ABSTRACT
The former Soviet Union was a vast union of many republics. The Soviet Socialist Republics included Russian Federation, Armenia, Belarus, Estonia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine, and Georgia. Other countries behind the Iron Curtain and under heavy influence from the Soviet Union were Hungary Poland, Czech Republic, and Slovakia. Following the break-up of the Soviet Union and the fall of the Iron Curtain, many independent countries were created. This chapter examines specific countries where media trainers were permitted to conduct training programs. In the late 1990s, many countries in this region, similar to the Balkans, began licensing independent radio and television stations and sanctioned the development of a free-market economy. Many of the initial training programs focused on helping independent stations develop a sales and advertising strategy so that they could become self-sustaining. Most of the workshops were sponsored by the Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty as a way to attract new media owners/managers to attend a free management training program with the possibility of becoming affiliates. Managers were often promised additional equipment and resources to become affiliates.
