The Edward R. Murrow Transmitting Station is the largest BBG transmission facility in the United States. This four minute video provides an introduction to its history and operations. Approximately 85% of the shortwave broadcasts from the Murrow Transmitting station in North Carolina are Radio Martí Spanish broadcasts to Cuba. The remaining programs include VOA Spanish to Latin America, along with English, Portuguese and French to Africa.

Worldwide, the BBG operates 84 transmitting sites, with a total of 182 transmitters plus nearly 1,400 affiliate stations in order to send broadcasts in 59 languages to audiences in more than 100 countries.

The video and the above description are from the BBG official website.

The report below is from BBG Watch.

Rep. Walter B. Jones

There was a gala celebration at the rededication of the Edward Murrow Transmission facility on May 2 in Greenville, NC.  Over 200 area residents attended and speakers inlcuded Casey Murrow, only son of Edward R. Murrow, along with BBG Governor Victor Ashe, US Congressman Walter Jones and IBB Director Dick Lobo.
 
Jones and Ashe pledged strong support for shortwave transmissions. Jones stressed the station is the only facility of its type in the US and important for reaching Cuba and Latin America.  Jones received a standing ovation at the start and end of his remarks.
 
Jones worked to keep the facility open against attempts by some BBG officials to close it down. He praised Ashe for getting the Murrow name restored to the station as well as his efforts to keep the facility open.

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The Broadcasting Board of Governors and Gallup held an event to discuss how the world’s populations perceive media freedom in their countries. It appears, however, that Gallup employees are not exactly big fans of free speech. The Tibetan woman is presumably a US taxpayer. The BBG plans to give Gallup millions of dollars of US taxpayers’ money to pay for audience research, which critics argue cannot be conducted reliably in countries like China and Tibet. The Tibetan woman made that point while stressing the critical importance of VOA radio broadcasts for the people in Tibet.

BBG member Michael Meehan, who was one of the panelists, had to intervene to allow the Tibetan woman to finish her statement as she was being repeatedly interrupted by a Gallup executive. Our sources suspect that International Broadcasting Bureau (IBB) officials may have instructed Gallup executives to try to silence any anti-BBG protesters at the event.

Gallup has received a $50 million  contract from the BBG to provide it with audience research.

You can watch the video of the panel here or on the Gallup website: Gallup Event: Measuring Media Freedom Worldwide

The Tibetan woman can be heard in the last 15 minutes of the video.

The Dalai Lama said that Voice of America Tibetan radio is “vital medicine” for Tibetans, and the Tibetan people consider it as one of the most valuable and priceless gifts from the people and government of the United States to them.

Sign a Petition Save Voice of America Radio to Tibet

The Broadcasting Board of Governors Chief Financial Officer Maryjean Buhler pointed out at last week’s public board meeting that the BBG proposes in its fiscal year 2013 budget a reduction rather than an elimination of the Voice of America Tibetan Service.

The BBG proposal means, however, an elimination of the entire VOA Tibetan radio broadcasting service, leaving only a VOA Tibetan website and a VOA Tibetan television program. Neither of these can be viewed easily in Tibet due to the Chinese regime’s draconian restrictions on private ownership of satellite dishes and its effective blocking of VOA websites. This means that the VOA Tibetan Service would be reduced to providing news only to Tibetans living in exile rather than to Tibetans in Tibet, where the Voice of America is most needed and its radio programs are secretly listen to as reported recently by National Public Radio.

This video from last Thursday’s BBG board meeting includes comments by CFO Maryjean Buhler and BBG Governor Victor Ashe who is said to oppose cutting Voice of America radio broadcasts to Tibet. Ashe said that he received numerous protests and indicated that BBG members are taking another look at this matter.

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This document is reposted from savevoatibetanradio.com website.

Stop the Voice of America’s Tibetan Language Radio from going silent for the Tibetan people

In the FY2013 budget proposal, the Broadcasting Board of Governors plans on eliminating the Voice of America’s Tibetan language radio to Tibet.

The Tibetan People are burning with anguish and pain at this moment

This comes at a period when Tibet is literally burning, and China’s repression and crackdowns on the Tibetan people are at their harshest and most violent. Twenty five young people, mostly monks and  nuns, have self-immolated to draw attention to the attacks  on Tibetan religion and culture. China’s response has been to crackdown harder, conduct beatings and detentions and inflict painful and humiliating ‘re-education’ programs at Tibetan religious institutions.

Wrong political message to the Chinese Communist Party

Cutting this lifeline for Tibetans in their hour of need sends a wrong message to China. China will understand it to mean that decimation of Tibetan religion and culture, and indeed their very identity, will now be overlooked by America. And to the Tibetan people, it will be a heartbreaking blow from a nation that Tibetans love, respect, and consider a friend in stormy weather.

        VOA Tibetan language radio is a unique source of information for Tibetans

A recent NPR report on the Tibetan self-immolations in Tibet said, “The monks listen secretly to Voice of America’s Tibetan service news every night, despite feeling almost physical pain at the bleak news.” That’s because ever since 1991, when the Voice of America was mandated by an act of Congress to start its Tibetan language service, it has been the only international broadcast into Tibet that provides world news, US news, the activities and efforts of the Dalai Lama for his people, and information and analysis on the workings of the free world to Tibet. And today, VOA Tibetan radio is still the only one that gives all of that to the Tibetan people.

Shortwave radio is still a powerful medium in Tibet

Shortwave radio remains a cheap, easily concealed, and thus the safest mode of getting news and information in Tibet. Radio signals are jammed by the Chinese in town centers, but in the rural areas where the vast majority of Tibetans live, Voice of America’s radio is loud and clear.

The Dalai Lama said that Voice of America Tibetan radio is “vital medicine” for Tibetans, and the Tibetan people consider it as one of the most valuable and priceless gifts from the people and government of the United States to them.

Save VOA Tibetan radio on behalf of the millions of Tibetans living under extreme oppression, and the American people who have supported the plight of the Tibetans for over 50 years.

Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama congratulates the Voice of America (VOA) on its 70th anniversary, but the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) and the Obama Administration plan to eliminate VOA radio broadcasts to Tibet.

As the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) plans to eliminate and reduce numerous Voice of America (VOA) broadcasting services as part of the Obama Administration proposed budget for fiscal year 2013, VOA celebrated 70 years of broadcasting this year, and marked this milestone on Wednesday, March 7th, with a special event at VOA headquarters in Washington, DC. High points of the afternoon included video tributes from President Barack Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, and the Dalai Lama.

One of the services the Broadcasting Board of Governors wants to eliminate are Voice of America Tibetan radio broadcasts. Ambassador Victor Ashe is the only BBG member who publicly spoke up against cutting VOA radio programs to Tibet, but sources tell us that other Board members are now also questioning their staff’s recommendation and the Board’s budget decision on Tibet. The BBG also wants to eliminate the VOA Cantonese Service and to reduce VOA broadcasting to Vietnam, Laos and other countries without free media while preserving its administrative and bureaucratic overhead. The BBG also proposes large cuts in English and Spanish programs and broadcasting jobs.

Critics of the Broadcasting Board of Governors are pointing out that BBG members have allowed their staff to expand bureaucratic positions at the International Broadcasting Bureau (IBB) run by President Obama’s friend Richard Lobo while cutting Voice of America broadcasts and positions of VOA broadcasters and journalists. In a letter to U.S. Congress, one critic wrote:

The proposed reductions are driven not by a considered strategic world view, but by bureaucratic expedience and a fundamental misunderstanding of the mission of VOA. If the fiscal year 2013 proposal is enacted, the staff level for VOA will be reduced by 13.2% from the current year. In contrast, only 3.3% of the positions from the International Broadcasting Board (IBB), which provides administrative support to the BBG, will be cut. If the fiscal year 2013 proposal is enacted the number of full time equivalent (FTE) positions for the IBB will rise from 593.2 in fiscal year 2011 to 678.2. In the same time period VOA will lose 121.2 FTE positions. The general trend of the IBB has been to grow larger while the number of language services they support is being reduced. Broadcasting should be the last thing to be cut. It makes little sense to grow the bureaucracy while cutting that which it is meant to support. The eliminations and reductions in broadcasting to Tibet, China, Laos, and Vietnam alone will cut 28 positions from VOA.

Link to Obama VOA 70th Anniversary Video

Link to Clinton VOA 70th Anniversary Video

Link to Dalai Lama VOA 70th Anniversary Video

Link to Aung San Suu Kyi VOA 70th Anniversary Video

Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) Chairman Walter Isaacson speaking on January 13, 2012 about the BBG reorganization plan said that he has “changed his mind.” In the battle for public control and oversight of U.S. international broadcasting, Isaacson has modified his plan to remove U.S. government-funded broadcasting entities from public domain due to strong criticism from human rights groups, media freedom advocates, and BBG’s Victor Ashe. Isaacson apparently compromised with Ashe on some of the provisions of the plan, which the critics say could have led to CNN-ization of the Voice of America. Isaacson is a former CNN executive and author of a highly successful biography of Steve Jobs.

BBG Watch sources point out, however, that the battle for public ownership, control, and oversight of U.S. international broadcasting is far from over, with some BBG members and their executive staff still determined to de-federalize and cannibalize the Voice of America broadcasting resources and establish centralized bureaucratic controls over the surrogate broadcasters. The official BBG announcement, see below, does not describe any of the compromises and the modifications in Isaacson’s initial plan discussed during the January 13 BBG meeting.

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Official BBG Announcement

BBG Calls for Agency Restructuring

Washington, D.C., January 18, 2012 – The Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) announced its intention to restructure U.S. international broadcasting. It will seek legislation that would include establishing a Chief Executive Officer to manage the enterprise. In addition, the Board called for a plan to consolidate the agency’s three non-federal broadcast networks: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia, and the Middle East Broadcasting Networks.

“The Board is ready to strengthen U.S. international broadcasting in part by freeing up resources locked up in inefficient and duplicative administrative structures and reinvesting in programming,” said BBG Chairman Walter Isaacson. “This is a historic agreement by the Board to streamline international broadcasting into one great organization focused on quality journalism with many brands and many divisions but unified as one organization.”

In a resolution passed at its January 13 meeting in Washington, the Board announced its intention to restructure international broadcasting in accordance with its recently released 2012-2016 Strategic Plan. The Board outlined proposed reforms and its intent to develop a draft legislative package to be called the International Broadcasting Innovation Act of 2012 (the “IBIA”). It would establish a CEO who would report to the Board and provide day-to-day executive leadership. In addition the proposed package calls for a new organization that would reflect the optimal mix of federal and non-federal assets in support of international broadcasting; repeals the domestic dissemination ban in the Smith-Mundt Act; and renames the agency to reflect the mission of a unified structure. The restructuring package would be subject to appropriate administration approval and Congressional consideration.

“While there is a compelling case for streamlining the BBG’s complex structure and leveraging the highly professional newsgathering activities of our independent broadcast services, any reform plan will retain and celebrate the individual and historic brands and their journalistic mission,” said Isaacson in summarizing the Board’s recommendations. “We look forward to working with internal and external stakeholders and experts as well as with the Administration and Congress on these proposals.”

During its strategic review process, the Board engaged the services of management consultant Deloitte and external counsel Baker and Mackenzie to gain a detailed understanding of the costs, benefits and legal issues involved. The resulting studies indicated a compelling case and potential substantial savings over five years from eliminating duplicative management and administrative functions and affirmed the legal feasibility of a merger. Further details of the Board’s Record of Decisions and previous discussions can be found below:

Record of Decisions January 13, 2012

2011 Grantee Consolidation Assessment (Redacted)

Broadcasting Board of Governors Grantee Merger Assessment, executive summary

Minutes of November 18, 2011 BBG Meeting

The Broadcasting Board of Governors is an independent federal agency, supervising all U.S. government-supported, civilian international broadcasting, whose mission is inform, engage, and connect people around the world in support of freedom and democracy. BBG broadcasts reach an audience of 187 million in 100 countries. BBG networks include the Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, the Middle East Broadcasting Networks (Alhurra TV and Radio Sawa), Radio Free Asia, and the Office of Cuba Broadcasting (Radio and TV Marti).
For more information, please call the BBG’s Office of Public Affairs at 202-203-4400 or e-mail publicaffairs@bbg.gov.

