RIGA PROPOSES TV CO-OP "MANY CULTURES, ONE NATION"

UNCLAS RIGA 000245

STATE FOR PA/OBS George Santulli, EUR/PPD Andrea Strano

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KPAO OPRC OIIP
SUBJECT: RIGA PROPOSES TV CO-OP "MANY CULTURES, ONE NATION"


1. Summary. Riga proposes a FY09 TV co-op program on racial, ethnic
and cultural diversity in the United States. This project, aimed at
covering similarities and differences of various minority groups in
the United States, will help the embassy address the strategic goal
of promoting tolerance in the society and is especially significant
in Latvia's context, as Latvia itself is a multi-national country
with various ethnic minorities, composing close to 40 percent of the
population.
The documentary would show challenges of cultural differences and
the importance of addressing them with respect. The programs
creators also plan to translate this documentary into
Russian-language and arrange broadcasts with Latvia's eastern
neighbors, such as Ukraine, Georgia and perhaps CIS countries, it
will also contribute to the embassy strategic goal of assisting
Latvia to become a strong contributor to sharing its experience and
values in the region.
The independent TV production company Hansa Media, which has
extensive experience in producing news documentaries on various
social subjects, as well as produces several weekly TV shows on
Latvian National Television has developed the concept for this
program. During a TV co-op project, the team plans to produce
documentary "Many Cultures, One Nation" as well as series of
features on the subject for their weekly prime time TV show. End
summary.


2. Context. Latvia broke free from the Soviet rule 18 years ago and
since then has slowly re-joined the family of democratic nations in
the Western world. Even though great progress has been made in many
areas, including social inclusion of various minority groups (about
40 percent of Latvian inhabitants represent various ethnic
minorities, largest of them being Russian, Belarussian, Ukrainian
and Polish),many people still have biased views about the different
racial, ethnic and cultural groups. Instead of full integration of
these groups into the Latvian society, the public debate is still
focused around "us" and "them", especially in the political context,
as large part of Latvia's inhabitants are hesitating to naturalize
and become Latvian citizens. Both Latvian- and Russian-language
media, especially in areas outside of Riga, oftentimes is not fair
in portraying differences, thus not helping the process of social
inclusion. Despite the efforts to promote tolerance, there are
still incidents based on racial or ethnic grounds. Some believe
that economic strains would make the situation even worse and in the
case of poor economic conditions different ethnic groups would start
blaming each other (this process already is taking place on the
political level but not in everyday life). It would be beneficial
to start a more rigorous debate on the positive aspects of what
preserving and respecting different cultures cold bring to various
levels of the society. The situation in the United States after the
last presidential election is believed to be the momentum in the
area of social consolidation that has inspired many not only in the
United States but all around the world therefore the success of the
U.S. practice and experience would be a good argument for audiences
in Latvia.


3. Product. Hansa Media proposes producing a short documentary
highlighting the diverse cultures of The United States. They would
explore how various racial, ethnic, cultural and social groups live
and work together in a democracy. The producers have themselves
identified at least two aspects that they would be interested in
reflecting in this documentary - life of Native Americans in South
Dakota and everyday work in a multinational business in New York.
Both of these stories have a Latvian angle - a possible focus for
the Native American story would be a member of Nez Perce Tribe Jamie
Pinkham, who is married to an American of Latvian descent Tija
Karkls. Likewise the owner of the business that would be featured
in the second story is Mara Urshel - a Latvian. The Latvian
connections of these individuals in the documentary provide a nice
"hook" for local audiences. The producers are also looking for
Russian families from Latvia who live in the United States. They
would also be interested in covering other aspects and is open to
suggestions from U.S. producers as to what other stories, on the
life of various minority groups in the United States, including
Americans of African, Asian, Mexican, Middle Eastern descent, could
be used as additional story lines in this documentary.


4. Impact. The crew plans to show the diversity of people living in
the United States and the benefits and challenges of integrating
into the larger U.S. society while continuing to practice their
cultures. It would demonstrate that being different can oftentimes
be an advantage in social and political life, in business and it
contributes a great deal to the development of ideas in the society.
Bringing various cultures and experiences together, better results
can be achieved. In There are very few media products in Latvia,
especially on television, that are addressed to both Latvian- and
Russian-speakers of the country. In addition to discussing the
benefits of diversity, this documentary would provide a platform to
reach both audiences at the same time.


5. Crew. The film crew from Latvia would consist of one producer,
one reporter and one cameraman, all employees of TV production
company Hansa Media. All of them are experienced professionals in
their area. Producer Ilmars Latkovskis and reporter Adriana Roze
are well-known and respected personalities on television in Latvia.
The company has an agreement with Latvian National Television on
producing several weekly prime time programs, including a TV feature
show "Viss notiek", where the crew plans to demonstrate several
features filmed in connection with the documentary. The company
also has produced several successful prime time documentaries for
Latvian National Television and several private TV networks in
Latvia in the past.


6. Placement. Once completed, the documentary would be aired on a
prime time slot on Latvian National Television in Latvian language
(estimated audience approx. 150 thousand). After the premier, it
will be also translated into Russian and offered to a Russian
language channel in Latvia (estimated audience approx. 100 thousand)
in order to reach also national minority audiences. To ensure
broader viewership and impact of the documentary the crew plans to
make arrangements with their cooperation partners in Ukraine and
Georgia, as well as in some CIS countries and offer the film for
screening there (estimated audience approx. 300 - 700 thousand,
depending on the countries and stations).


7. Contacts. Post POCs on this project are PAO Ryan Roberts
(Robertsr@state.gov) and Media Specialist Kaspars Ruklis
(Ruklisk@state.gov). Post looks forward to working with PA/OBS on
this project. Regards from Riga.
Waser