ProPublica.org, a nonprofit investigative journalism website, reported that a study commissioned by the U.S. government concludes that Alhurra, Arab-language television to the Middle East managed by the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) fails to meet basic journalistic standards and is seen by few. The BBG was refusing to make public the highly critical study but made it available today on its website after a copy of…
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Failure of Privatizing U.S. Image Abroad: White House Publishes Self-Serving But Questionable Claims from the Broadcasting Board of Governors
FreeMediaOnline.org & Free Media Online Blog Commentary by Ted Lipien, December 11, 2008, San Francisco — The Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), which manages U.S. government-funded broadcasts for overseas audiences, has launched a campaign to defend its strategy of privatizing and outsourcing public diplomacy efforts, which it claims is designed to improve America’s image abroad using advertising and other private sector solutions. Nearly everyone…
FreeMediaOnline.org & Free Media Online Blog, December 4, 2008, San Francisco — Former Soviet dissident Vladimir Bukovsky, the poet Natalia Gorbanevskaia, Andrei Sakharov’s widow Elena Bonner, French philosopher André Glucksmann, and other French writers, including Thierry Wolton, Alain Besançon, Michel Aucouturier, Stéphane Courtois and Marie Mendras, signed a petition along with more than 500 others (as of Dec. 4, 2008) against the planned termination of the Russian program of…
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Prior to Mumbai Terrorist Attacks, U.S. Broadcasting Board of Governors Ignored Many Appeals for Keeping Voice of America Hindi Radio on the Air
FreeMediaOnline.org & Free Media Online Blog, December 4, 2008, San Francisco — Commenting on the recent terrorist attacks in India, a union representing the Voice of America (VOA) employees said on its website that the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), a bipartisan body which manages VOA and other U.S. government-funded broadcasts for audiences overseas, has made “at least a half dozen mistakes in the past…
FreeMediaOnline.org & Free Media Online Blog, November 28, 2008, San Francisco — Voice of America, a U.S. taxpayer-funded international broadcaster, was off the air with shortwave Hindi radio broadcasts to India during the terrorist attacks in Mumbai. The decision to silence these radio broadcasts was made earlier this year by the Broadcasting Board of Governors, a U.S. Government agency. The BBG…
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A Thanksgiving Present and Reality Check — Ted Kaufman’s Appointment to the U.S. Senate Seat from Delaware
FreeMediaOnline.org & Free Media Online Blog Commentary by Ted Lipien, November 26, 2008, San Francisco — Voice of America journalists and other employees who broadcast American news to the world are thankful for the pre-Thanksgiving Day news that Ted Kaufman (Edward E. Kaufman) was appointed to the U.S. Senate seat from Delaware vacated by his former boss, Vice President elect Joe Biden. As concerned as these employees are…
International Broadcasting
BBG Insists Congress Approved Its Decision to Terminate Voice of America Radio to Russia, Georgia, Ukraine, and Other Countries
FreeMediaOnline.org & Free Media Online Blog, November 23, 2008, San Francisco — In a letter that takes exception to the scathing criticism from the Public Diplomacy Council, a Washington, D.C-based nonprofit NGO, the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), which manages U.S. government-funded international broadcasts, insists that Congress had approved BBG’s decision to terminate Voice of America (VOA) radio broadcasts to several countries, including Russia, Georgia, Ukraine, and India. On orders…
FreeMediaOnline.org & Free Media Online Blog QuoVadis Commentary, November 19, 2008, San Francisco — Free Media Online Blog is publishing an open letter to President Elect Barack Obama drafted on behalf of current and former Voice of America employees who are concerned about the mismanagement of U.S. international broadcasting by the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG). The BBG, which had been responsible for eliminating…
The Public Diplomacy Council, a nonprofit organization which includes former diplomats, academics and other foreign policy experts, has called on President elect Obama and Congress to take urgent action in reforming publicly-funded U.S. international broadcasting. The Council blames the bipartisan Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), whose members are appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate to manage U.S. international broadcasting, for ignoring…
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Henry Loomis, Voice of America Director Who Resisted White House Censorship at VOA, Dies at 89
FreeMediaOnline.org and Free Media Online Blog November 8, 2008, San Francisco — Henry Loomis, who died Nov. 2 in Jacksonville, Fla., at age 89, was director of the Voice of America (VOA) during the Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson administrations. During his tenure from 1958 to 1965, the VOA Charter was written, and technical facilities and programming for every part of the world…
FreeMediaOnline.org & Free Media Online Blog The Federalist Commentary, November 5, 2008, San Francisco — This commentary by one of our regular contributors offer a useful perspective on the bipartisan Broadcasting Board of Governors and its policies that led to the closing of many Voice of America radio broadcasting services, including radio broadcasts to Russia. The BBG strategy clearly abandons the…
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Reporters Without Borders Protests Restrictions on International Broadcasts in Azerbaijan; Voice of America Also Threatened By Its Own Broadcasting Board of Governors
FreeMediaOnline.org and Free Media Online Blog November 5, 2008, San Francisco — The worldwide press freedom organization, Reporters Without Borders, has sent a letter to President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev appealing to him to intervene after the National Broadcasting Council announced it planned to take three foreign radios stations off the FM band by 2009. They are the BBC, Radio Free…
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The Great Pumpkin — A Halloween Look At U.S. Public Diplomacy and International Broadcasting
FreeMediaOnline.org & Free Media Online Blog QuoVadis Commentary, October 31, 2008, San Francisco — Free Media Online Blog welcomes a new guest contributor who provides a unique perspective on U.S. international broadcasting and public diplomacy. We invite your comments. The Great Pumpkin — A Halloween Look At U.S. Public Diplomacy and International Broadcasting QuoVadis It’s Halloween time when shadowy figures and…
FreeMediaOnline.org and Free Media Online Blog October 22, 2008, San Francisco — Voice of America (VOA) has taken a small step to restore radio broadcasts to Russia which were terminated by the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) shortly before the Russian military attack on Georgia. Responding to criticism from Congress and media freedom organizations, the BBG staff has allowed VOA to start…
FreeMediaOnline.org & Free Media Online Blog The Federalist Commentary, October 16, 2008, San Francisco — U.S. public diplomacy and international broadcasting have become a fool’s paradise, putting the “ugly American” stereotype on display. One example has been discussed at length…the strategic “vision” of the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) to adopt an all-or-nothing Internet strategy for its media. No other international…