In the battle for public control and oversight of U.S. international broadcasting, Isaacson has modified his plan to remove U.S. government-funded broadcasting entities from public domain due to strong criticism from human rights groups, media freedom advocates, and BBG’s senior Republican member Victor Ashe. Isaacson apparently compromised with Ashe on some of the provisions of the plan, which the critics say could have led to CNN-ization of the Voice of America. Isaacson is a former CNN executive and author of a highly successful biography of Steve Jobs.

BBG Watch sources point out, however, that the battle for public ownership, control, and oversight of U.S. international broadcasting is far from over, with some BBG members and their executive staff still determined to de-federalize and cannibalize the Voice of America broadcasting resources and establish centralized bureaucratic controls over the surrogate broadcasters. The official BBG announcement, see below, does not describe any of the compromises and the modifications in Isaacson’s initial plan discussed during the January 13 BBG meeting.

###

Official BBG Announcement

BBG Calls for Agency Restructuring

Washington, D.C., January 18, 2012 – The Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) announced its intention to restructure U.S. international broadcasting. It will seek legislation that would include establishing a Chief Executive Officer to manage the enterprise. In addition, the Board called for a plan to consolidate the agency’s three non-federal broadcast networks: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia, and the Middle East Broadcasting Networks.

“The Board is ready to strengthen U.S. international broadcasting in part by freeing up resources locked up in inefficient and duplicative administrative structures and reinvesting in programming,” said BBG Chairman Walter Isaacson. “This is a historic agreement by the Board to streamline international broadcasting into one great organization focused on quality journalism with many brands and many divisions but unified as one organization.”

In a resolution passed at its January 13 meeting in Washington, the Board announced its intention to restructure international broadcasting in accordance with its recently released 2012-2016 Strategic Plan. The Board outlined proposed reforms and its intent to develop a draft legislative package to be called the International Broadcasting Innovation Act of 2012 (the “IBIA”). It would establish a CEO who would report to the Board and provide day-to-day executive leadership. In addition the proposed package calls for a new organization that would reflect the optimal mix of federal and non-federal assets in support of international broadcasting; repeals the domestic dissemination ban in the Smith-Mundt Act; and renames the agency to reflect the mission of a unified structure. The restructuring package would be subject to appropriate administration approval and Congressional consideration.

“While there is a compelling case for streamlining the BBG’s complex structure and leveraging the highly professional newsgathering activities of our independent broadcast services, any reform plan will retain and celebrate the individual and historic brands and their journalistic mission,” said Isaacson in summarizing the Board’s recommendations. “We look forward to working with internal and external stakeholders and experts as well as with the Administration and Congress on these proposals.”

During its strategic review process, the Board engaged the services of management consultant Deloitte and external counsel Baker and Mackenzie to gain a detailed understanding of the costs, benefits and legal issues involved. The resulting studies indicated a compelling case and potential substantial savings over five years from eliminating duplicative management and administrative functions and affirmed the legal feasibility of a merger. Further details of the Board’s Record of Decisions and previous discussions can be found below:

Record of Decisions January 13, 2012

2011 Grantee Consolidation Assessment (Redacted)

Broadcasting Board of Governors Grantee Merger Assessment, executive summary

Minutes of November 18, 2011 BBG Meeting

The Broadcasting Board of Governors is an independent federal agency, supervising all U.S. government-supported, civilian international broadcasting, whose mission is inform, engage, and connect people around the world in support of freedom and democracy. BBG broadcasts reach an audience of 187 million in 100 countries. BBG networks include the Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, the Middle East Broadcasting Networks (Alhurra TV and Radio Sawa), Radio Free Asia, and the Office of Cuba Broadcasting (Radio and TV Marti).
For more information, please call the BBG’s Office of Public Affairs at 202-203-4400 or e-mail publicaffairs@bbg.gov.

Speaking at an open BBG meeting on October 13, 2011, Ambassador Ashe acknowledged that despite a minor improvement in the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) annual Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey results for the Broadcasting Board of Governors, BBG remains near the very bottom among all federal agencies in terms of employee morale.

Link to the video on YouTube

Ambassador Ashe made his comments after meeting with the Voice of America employees who prepare programs for Africa. He also met with staffers who conduct employee training seminars.

Ambassador Ashe pointed out that 45 percent of all VOA employees are private contractors, whose views about the management are not surveyed by the OPM. He described these contract employees as “generally an unhappy group of people,” who — unlike regular VOA employees — are not entitled to various benefits and do not get regular pay raises. Private contractors working at the Voice of America, also known as POVs (Purchase Order Vendors), cannot even receive flu shots, which are available to other employees.

BBG Watch has learned from reliable sources that some BBG members and their executive staff were unhappy about Ambassador Ashe’s employee morale comments. BBG officials who implemented many of the existing policies have been consistently rated in the OPM surveys as being the worst managers within the Federal workforce.

At the same Broadcasting Board of Governors meeting on October 13, the BBG announced a new mission statement for U.S. international broadcasting operations. It emphasizes engagement with the audiences targeted by the BBG-managed media entities. The BBG also announced a new strategic plan.

The BBG has been criticized in the media and in Congress for proposing, as part of its new strategic plan, to end all Voice of America radio and television broadcasts to China and to rely instead on the Internet, which is heavily censored by the Chinese authorities. The BBG plan has been blocked in Congress for the time being. The Senate Committee on Appropriations has criticized the agency management for lacking transparency.

The independent Committee for U.S. International Broadcasting (CUSIB), which was formed recently to promote journalism in defense of media freedom and human rights, announced that it will be reviewing the BBG strategic plan and asking its Advisory Board for opinions and recommendations to make sure that those who are denied access to news and information can receive it easily and safely from the BBG.

