International Broadcasting

Alexandr Solzhenitsyn and his wife Natalia Dmitriyevna Solzhenitsyn exiting from Alaska Airlines plane upon their arrival on May 27, 1994 in Vladivostok as they returned from exile in the United States. Photo by Ted Lipien.
China, Cold War, Featured, Highlights, International Broadcasting, Iran, Media, Radio, RFE, RL, Russia

Protecting Communists from Embarrassment: A History of Censorship at the Voice of America

There is a long history of censorship at the Voice of America, which shows how easily some VOA leaders, editors, and journalists were duped by propaganda from communist and other authoritarian regimes. During World War II and in some periods of the Cold War, the VOA management protected Stalin. Today’s VOA leaders protected from embarrassment Vietnam’s communist Prime Minister Pham…

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Cold War, Featured, Glos Ameryki, Highlights, History, International Broadcasting, OWI, Poland, Public Diplomacy, Radio, RFE, RL, Russia, VOA

A Book for Experts and Students of Cold War History

Mark Pomar’s new book about the Cold War political radio could help American government officials unfamiliar with the history of U.S. international broadcasting. Mark Pomar’s book Cold War Radio [Mark G. Pomar, Cold War Radio: The Russian Broadcasts of the Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (Lincoln: Potomac Books, an imprint of the University of Nebraska Press, 2022), Amazon Link] is, in my…

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Voice of America Director Evelyn S. Lieberman (1997-1999). VOA Photo.
Featured, Highlights, International Broadcasting, Photos, Public Diplomacy, VOA, Women

With Voice of America Director Evelyn Lieberman in Russia

Evelyn May Lieberman (née Simonowitz; July 9, 1944 – December 12, 2015) was the Director of the Voice of America (VOA) from 1997 until 1999 during the Clinton administration. She was the first woman to serve as White House Deputy Chief of Staff and was the first United States Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs. It was Lieberman who transferred former…

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Voice of America New York
Cold War, Featured, Glos Ameryki, Highlights, History, International Broadcasting, OWI, Poland, Radio, Russia, VOA, VOA80

Beware of Government Propaganda “Experts”

Disinformation governance by government propaganda experts can be dangerous, judging by the record of the early officials in charge of the Voice of America and journalists duped by Soviet propaganda. As the Voice of America (VOA), the United States government’s radio station for international audiences, observes its eightieth anniversary in 2022, it may surprise some Americans, assuming they have heard…

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Ukraine is today “the area of decision between Russia and the Free World” and “the one big problem” for Russia’s ex-KGB leader Vladimir Putin.
Cold War, Featured, Highlights, History, International Broadcasting, Radio, RFE, Russia, Ukraine

Ukraine is the area of decision between Russia and the Free World

Ukraine is today “the area of decision between Russia and the Free World” and “the one big problem” for Russia’s ex-KGB leader Vladimir Putin. By Ted Lipien Ukraine is today “the area of decision between Russia and the Free World” and “the one big problem” for Russia’s ex-KGB leader Vladimir Putin. The “Communist Timetable” in the 1950s and the 1960s…

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Blog, Featured, Glos Ameryki, Highlights, History, International Broadcasting, Media, Poland, RFE, RL, Russia, Ukraine, VOA, VOA80, Women

I’m proud of my Polish hometown’s aid to Ukrainian war refugees

This is an excerpt from my March 15, 2022 Washington Examiner op-ed about my Polish hometown’s (Mszana Dolna) aid to Ukrainian war refugees and a few broader propaganda warfare and U.S. international broadcasting issues. I’m proud of my Polish hometown’s aid to Ukrainian war refugees By Ted Lipien Still, over the years, his [Putin’s] propagandists have done tremendous damage to…

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Featured, Highlights, History, International Broadcasting, OWI, VOA, VOA80

VOA at 80: Selling “the religion of democracy” was Voice of America’s first mission statement

80 years ago today, on February 1, 1942, the first Voice of America (VOA) radio broadcast in German may have gone on the air. There is some uncertainty as to the exact date of the first VOA radio transmission, and the programs did not acquire the official Voice of America name until several years later. Selling “the religion of democracy”…

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Featured, Highlights, History, International Broadcasting, OWI, Russia, VOA, VOA80

VOA at 80: Different Names of the Voice of America

80 years ago today, on February 1, 1942, the first Voice of America (VOA) radio broadcast in German may have gone on the air. There is some uncertainty as to the exact date in February 1942. Moreover, for the first several years, the name “Voice of America” was not yet used. The early broadcasts had various names, such as “America…

