Additional information is available at the Department of Justice, Washington, D.C.”

The cryptic notification masks a larger story. WZHF, a former Spanish-language station 11 miles east of the White House in Maryland’s Capitol Heights, is the flagship of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s effort to harness America’s radio airwaves to sell the Kremlin’s point of view. Despite periodic legal and political challenges, and the imposition of sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, the station has stayed on the air, broadcasting its Kremlin-approved message.

The station at 1390 AM is one of only five outlets in the United States that air English-language broadcasts of “Radio Sputnik,” produced in Moscow and Washington under the Russian government’s supervision.

Sputnik is the radio and digital arm of Rossiya Segodnya (Russia Today), the same Kremlin-controlled media agency that directs RT and RT America, the better-known TV and digital media operations founded by Putin’s regime in 2005.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/media/2022/03/07/radio-sputnik-wzhf/?utm_source=reddit.com

[AllaN01Bear]

1. shut it down.

[SheltieLover]

2. Why is this trash on our air waves?

[maxsolomon]

6. FCC Regulations?

Got to be a reason they haven't stopped it. Maybe a republican owns it, because IOKIYAR.

[summer_in_TX]

8. Foreign entities cannot own a broadcast license in the US.

I'm on the board of an low power FM radio station and no more than 20 percent of the board of directors can be a non-US citizen. Unless the station is skirting the rules by being owned by naturalized Russian-Americans.

[Hoyt]

3. Would not want to see it restricted in a democracy. But making clear

who they are is certainly warranted, rebuttal is too. Of course, terrorism, and the like, should get them restricted.

Note: Could not read article other than what’s in OP.

[Wicked Blue]

4. Post has a paywall but I subscribe to it

Wish someone could hack the station

[Hoyt]

5. Is there anything in the WP article about something they did

besides spreading Russian propaganda to more than a small number of listeners? Are they calling for assasinations, Russian terrorism targeted here or elsewhere, or something similar?

I don’t listen, along with probably 99.99% of population, but not sure censorship is warranted. Again, if there are examples other than Putin’s junk on denazification, etc., I’d support taking them out. I certainly support monitoring them and pulling plug immediately with a court order.

[highplainsdem]

7. Forbes article on the man whose company owns that station and many others:

https://forbes.com/sites/davidyin/2013/07/29/ethnic-radio-programming-targets-new-chinese-immigrants/