There's much written about the Trump administration's attack on American voices, and it's reflexively defended by supporters of the service by romanticizing its reputation from World War II and the Cold War. VOA has been sliding on its reputation for years. Few people know that it's different here, as it's not broadcast in the US.
No one is leaning back in the basement listening to VOAs on scratchy tranny while the Gestapo and KGB patrol the streets outside. Much of the news it produces can be heard on other international broadcasters. Yes, there are some good enterprising reporters, but the rules for civil servants hiring prevent the best and brightest recruiting.
Overseas stringers provide foreign reports and dozens of language services provide spot news from countries they cover. American Music is broadcast as well as lessons on perhaps the most popular feature – English learning. However, its efforts on “democratic buildings” are exaggerated, but are touted as a way to continue receiving government funding.
The VOA was established during World War II to broadcast news to occupying nations “without fear or favor” and was then continued for similar reasons during the Cold War. But today, it operates in an unimaginable media environment, even 20 years ago, with news, opinions and entertainment available worldwide from 24/7 sources.
Over time, the VOA worked to fulfill its mission, balancing the conflicting duties of federal government services. After all, it's a federal agency, and not many of its staff want to think of CNN or NPR. Budgets are extended with the transition to television and the internet, maintaining a far-reaching radio audience. National stations reporting US news are closed. At the foot of Capitol Hill, the headquarters and broadcasting center, Coenville is being charged by far-off work and questionable moves towards the expensive but still unfinished building near the White House.
Furthermore, contrary to popular belief, there is no global VOA network. Radio and video operations work on an affiliate basis, purchasing reporting time from foreign broadcasters that decide what and what to broadcast. So there is a problem with investigating the audience, and no one knows exactly how many people actually are listening.
That One Truly International Service – Short Wave Radio – It has been reduced Repeat to save money. Shortwaves require enormous amounts of electricity to enhance signals that span the Earth. This is expensive. Therefore, listeners in hard-to-reach locations like Bangladesh are separated from the broadcasts that VOA supporters like to celebrate.
A while ago, a team of outside journalists were hired to do an independent reading of VOA's journalistic content. The findings were not published, suggesting that they are not good. The newsroom crisis continues to disappear. 15 staff at Nigeria Services in 2018 I was fired for payment From government officials. Respected Chief of Mandarin Services It has been deleted To air an interview with a opposition Chinese businessman who angered Beijing.
Newsroom staff had to be trained to remove bias from reports after the 2016 election airing. Annual employee surveys by the Human Resources Bureau repeatedly find staff morale among the lowest in the government.
Few experienced American journalists speak Persian, Swahili, Urdu, Cantonese, or any other exotic language on which it is broadcast. Many good foreign journalists are employed by many VOA foreign language services to fill in violations. Some will inevitably arrive with their own biases and ethical standards. So it's a Nigerian scandal.
Because of all the hostility of President Trump, Hillary Clinton also didn't like VOA very much, Congressional testimony dismisses it as “essentially abolished.” Secretary of State. President Barack Obama served Only one interview Eight years later, he considered it when communicating with the world.
Much of here has been Democrats and Republicans trying to shake things up with the VOA for years. The horror of the day isn't what the Trump administration did as much as how it was done with the chainsaw approach. As many suspect, if the VOA might survive in a much more trimmed version under the State Department's umbrella, it worked once, but as a result of this, who would want to work there?
Unlike many critical of the service, I refuse the urge to shut it down. There is a story to tell in this country, and the improved VOA conveys it in an authoritative and objective way that is not available anywhere else. American culture of medical advancements, technology, many flavors and sports features – soccer is popular in Africa, but many are wild in the NBA – both music and US news are good and bad news. And yes, the type of editors that VOA Management has now rejected as propaganda explains our foreign policy to overseas audiences who want to know what the country thinks about the events in their hometown.
Radio Free Europe, Radio Free Asia, Middle East Broadcasting Network, and other grantees, who are also purged by the White House, do an excellent job of spreading the truth in a country where media is controlled by authoritarian governments.
It is where the real “democratic buildings” are taking place and the cuts there should be reversed, so VOA must be released to fulfill its mission as “American voice.” In the current media environment, there is no other rationale for US taxpayers to support such services.
Winston Wood writes and broadcasts editorials about American voices and explains US foreign policy to overseas audiences. He previously served as Washington News Editor for the Wall Street Journal.