Speaking at an open BBG meeting on October 13, 2011, Ambassador Ashe acknowledged that despite a minor improvement in the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) annual Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey results for the Broadcasting Board of Governors, BBG remains near the very bottom among all federal agencies in terms of employee morale.

Link to the video on YouTube

Ambassador Ashe made his comments after meeting with the Voice of America employees who prepare programs for Africa. He also met with staffers who conduct employee training seminars.

Ambassador Ashe pointed out that 45 percent of all VOA employees are private contractors, whose views about the management are not surveyed by the OPM. He described these contract employees as “generally an unhappy group of people,” who — unlike regular VOA employees — are not entitled to various benefits and do not get regular pay raises. Private contractors working at the Voice of America, also known as POVs (Purchase Order Vendors), cannot even receive flu shots, which are available to other employees.

BBG Watch has learned from reliable sources that some BBG members and their executive staff were unhappy about Ambassador Ashe’s employee morale comments. BBG officials who implemented many of the existing policies have been consistently rated in the OPM surveys as being the worst managers within the Federal workforce.

At the same Broadcasting Board of Governors meeting on October 13, the BBG announced a new mission statement for U.S. international broadcasting operations. It emphasizes engagement with the audiences targeted by the BBG-managed media entities. The BBG also announced a new strategic plan.

The BBG has been criticized in the media and in Congress for proposing, as part of its new strategic plan, to end all Voice of America radio and television broadcasts to China and to rely instead on the Internet, which is heavily censored by the Chinese authorities. The BBG plan has been blocked in Congress for the time being. The Senate Committee on Appropriations has criticized the agency management for lacking transparency.

The independent Committee for U.S. International Broadcasting (CUSIB), which was formed recently to promote journalism in defense of media freedom and human rights, announced that it will be reviewing the BBG strategic plan and asking its Advisory Board for opinions and recommendations to make sure that those who are denied access to news and information can receive it easily and safely from the BBG.

See original here:
BBG’s Victor Ashe raises employee morale issues

The latest BBG statement on threats to media freedom, while quite strong, ignores the detention of VOA correspondent in China earlier this year and is silent on violence against journalists in Russia and BBG’s own attempts to censor Voice of America programs to Ehtiopia. This ivites charges of hypocrisy.

— BBG Watch
We welcome the latest BBG statement on recent threats to media freedom. It is the strongest ever in years. Perhaps BBG members are finally rejecting the go-soft-on-dictators marketing strategy advocated by their executive and program development staff. That would be indeed a welcome change. The BBG’s actions over the last few years have caused great damage to media freedom and the reputation of U.S. international broadcasting.

We also note that the BBG has said nothing about its own negotiations with the repressive regime in Ethiopia to place soft programs about health on local networks, its own censorship of VOA programs to Ethiopia, and the dismissal of the Horn of Africa service chief for daring to disclose and oppose the BBG attempt to replace some of the political news reporting with non-political content inoffensive to the regime, which had earlier threatened VOA reporters with death sentences.

BBG-imposed restrictions and censorship lead to the largest ever anti-censorship demostration in VOA’s history, organized in front of the BBG headquarters in Washington by Ethiopian Americans and media freedom activists.

We’re not surprised that the BBG statement did not mention Ethiopia.

Nor are we surprised that the Board statement does not mention China or the detention of a Voice of America correspondent in Beijing by the Chinese police. In February 2011, VOA reporter Stephanie Ho was secretly taped by CBS News in China’s capital screaming for police to stop beating her. She was pushed around, but eventually released.

Read Stephanie Ho’s account of the incident and see her videos in this VOA report:
US Ambassador Decries Chinese Abuse of Journalists

Perhaps this CBS video will remind BBG members of this incident.

Video link if you can’t see it here.

It is also not surprising that the statement says nothing about the BBG plan to end all VOA radio and TV broadcasts to China as of October 1, 2011 — the anniversary of the founding of the PRC — the plan which has been strongly condemned by Chinese human rights activists, members of Congress, human rights organizations in the U.S., pro-media freedom journalists, and Chinese Americans.

The BBG could regain some of its lost credibility if it would take the advice of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and continue VOA radio and TV broadcasts to China. In our opinion, the BBG’s plan to fire 45 VOA Chinese Branch journalists who specialize in human rights reporting and to end these broadcasts is just as great a threat to media freedom as some of the incidents described in the latest BBG statement. Also keep in mind that the BBG statement does not mention Russia, a country where journalists are being assassinated and to which the BBG terminated VOA radio and TV programs in 2008.

It’s much easier to pick on small dictatorships than on authoritarian regimes of major countries like China and Russia, but that is where the BBG has turned its back on human rights activists and other pro-democracy forces with its broadcasting cuts and its marketing approach pushing soft Internet content to placate the censors and achieve higher audience ratings. It is a marketing approach that goes against the BBG mission as envisioned by Congress and does a great disservice to the American people and the cause of freedom around the world.

Below you will find the full text of the BBG statement. Here we also include the first-person account of VOA Beijing Bureau Chief Stephanie Ho who was temporarily detained in the February 2011 crackdown, but managed to keep her video of the incident.

“I was out at Wangfujing Street across from the McDonald’s, which is where the online protest calls were supposed to be set. I was there probably with most of the foreign journalist corps in Beijing and as soon as I got my video camera out, there were guys blocking the lens.

They wouldn’t let me shoot and the street sweepers kept pushing me away. And then it was almost as if on cue, about four or five plainclothes police officers just sort of came out of the crowd, and all of a sudden I didn’t even know what was happening and they were pushing me. They were shoving me and they kind of knocked the camera down and they shoved me en masse inside a little shop.

Police removed five men gathering at a planned protest site in Shanghai.

Watch Stephanie Ho’s Report:

A uniformed guy actually came in with us, and he sort of wedged himself between me and the guy who I thought was maybe going to hit me. I just kept hearing him say, ‘Don’t hit women, don’t hit women.’ I just instinctively knew that I had to get out of there, and so I just pushed everybody and I forced my way outside back to the street. I was grabbed as soon as I got out to the street by three guys and they dragged me away down the alley to the police van.

