VZCZCXYZ0000
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHRA #0245/01 1261023
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 061023Z MAY 09
FM AMEMBASSY RIGA
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 5804

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