Every mission should have one
"You need three things to set up a peacekeeping mission", says UNTAES Spokesman Phil Arnold, "an office, some cars and a radio station. Everything else can follow later on." In fact, UN radio in Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium was on the air with a 15-minute programme a few weeks after the mission was established. Those first programmes were largely produced in Zagreb with the equipment and staff of UNPF radio. A year later, in March 1997, UNTAES Radio expanded to seven hours a day, live. "Radio was central to the effort and success of UNTAES", says Arnold. "Every UN mission should have a radio station."

Not that it was an easy go. Staffing was the biggest problem. Local UNPF personnel in Zagreb did not want to move to Vukovar, and Vukovar did not have a surfeit of radio announcers, engineers, translators and typists. As for equipment, it was simple enough to pack up the UNPF studio in Zagreb and move it to Vukovar. But there was no UN transmitter (although one was sitting idle in a box in Luanda). Unable to transmit, UNTAES entered into an agreement with Radio Vukovar, the largest local radio. By September 1996, when UNTAES Radio expanded to three hours on air, the agreement included not only the continuous use of Radio Vukovar's frequency, but also the part-time work of a number of its technicians and announcers.

This cooperation was a mixed blessing, at least at first blush. According to UNTAES Radio producer David Smith, the arrangement gave the UN immediate access to a frequency, a powerful transmitter and a dedicated listenership. It gave Radio Vukovar staying power and supplementary work for its personnel. The down side was that there was no backup. Furthermore, Radio Vukovar, like all the local radio stations, was "extremely biased". The solution lay in vigilance. UNTAES produced all its programmes in its own studios. For the live portions, UNTAES personnel were present in the broadcast studio. There were disputes, to be sure, especially over political questions, but the integrity of UNTAES Radio was never once violated, and Radio Vukovar cooperated fully. The arrangement continued even when, in May 1997, the idle transmitter had been shipped from storage at the UN mission in Angola and was put into service. Smith observes that working with UNTAES Radio had the effect of "mellowing" Radio Vukovar.

Getting out the facts
UNTAES Radio quickly became a news source in its own right. Its newsmakers were top UNTAES officials. They appeared every week at the same time. And the information they communicated had a direct impact on the lives of the local population. David Smith recalls in particular UNTAES Radio's coverage of landmine clearance. "We told farmers to stay out of the fields until the mines were cleared. And when they were, the Force Commander told the farmers it was safe to go back." UNTAES Radio was also a useful tool in squelching rumours. Phil Arnold remembers when, in January 1997, there was talk of the UN's closing the border with Serbia. UNTAES Radio quickly and repeatedly assured its listeners that there were no such plans.

Getting out the facts was especially important during the electoral period. UNTAES Radio broadcast comprehensive information on the electoral process, including profiles of the political parties, interviews with candidates and advice on such practical matters as how to register and how to cast a ballot. On election days -- 13 and 14 April 1997 -- UNTAES Radio expanded to twelve hours of live broadcast. With direct reports from the election coordination centre at UNTAES HQ, UNTAES Radio provided a credible and accurate account of the polling, while the Radio's three local reporters gave live updates from polling stations throughout the region. The Belgian battalion's transmitter was also put into service to cover areas in the north. For some localities in the south, UNTAES Radio was the only source of information after technical problems shut down the flow of news to local stations.

As 1997 draws to a close, UNTAES Radio is still on the air, now down to four hours daily. The staff has been reduced to eight, down from its maximum of eleven reporters, technicians and interpreters. Kirsten Haupt, Head of UNTAES Radio, says that emphasis in the final phase of the mission is on national reconciliation, two-way return of displaced persons and the economic revival of the region.

Don't forget TV
"People don't just listen to the radio, you know." UNTAES TV producer, anchorwoman, interviewer and scriptwriter Janina Hrebickova is quick to point out that if you want maximum impact, you go on TV. Derrick Boothby agrees. The former No. Two in UNTAES says the mission should have gone on TV in January 1996, not February 1997. "Anybody here can see why it's important -- just open your eyes. There's an antenna on every single roof."

In fact, the environment was ripe for an UNTAES TV. The Transitional Administrator was a firm backer. TV was an important medium in the region. There was a demonstrable need for clear, unbiased information. As for authorization to broadcast, UNTAES was administering the region. "The local stations were just giving their own biased points of view", says Hrebickova. "We needed to give people basic facts about the changes affecting their lives."

From February to July 1997, UNTAES TV's half hour on Saturday night helped provide that information. For the first month, the programme was broadcast over local stations. Each half hour began with a short documentary on a practical theme, such as how to obtain Croatian documents, how to register, or how to cast a ballot. Sometimes the subject was displaced persons and refugees or human rights, or job availability during reconstruction. Then came an interview, with Jacques Klein, the Transitional Administrator, with the spokesman or with some other official, giving more detailed information on the theme.

The first few days, according to Hrebickova, were full of "chaos, confusion and unending hard work". Everything was borrowed or hired: the studios, the crew, the machines, the videotapes, the airtime. Work begun in one studio would continue in one of three others in different cities, either to take advantage of a particular piece of equipment or because UNTAES was preempted by the station's regular production schedule. When the supply of videotapes did come, they were of such bad quality that they destroyed the heads of the editing machines. Things improved when an editing studio was set up at UNTAES HQ.

In early March, UNTAES TV also began daily programming. By then, UNTAES was sharing a transmitter with Croatian State TV and a local Serb station. Programming on the UNTAES channel included the hour-long UNTAES programme and a few hours of MTV. "MTV was a good transition", says Hrebickova, "and good for the transition. No politics, no points of view, just good music. As for us, we covered demonstrations, town hall meetings, political party meetings, official statements, press conferences, interviews -- everything connected with the elections and regional developments. We were just like C-Span."

Ten days after elections, the daily programme was whittled down to half an hour. By July, UNTAES TV ceased to exist. In all, there had been 22 weekly magazines and 133 daily programmes produced by a team of three producers, two cameramen and two editors. The Chief of DPI's Video Section, Steve Whitehouse, who joined the UNTAES team for their first month of daily programming, comments: "Those people really scrambled. It's remarkable what imagination and talent can put together. But you've also got to have budgetary support and the right equipment."