They drove me to a police station and asked me to sit and wait in an anteroom. I think there was some confusion because I look Chinese, so they thought I was Chinese. Then they saw my I.D. and they said, ‘Oh, wait, you’re Voice of America, does that mean you’re American or Chinese?’ I think they realized they had brought me to the wrong station, so then after about 15 minutes, they brought me to another place, a sort of makeshift office called the Wangfujing Area Construction and Management Office, which nobody had heard of before.

They said, ‘If you’re going to be on Wangfujing Street, you need our permission.’ They said I needed permission to interview people, and I told them I wasn’t interviewing people, I just went to see what was going on.

Raw video of police action in China:

I don’t think there were any Chinese journalists there. If they went, they were well undercover. All the foreign journalists I know were called this past weekend and were warned not to go. I was called by someone who said she was a public security authoritiy, and we don’t know from which office. We tried to call the number back, and someone answered the phone and said somebody must have been using the phone to make phone calls. It’s all very vague and amorphous.

“I took part Monday afternoon in a meeting of foreign journalists at the U.S. ambassador’s office with the German ambassador and the European Union ambassador to discuss what happened yesterday. There were European journalists who had problems, and there were American journalists who had problems. This was definitely a stronger show of force than I’ve seen. There was a sense that it was concerted. There was a sense that it was organized.

And so the result is that 16 news agencies reported having problems, nine actually reported physical problems where they were either beaten or push or shoved. My colleague from Bloomberg was beaten quite badly. They dragged him around, they punched and kicked him. There were a lot of similarities with his experience and what I experienced.

Looking back on it, I’m thinking there might be some logic to the argument that the crackdown was to set an example for foreign journalists that this could happen to you if you come out again next time.”

Statement of the Broadcasting Board of Governors: Recent Threats to Media Freedom

September 15, 2011 | Washington, D.C.

The Broadcasting Board of Governors made the following statement at its meeting on September 15, 2011.

The BBG takes the opportunity of this open meeting to shine a spotlight
on efforts to thwart media freedom and intimidate our journalists in
countries where we work. We’ll provide updates on the status of our
reporters and operations as a standard part of subsequent Board meetings.

The Board expresses profound concern about Iran, where Internet access
to reporting by VOA’s Persian News Network and RFE’s Radio Farda is
blocked, websites are aggressively hacked, shortwave broadcasts are
jammed and persons associated in any way with our programs are arrested
or worse. We learned recently that the Iranian government is jamming
satellite transmissions of the BBC’s Persian service TV. Taken together,
these practices amount to the construction of an “electronic curtain”
isolating the Iranian people from the rest of the world.

We protest the August 31 abduction and expulsion to the Iranian border
of a correspondent with RFE’s Azerbaijani service who was reporting a
story. We have raised the case with the State Department and local
officials and have requested an explanation from the Azerbaijani
government.

We reject a legal warning issued in connection with VOA coverage of the
U.N.-backed tribunal in Cambodia that has been investigating atrocities
committed by the former Khmer Rouge regime. The Board insists on the
journalistic and legal responsibility of all our broadcast services to
provide balanced coverage of important issues, and objects to the
chilling effect the warning may have on independent media inside the
country.

We also object to a recent pattern of intimidation towards RFA and VOA
reporters in Nepal, who have been physically threatened because of their
reporting on Tibet.

Finally, the Board condemns the routine violence that our journalists in
many countries face simply for doing their jobs. On September 3,
Alexandre Neto, a VOA reporter, was assaulted by plain-clothed police
who also confiscated some of his equipment while he was covering a
pro-democracy rally in the Angolan capital of Luanda. A cameraman with
Alhurra TV was attacked on August 10 in Yemen by several unidentified
men who tried to stab him with daggers.

The Board welcomes the news that Abdumalik Boboyev, a correspondent for
VOA, has finally been permitted to travel to Germany to study. Boboyev
was arrested and charged with ‘libel’ last year for his broadcasts. He
managed to avoid prison but was fined $11,000 for ‘insulting the Uzbek
people.’

To learn more about the above incidents, go to:

*BBG Statement on Hacking and Signal Interference in Iran
*Reporters without Borders on Violence in Bahrain
*RFE Azerbaijani Correspondent Abducted, Expelled to Iran
*VOA Statement on Warning to Journalists in Cambodia
*VOA Statement on the Assault on its Reporter in Angola
*BBG Statement of Concern for VOA Reporter Bobayev

BBG Condemns Threats to Press Freedom and Furthers Reform Efforts

September 15, 2011 | Washington, D.C.

At today’s Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) meeting, the Board discussed and advanced plans to carry out a comprehensive reform for U.S. international broadcasting. The Board also called public attention to a string of disturbing incidents of repression and intimidation perpetrated against BBG journalists in recent months in Nepal, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Burma and elsewhere.

The Board decried the longstanding interference with media freedom in Iran and Board Chairman Walter Isaacson noted that, “Taken together, these practices amount to the construction of an ‘electronic curtain’ isolating the Iranian people from the rest of the world.” The Board’s full statement on recent threats to its journalists can be found online here.

The Board adopted revised grant agreements with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia, and the Middle East Broadcasting Networks (MBN) for consistency across the networks, to better reflect operational realities and to foster increased cooperation among U.S. international broadcasting. In addition, the Board voted and passed the Agency’s FY 2013 proposed budget to OMB. The BBG also agreed to establish an Internet Freedom committee to advise the Board on global Internet freedom and censorship circumvention strategies.

Governor Dana Perino announced the launch of the Innovation Commission that will meet on September 22 in New York City to foster ongoing technical developments across U.S. international broadcasting. The Commission brings together leaders who have proven success in digital media.

At the meeting VOA’s new Director David Ensor highlighted the documentary “Hope Town” which was jointly produced with MBN and showcases religious tolerance in Teaneak, N.J., as well as an innovative and highly popular VOA Mandarin webcast “OMG! Meiyu” that engages a young Chinese audience eager to learn colloquial American English.

