Russian-Funded News Station Replaces Bluegrass on 105.5 FM
Those who've become accustomed to hearing bluegrass music when they turn the dial to 105.5 FM are in for a surprise—the bandwidth now broadcasts Sputnik, a “global wire, radio and digital news service" funded by the Russian government.
"It's radio that brings you the views that you don't get from other stations," says Mindia Gavasheli, the editor in chief of Sputnik U.S.
Indeed, Sputnik is surely the only media outlet in D.C. where a former Breitbart investigative reporter shares an office with a Green Party candidate for city council. Launched in 2014, it operates out of an office on K Street NW by Farragut North.
Sputnik was back in the headlines itself this past month after its White House Correspondent Andrew Feinberg quit, writing on Twitter that the outlet "isn't happy with real journalists. They'd rather have ACTUAL propagandists operate anonymously." Sputnik fired back in a statement, saying it was "saddened by false accusations spread by Mr. Feinberg and hope that the fruits of his rich imagination would not create more conspiracy theories around Sputnik."
The outlet has been part of the broader debate over Russian-funded media outlets, like television station Russia Today, which is available as part of a number of cable packages in addition to a presence on YouTube. A Director of National Intelligence report about Russian interference in the 2016 election accused both RT and Sputnik of being part of Russian propaganda efforts that "contributed to the influence campaign by serving as a platform for Kremlin messaging to Russian and international audiences." (Full disclosure: I worked at RT America in 2013 and have appeared as a guest on a radio show broadcast by Sputnik that no longer exists.)
"If you've heard anything about Sputnik, it's that these are the nefarious people who hacked our election and imposed Donald Trump on us," says Gavasheli. "The only way to disprove it is to make them listen to it. I really felt like we need to go FM and make sure that people can tune in."
The Bluegrass Country station that previously resided on 105.5 announced in late May that it would no longer broadcast on that frequency. (The station had also recently been transferred from WAMU to a foundation that sprung up to save it.) 105.5 is what's known as a "translator" station, meaning it repeats the signal provided by another signal.
"The third party provider told us that he had another client and he wanted to take over," says Chris Teskey, Bluegrass Country's program director. "He didn't say, 'I need more money from you guys.' That was never really an option." Bluegrass Country's deal had been a local marketing agreement, where they essentially paid a monthly rent to keep —a deal he says had been in place for the past eight years.
"Initially we were fairly unhappy about losing [105.5]," Teskey says. "But the expense of running that was about a third of our budget and we're in much better financial shape now. Frankly, the signal at 105.5 isn't that great—you lose it in Rockville."
When told that Sputnik would be replacing bluegrass, Teskey responded, "Given the current political climate, I would say that's fascinating."
Listeners can now hear Bluegrass Country on 88.5 FM HD Channel 2, streaming online, or via their phone app.
Gavasheli says that Sputnik also has a local marketing agreement in place with the third-party provider, though he declined to get into the details of it.
Both Gavasheli and Teskey declined to name the third-party provider. Communications attorney John Garziglia confirmed that he's the owner, as part-owner of Reston Translator LLC. He says that Radio Sputnik has already been carried on HD radio, and the transition will have 105.5 rebroadcast 93.9 HD 3 for listeners.
As for the potential politics of having Sputnik on the airwaves, Garziglia had no comment. "It's a business arrangement," he says.
So what can people expect if they turn the dial to 105.5 FM?
While Sputnik is currently in talks with potential hosts and producers about a D.C. morning drive show, programming right now in the mornings is largely international news coming from Moscow and Edinburgh, two other cities with Sputnik newsrooms. D.C. is Sputnik's only U.S. outpost for now, and employs about 40 people, Gavasheli says.
At noon on weekdays, the three-hour progressive radio show "The Thom Hartmann Program" plays (Hartmann also has a daily television show on RT America), followed by "By Any Means Necessary," a show about social justice movements hosted by Eugene Puryear, a D.C. based activist.
At 4 p.m., "Fault Lines" comes on, with Lee Stranahan, a former Breitbart reporter, and Garland Nixon, a progressive. Gavasheli describes it as a "Crossfire-style" show where "they yell at each other and argue about things." Then, at 5 p.m., Brian Becker of the ANSWER Coalition hosts a show called "Loud and Clear With Brian Becker," which covers international issues.
"We don't do our shows on weekends, so Moscow produces most of the content on the weekends," Gavasheli says."I suspect most of the stuff is pre-recorded."
He says he's open to having Sputnik broadcast on other FM stations throughout the country, but "our resources are not limitless, regardless of what you hear from the senators in Congress," says Gavasheli. "We're considering other markets, but right now, we're more concentrated on producing more original shows."