At a standing-room-only meeting Wednesday, the leadership of Voice of America (VOA) announced major changes in the way the Persian News Network of VOA goes about the business of reporting the news to Iranians. It’s about time. Complaints about the network have been flooding Capitol Hill from the Iranian exile community for several years now. One such compliant was that the executive leadership of the service neither spoke nor understood Persian and did not have any understanding of Iranian politics. In March of last year, a letter from Representative Trent …
The decision to cut Voice of America (VOA) Broadcasting to China has attracted a good deal of congressional attention, as well it should. While China has launched a worldwide public diplomacy and media offensive, the United States is looking at a greatly reduced international media presence if the projected cuts go through. Last week, the Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations under Representative Dana Rohrabacher (R–CA), asked, “Is America’s Overseas Broadcasting Undermining our National Interest and the Fight against Tyrannical Regimes?” If you ask the reporters and editors of …
Three weeks ago the BBC World Service Trust, a charity for the British network, was angling for a share of State Department funding to promote Internet freedom. But after Americans revolted at the idea, the organization has pulled out entirely, failing to even submit a grant proposal. The BBC charity has developed a lucrative relationship with the U.S. government during the Obama administration. U.S. tax dollars are supporting at least two BBC World Service Trust projects: The State Department gave the organization $300,000 for work in Burma and USAID gave …
The end of an era is at hand. Today marks the last day of BBC World Service Broadcasts to China and Russia after 70 years on the air. Voice of America (VOA) may not be far behind. VOA several years ago closed down its Russian broadcasts, and, according to the President’s 2012 budget request, broadcasts to China are soon to follow. Already shortwave service in Cantonese has been closed down, and in October, Mandarin is to follow. Next year, television as well as AM and FM radio are on the …
Does radio still play a role in a world where that is increasingly cyber-connected and populated by smart phone users? The answer, according to Google’s Director of Policy and Planning Bob Boorstin, is very much a “yes.” At a panel discussion of the new media and foreign policy hosted by the World Affairs Councils of America at the Mayflower Hotel on November 5, 2010, Boorstin declared himself a big supporter of radio, reminding the audience that “there are many areas of the world which do not have access to the …
Voice of America is finding itself in the news again, and not for reasons that should please the leadership of the institution. This time the spotlight has landed on VOA’s Persian News Network. Over the years, VOA has on occasion strayed from good judgment and allowed voices on the air that have no business being represented on a U.S. government funded network. Back in the 1990s, VOA raised Congressional hackles by putting the families of Palestinian suicide bombers on the air. In 2007, another U.S. broadcasting service, Al Hurra television, …
While television and new technologies like Internet and cell phones are the focus of strategy at the Broadcasting Board of Governors that oversees the U.S. government’s international broadcasting assets, shortwave radio remains by far the most effective means of reaching audiences around the world, particularly in the developing countries. It is far from an outdated technology, as is sometimes allleged. A highly relevant case in point is earthquake-stricken Haiti, the poorest and most underdeveloped country in the Americas. Since the earthquake on January 12, Voice of America has expanded its …
The Pentagon’s top intelligence official this week indicated that although Iran has been developing the means to build nuclear weapons, his agency has discerned no sign that Tehran has made a final decision to do so. Lt. General Ronald Burgess, the chief of the Defense Intelligence Agency, told the Voice of America in an interview that “We have not seen indication that the government has made the decision to move ahead with the program. But the fact still remains that we don’t know what we don’t know.” Given Iran’s long …
President Obama’s foreign policy thus far has been marked by an emphasis on public diplomacy. As a result, successfully engaging foreign publics has become a top priority of his administration. The President himself has taken an active role in this effort, delivering several high-profile speeches to audiences around the world. His July 7th oration in Moscow, which focused on the importance of media freedom and human rights, was one such occasion. But Obama’s message failed to reach his intended audience- the Russian public. On Russian television, which is tightly controlled …