MBN President Brian Conniff shared noteworthy Alhurra TV coverage of events in Libya as well as the eyewitness reporting by a Radio Sawa correspondent of gunshots being fired at journalists outside of Bani Walid.

A webcast of the meeting is available at www.bbg.gov.

We’re posting YouTube Fox News video report on the altercation between BBG member Michael P. Meehan (then still awaiting Senate confirmation) and Weekly Standard reporter, John McCormack. Michael Meehan reportedly was most directly involved in efforts to censor Voice of America Horn of Africa service reporting and to remove its service chief after Meehan and two other BBG members negotiated with the repressive regime in Ethiopia.

In January 2010, Meehan was accused of shoving a reporter to prevent him from asking questions of a candidate for a U.S. Senate seat. After the incident, Meehan apologized and insisted he did not know he was pushing a reporter.

Link to Fox News report on YouTube.

Link to the demonstration video 1

Link to the demonstration video 2

VOA Acting Director Steve Redisch

In an apparent attempt at damage control that may place him at odds with some of the BBG members, Voice of America acting director Steve Redisch also reportedly expressed support for the head of Horn of Africa Service David Arnold who was suspended from his position, apparently at the insistence of BBG member Michael Meehan. Before being nominated by President Obama to serve on the BBG, Meehan had been accused of shoving a reporter who was trying to ask a question of a candidate for the U.S. Senate. Free Media Online opposed his nomination as unsuitable for an institution created to support media freedom.

VOA journalist David Arnold

During his meeting with the Horn of Africa Service Redisch did not comment directly on the VOA programs that had already been censored and removed from the website and did not say whether they would be restored. He also did not say why David Arnold was dismissed and whether he would return to his old position. He also did not explain why a senior VOA executive called for less political reporting to Ethiopia after the BBG delegation’s talks with the Ethiopian regime and David Arnold’s dismissal. According to Addis Voice, VOA executives moved Arnold from his old position to VOA’s English Service. Addis Voice also reported that VOA journalists were forbidden from taking written notes at a recent editorial meeting of the Horn of Africa Service.

BBG Member Michael P Meehan

According to sources, Meehan was furious when he found out that Arnold told his staff about the demands of the Ethiopian regime to restrict VOA’s human rights reporting to Ethiopia. These demands were made in a meeting the regime officials had in Addis Ababa with Meehan and two other visiting BBG members, Dana Perino and Susan McCue. Subsequently, David Arnold, who had been present at the meeting with the Ethiopian regime officials, was dismissed from his position and VOA news reports based on the information he provided were permanently deleted, a move that violates the VOA Charter, VOA’s own journalistic code, and U.S. government regulations.
BBG executives accused Arnold of spreading misinformation but did not offer any explanation or corrections, which is the usual journalistic practice in news organizations. After Arnold’s dismissal, higher-level managers blocked VOA coverage of an important Ethiopian American political emigre meeting held in the Washington, DC area and were told to limit political reporting in favor of more human-interest news stories.

Free Media Online president Ted Lipien, who once served as VOA’s acting associate director, said that “Mr. Redisch’s short meeting with VOA journalists and his statements are steps in the right direction but still fall short of fully reparing the tremendous damage to VOA’s reputation as a credible news organization and the damage to the reputation of the United States and U.S. public diplomacy created by the spectacle of not just one but three Broadcasting Board of Governors’ members, negotiating secretly with the one of the most repressive regimes in Africa, which not too long ago charged VOA journalists with treason and threatened them with the death penalty.”

Free Media Online president Ted Lipien

“It is outrageous that the Broadcasting Board of Governors executives arranged such a ill-defined trip and then, apparently with active involvement of some of the presidentially-appointed BBG members, dismissed a well-respected VOA journalist and censored news reports in a clear violation of the VOA Charter. BBG officials must apologize to Voice of America listeners, restore Mr. Arnold to his previous position, and stop all attempts at censorship and intimidation of journalists, including forbidding taking notes at meetings, a practice that’s identified with communist and other dictatorships and does not belong in America. The U.S. Congress should investigate this incident and other actions by BBG members and their executive staff, especially the most recent decision to terminate Voice of America radio and TV broadcasts in Mandarin and Cantonese to China and to fire two dozen VOA China Branch journalists who specialize in human rights reporting.”

Lipien also said that the U.S. Congress should investigate charges, made recently by one of the most respected independent journalists who fight media censorship in Russia at great danger to themselves, that the earlier firing of VOA Russian broadcasters and programming changes imposed by the BBG have resulted in deliberate downplaying of human rights reporting and repetition of pro-Kremlin propaganda on the VOA Russian Service website.

“Censorship, self-censorship and mismanagement at the Voice of America and other broadcasting entities under the BBG’s umbrella is not likely to change until the entire BBG strategic plan, which places emphasis on expanding audiences over the mission of serving informational needs of the most oppressed, is replaced with a plan that the U.S. Congress and American taxpayers can be sure serves America’s interests in promoting freedom and democracy,” Free Media Online president Ted Lipien said.

Lipien pointed out that independent journalists in Russia, human rights defenders in China and Ethiopia, and Ethiopian Americans do not want to see the Voice of America turn into a third-rate cable channel with stories about UFOs and aliens while BBG members travel around the world at U.S. taxpayers’ expense making deals with dictatorial regimes to allow such programs to air locally because they don’t offend anyone and therefore may result in higher audience ratings. This is exactly what an independent journalist in Russia said about the VOA Russian Service website, as reported in an internal Broadcasting Board of Governors program evaluation which was ignored by BBG and VOA executives.

Dana Rohrabacher R-CA

FreeMediaOnline.org reported that the Broadcasting Board of Governors has credibility problems not only among American ethnic communities and free media advocates in the U.S. and abroad, but also increasingly on Capital Hill. In a full bipartisan rebuke to the BBG members and their executive staff, the House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs passed by unanimous consent an amendment, proposed by Congressman Dana Rohrabacher R-CA, which would block the BBG’s decision to end VOA radio and TV broadcasts to China. A similar action would be required in the U.S. Senate to save these programs. The final outcome is not yet certain and the BBG may yet succeed in stopping VOA radio and TV to China as it did with VOA radio and TV to Russia, despite strong opposition to that move among many members of Congress.

