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Title: David James Webster papers
Date (inclusive): 1989-2001
Collection Number: 2004C5
Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Library and Archives
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
6 manuscript boxes
(2.5 Linear Feet)
Abstract: Correspondence, reports, and memoranda, relating to post-communist era radio and television broadcasting in Eastern Europe.
Creator:
Webster, David, 1931-
Physical Location: Hoover Institution Library & Archives
The collection is open for research; materials must be requested in advance via our reservation system. If there are audiovisual
or digital media material in the collection, they must be reformatted before providing access.
For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Acquired by the Hoover Institution Library & Archives in 2004.
[Identification of item], David James Webster papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
| 1931 January 11 | Born, Taunton, England |
| ? | Attended Taunton School and Ruskin College, Oxford |
| 1953 | Joined British Broadcasting Corporation in the World Services News Department |
| 1958 | Moved to British Broadcasting Corporation television |
| 1967-1969 | Editor, British Broadcasting Corporation television public program, Panorama |
| 1970 | Assistant Head of the Television Current Affairs Group |
| 1971-1976 | Representative of British Broadcasting Corporation in the United States |
| 1974-1975 | Chairman of the International Council of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences |
| 1977-1981 | Member, Board of Management, British Broadcasting Corporation |
| Director of Public Affairs, British Broadcasting Corporation | |
| 1981-1985 | Resident director, British Broadcasting Corporation in the United States while retaining his seat on the Management Board in England |
| 1985-1987 | Resident Associate, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace |
| 1986 | Returned to England to become Controller, Information Services and concurrently, Acting Secretary of the British Broadcasting Corporation |
| 1987-1992 | Director, Annenberg International Disaster Communications Project |
| Senior Fellow, Annenberg Washington Program on Communication Policy Studies | |
| 1988- | Founder and Chairman, Trans-Atlantic Dialogue on European Broadcasting |
| 2003 August 6 | Died, Washington, D.C. |
The David James Webster papers consist of correspondence, reports, and memoranda relating to post-communist era radio and
television broadcasting in Eastern Europe. Webster created the Trans-Atlantic Dialogue on European Broadcasting in 1988 to
realize his goal of introducing democratic ways of broadcasting in former Soviet bloc countries by helping them enact new
legislation and establish new infrastructure with regulatory bodies. The papers are focused on Webster's activities with this
organization, though some records of the Trans-Atlantic Dialogue on Broadcasting and the Information Society are also included.
Conferences, programs, seminars, symposiums, projects, and official missions to different countries were the tools Webster
used to accomplish the goals of Trans-Atlantic Dialogue. Of these tools, the hypothetical seminars, based on role-playing
and free and unscripted discussion by participants of issues involved in the democratization of broadcasting, are well documented
in the TRANS-ATLANTIC DIALOGUE ON EUROPEAN BROADCASTING OFFICE FILE.
Of all the projects undertaken by Webster through Tran-Atlantic Dialogue, the Democracy Audit Project is particularly well
documented in the papers. Its objective was to monitor the level of freedom, independence, and openness of the media, and
the status of human rights. It was carried out by setting up local institutions whose role was to act as watchdogs.
Most of the financial support for Trans-Atlantic Dialogue was provided by the Phare and Tacis Democracy Programme, which was
started by the European Union in 1992 to promote democracy in the former Soviet bloc countries through economic and political
reforms. In addition to material in the TRANS- ATLANTIC DIALOGUE ON EUROPEAN BROADCASTING OFFICE FILE, this organization's
activities are documented in files printed from the COMPUTER DISK.
Webster also had close contact with the Soros Foundation, which initiated and supported openness in society through independent
organizations established in particular countries, such as Albania, Belarus, Crimea, and Croatia. Webster's relationship with
this organization is documented in the SOROS FOUNDATION FILE.
The FILE ON ORGANIZATIONS relates to the activities of various organizations promoting democracy and human rights, the situation
in Macedonia, and the development of independent media.
The David Webster papers were acquired in 2003.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Radio broadcasting -- Europe, Eastern
Television broadcasting -- Europe, Eastern
Trans-Atlantic Dialogue on European Broadcasting (Organization)