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OWI Press Release, Wallace Carroll, London Office Appointment, August 13, 1942.
Cold War, Highlights, History, International Broadcasting, OWI, Poland, RFE, Russia, VOA, VOA80

Voice of America Fellow Travelers Who Spread Soviet Propaganda – Wallace Carroll

One of Voice of America’s fellow travelers who spread Soviet propaganda lies in VOA’s early years was a celebrated American journalist, Wallace Carroll. Commentary By Ted Lipien The Voice of America (VOA), the U.S. taxpayer-funded broadcaster with a budget of $252 million (FY20) in the federal U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), plans to observe in February its 80th anniversary.…

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Voice of America at 80 – Howard Fast OWI Personnel Record Card
Cold War, History, International Broadcasting, OWI, VOA, VOA80

Voice of America at 80 – VOA’s Pro-Soviet Fellow Travelers and Lessons for Today

Voice of America at 80 – the hidden record of VOA’s pro-Soviet fellow travelers, Howard Fast and John Houseman, offers lessons for today Commentary By Ted Lipien The Voice of America (VOA), the U.S. taxpayer-funded international broadcaster with a budget of $252 million (FY20) in the federal U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), plans to observe in February its 80th…

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Voice of America (VOA) Latin American Division Spanish Service graphic posted as VOA Spanish Facebook page cover image following the death in 2016 of Cuban communist leader Fidel Castro. The Voice of America is part of the $800-million (average annual budget) federal U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM).
Cold War, Glos Ameryki, Highlights, History, International Broadcasting, Poland, Russia, VOA, VOA80

Symbolic Justice for Stalin’s Victims, But Not Yet From Voice of America Management

Commentaries about Stalin’s victims, Voice of America By Ted Lipien (Tadeusz Lipień) In my Washington Examiner Christmas Day op-ed, and in my post about Polish artist, writer, and witness of genocide Józef Czapski, I write about Stalin’s victims and the Voice of America (VOA) in the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM). I am an East European refugee from communism.…

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Józef Czapski in 1942
Cold War, Glos Ameryki, History, International Broadcasting, Poland, Russia, VOA, VOA80

Censored by Voice of America in 1950, re-interviewed in the 1980s, Józef Czapski gets a plaque in Prague

Censored by Voice of America in 1950, re-interviewed in the 1980s, Józef Czapski gets a plaque in Prague By Ted Lipien On December 21, 2021, a plaque at Józef Czapski’s birthplace in Prague, the Czech Republic, was unveiled in a ceremony attended by ambassadors from Poland, the Holy See, Lithuania, and Estonia. The Embassy of Italy, which now occupies the…

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Tanks during the martial law in Poland in December 1981.
China, Cold War, Glos Ameryki, Highlights, History, International Broadcasting, Poland, Russia, VOA, VOA80

Voice of America and Martial Law in Poland 40 Years Ago

Voice of America and martial law in Poland 40 years ago – a quick response by the Reagan Administration to the communist regime’s attempt at holding on to power and destroying Solidarity. Photo: Polish Army tanks enter the town of Zbąszyń while moving east towards Poznań, 13 December 1981. A Commentary by Ted Lipien (Tadeusz Lipień), December 13, 2021. Martial Law in Poland: December 13,…

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Three sisters, ages 7, 8, and 9, Polish evacuees from Russia, August 1942. Photos by: Lieutenant Colonel Henry I. Szymanski, U.S. Army.
Ethiopia, Featured, Glos Ameryki, Highlights, History, International Broadcasting, Iran, Media, OWI, Poland, Radio, RFE, RL, Russia, VOA, VOA80, Women

At Voice of America, history repeats itself — Part Two: Hidden History

By Ted Lipien As more and more questions are being asked by members of Congress and scandals reported by liberal and conservative press about the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) — the tax-funded, U.S. government-managed international broadcaster — I would strongly recommend that Voice of America (VOA)  USAGM federally-employed managers and journalists read The Katyn Diaries, a book about one of World War II major genocide murders. I…

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Tadeusz A. Lipien (Ted Lipien)
Ethiopia, Featured, Highlights, History, International Broadcasting, Media, Newspaper Articles, Public Diplomacy, Radio, Russia, VOA, VOA80

At Voice of America, history repeats itself

At Voice of America, history repeats itself because of poor USAGM leadership, partisan bias and violations of VOA Charter. USAGM Watch Media Commentary According to the former Voice of America journalist and manager who led the VOA Polish Service during the peaceful Solidarity revolution against communism and Soviet Russia’s control of Poland, “The taxpayer-funded Voice of America is increasingly being…

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