During the debate in the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Congressman Brad Sherman D-CA, Congressman Connie Mack R-FL, and Congressman Chris Smith, R-NJ said that BBG “bureaucrats” should not be allowed to make the decision to cut VOA radio and TV to China.  Rep. Mack commented on the BBG’s audience research, which claims low audience figures in China for Western radio stations, but which free media advocates describe as completely unreliable: “People in China or Cuba, as you can imagine, will not jump in joy and admit it [listening to Western radio stations]. If you say yes, in China or Cuba, the government will punish you. People are afraid for their own lives. Rep. Smith pointed out that Intermedia, which the BBG uses to conduct audience research, “gets money from the BBG, and then gives money to contractors in Beijing to conduct the survey.”

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and other media freedom organizations have accused the Ethiopian regime of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, in power since 1991, of imprisoning journalists, jamming Voice of America and other foreign broadcasts, and blocking many foreign and independent news websites. Citizens of Russia and China are also denied access to uncensored information by their authoritarian regimes, with which BBG members had likewise tried in the past to negotiate better local placement of U.S. news programs and eventually moved to end VOA radio and TV broadcasts to these countries, opting for Internet-only program distribution. This may explain the strong reaction of the Ethiopian American community to the BBG’s latest actions following the visit of the BBG delegation to Ethiopia. The protest organizers were calling for saving the Voice of America from turning into a “Voice of China” and pointed out that the Chinese government has provided the Ethiopian regime with the equipment used to jam VOA and other Western radio broadcasts. The Ethiopian American leaders described the Voice of America Horn of Africa Service as “the only powerful source of uncensored news and views,” while pointing out that attempts at censorship transpired after the BBG visit to Addis Ababa and after the Meles regime reportedly demanded that critics of the regime be banished from participating in VOA programs.

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The letter from the Ethiopian America community to the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) in PDF

Mr. Walter Isaacson, BBG Chairman
Mr. Richard M. Lobo, IBB Director
Mr. Steve Redisch, VOA Acting Director/ Executive Editor,
Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG)
330 Independence Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20237

July 25, 2011

Dear Sirs,

First of all, we, members of the Ethiopian American community, would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to the People and Government of the United States for being the leading defender of freedom, justice and democracy throughout the world. We greatly appreciate and admire the crucial works of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, whose mission is “to promote freedom and democracy and to enhance understanding through multi-media communication of accurate, objective, and balanced news, information, and other programming about America and the world audience overseas.”

We are writing today to request an investigation into reports of censorship at the Voice of America Horn of Africa section, which has been serving Ethiopians as the only powerful source of uncensored news and views. What is more worrying is the fact that the difficulties facing the VOA Horn of Africa section transpired after the Meles regime reportedly demanded VOA to banish a list of critics from appearing on its programs and coverage.

We find it appropriate and timely to quote from a speech H.E. Secretary of State Hillary R. Clinton, who happens to be one of the esteemed members of BBG, delivered last month at the African Union, Addis Ababa. Secretary Clinton rightly told African leaders:

“The status quo is broken; the old ways of governing are no longer acceptable; it is time for leaders to lead with accountability, treat their people with dignity, respect their rights, and deliver economic opportunity. And if they will not, then it is time for them to go.”

As you very well know, it is impossible to hold leaders accountable and guarantee dignity and human rights without freedom of expression and free press. The struggle of the Ethiopian people to create a nation founded on freedom, democracy, dignity, rule of law, transparency and accountability has been severely hampered by the relentless efforts by the ruling TPLF/EPRDF in Ethiopia to silence every little voice of dissent and critical view. Only within the last five years, scores of newspapers have been closed down, many journalists have been jailed and nearly one hundred of them have been forced into exile. In addition, the regime blocks news websites and blogs and intensively jams international broadcasts.
The Ethiopian government is one of the most anti-free press regimes in the world lined up and in league with Burma, Cuba, Iran and others. This has been consistently reported by credible human rights
organizations, the State Department annual human rights report and free press advocates such as the Committee to Protest Journalists (CPJ), Reporters without Boarders and International Press Institute.

Having said that, we would like to bring to your attention recent developments that have created a cloud of concern and anxiety among Americans of Ethiopian origin as well as the Ethiopian Diaspora. The Voice of America means a lot to the majority of Ethiopians who have depended on its balanced, objective and reliable reporting and programs.

It is to be remembered that three BBG Governors, Susan McCue, Dana Perino and Michael Meehan, along with four senior VOA staff members, travelled to Ethiopia, Southern Sudan and Nigeria between
June 21 to 28. On 23rd June, Mr. David Arnold , a member of the delegation and former Horn of Africa chief, appeared on VOA Amharic and shared some important information to listeners. Mr. Arnold disclosed that the government of Ethiopia had demanded VOA to ban a long list of vocal critics.

In what appears to be a very unusual move, Mr. Arnold was suspended from his position, though has now been reinstated. According to reports, there was no factual error in his statement. However, the audio as well as text archive of the report has been removed from VOA’s official website without any corrections, explanations or apologies. We would like an investigation into this matter and urge BBG to have the deleted files be resorted.

On 10th July 2011, a key public meeting, which was focused on the future of Ethiopia, was held at the Sheraton National Hotel, in Arlington, Virginia. The first of its kind, the meeting was jointly organized by Ginbot 7, the Oromo Liberation Front and Alliance for Liberty Equality and Justice in Ethiopia (ALEJE).

We understand that VOA decided not to cover the event after it was scheduled to be aired on VOA Amharic service on Monday, July 11. It also emerged that VOA has decided to give less coverage for
Diaspora and political issues. We called upon BBG not only to clarify VOA’s stand in light of the missions of VOA.

It has also come to our attention that an audio archive file that contains critical view on current problems within VOA Horn of Africa section aired on July 18 in Amharic was also deleted. We would like to urge BBG to investigate the matter and explain why these kinds of damaging measures that can dent the confidence that millions of Ethiopians have on VOA.

It is to be remembered that VOA has been a target of the Meles regime. In the aftermath of the 2005 massacre, five journalists working for VOA Amharic service were charged with high treason, “genocide” and outrage against the constitution by the Meles regime. Though the charges were dropped, it clearly showed, once again, that the Meles regime is intolerant to the free flow of information.
The jamming efforts of all independent broadcasts including the VOA have intensified after Prime Minister Meles Zenawi told reporters in March 2010 the following:

“We have been convinced for many years that in many respects, the VOA Amharic Service has copied the worst practices of radio stations such as Radio Mille Collines of Rwanda in its wanton disregard of
minimum ethics of journalism and engaging in destabilizing propaganda. “We have to know before we make the decision to jam, whether we have the capacity to do it. But I assure you if they assure me at some future date that they have the capacity to jam it, I will give them the clear guideline to jam it.”

With the support of the Chinese government, the regime has now built a capacity to jam shortwave radio and satellite TV signals. VOA is a victim of these repressive efforts.

We do not want VOA to be hijacked by the agenda of Ethiopia’s repressive regime. Neither do we wish to see VOA lose its vitality and service as a truly independent alternative media to the people of Ethiopia.

It is with high regard for BBG and VOA in particular, we humbly request Your Excellencies to ensure and guarantee that VOA continues to give the vital service it has been providing to the silenced people of Ethiopia consistent with its mission, the First Amendment of the United States constitution and America’s
cherished values of freedom and democracy.

We look forward to hearing from you very soon.

With highest regards,

Tamagne Beyene, Artist and Human Rights Activist
On behalf of Ethiopian American Civic, Human Rights, and Free Press Support Groups

The Letter of the Voice of America Acting Director Steve Radisch to Addis Voice

“We are the Voice of America”

By Steve Redish

I’ve been asked to react to the accuracy of the reporting about the situation involving VOA’s Horn of Africa service, so I decided now is a good time to clear up some misconceptions that have evolved over the past few weeks.

Voice of America’s Horn of Africa service will not be shying away from reporting on Ethiopian politics. Freedom House rates the Ethiopian media as “not free,” and our audiences there can rely on VOA to provide accurate, objective and comprehensive news and information about their government. VOA will provide an array of voices and opinions to allow Ethiopians to make their own decisions about what to believe and who to trust. That is our job and the job of a free media.

As well, our audiences expect VOA to provide news and information that helps them make everyday decisions about their lives. Right now, 4.5 million Ethiopians are impacted by severe drought and famine. VOA has a responsibility to its audience to provide health news and information so people can learn ways to survive under such conditions; technology news that might mitigate the situation, opening new channels of communication; business and economics information to know how much bread costs and what people can do to earn enough to buy it; education reporting that can help people find opportunities to better their lives. These are core reporting topics from a full-service international broadcaster that audiences all across VOA’s language services request most and have come to expect.

The Government of Ethiopia has presented VOA with complaints about our Horn of Africa broadcasting. We are investigating those complaints as we would any complaints from any individual or government, including the US government. When the independent review of those complaints is completed, we will present them to the Ethiopian government, and then make them public. We take seriously the responsibilities outlined in the VOA charter to serve as a reliable source of news; to be accurate, objective and comprehensive; present significant American thoughts and institutions in a balanced and comprehensive way; and present U.S. policies clearly and effectively, including responsible discussion and opinion on these policies. VOA makes decisions about news coverage based on what we believe our audiences need, not based on what any government or special interest group wants. We also make those decisions based on resources available. Budget constraints are an economic and editorial reality. But that should not be confused with self-censorship. We will not censor ourselves nor allow ourselves to be censored. We’re not the voice of the opposition or the Diaspora or the government. We are the Voice of America and will continue to provide news and information that meet our highest standards.

Steve Redisch
VOA Acting Director/Executive Editor

“On Valentine’s Day, the BBG announced to all the employees of the VOA’s China branch its proposal to eliminate VOA shortwave radio and TV broadcasts to China on October 1. By switching to Web-only operations, the BBG told us, $8 million would be saved. Forty-five journalists (38 Mandarin and seven Cantonese, 59 percent of the branch’s full-time employees) would lose their jobs.”

— Huchen Zhang, Senior Editor, Voice of America China Branch

8964 from sofunny on Vimeo.

Reggie Littlejohn, Women's Rights Without Frontiers president. Photo by Lisa Keating.

“I believe that the VOA Mandarin Service has been singled out for the chopping block precisely because of its effectiveness – it has been the leading international broadcaster into China for nearly 70 years and has an enormous following inside China. VOA has been a thorn in the side of the Chinese Communist Party by exposing, for example, the persecution of human rights lawyers and the use of forced abortion to enforce China’s hated One Child Policy. My interview about China’s One Child Policy on VOA’s Mandarin Service generated an ardent and wide-ranging discussion, in which people from all over China called in to comment and discuss. The interview gave Chinese citizens a national forum in which to debate passionately held beliefs – an opportunity they otherwise would not have had, but for VOA.”

Reggie Littlejohn speaks at the Capitol Hill Press Conference on Chinese Human Rights of 1/18/11. Also pictured (from the right) are Congressman Chris Smith, Geng He, wife of Gao Zhisheng, and Bob Fu, President of China Aid.

So we are in an information war. And we are losing that war. I’ll be very blunt in my assessment. Al-Jazeera is winning. The Chinese have opened up a global English-language and multi-language television network. The Russians have opened up an English-language network. I’ve seen it in a few countries, and it’s quite instructive.

Because most people still get their news from TV and radio. So even though we’re pushing online, we can’t forget TV and radio.

Secretary Clinton’s testimony before the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, March 2, 2011

LUGAR: I thank you for that answer. Let me just add one thought, and that is you have spoken eloquently about the broadcasters, the Broadcasting Board of Governors. And I think Walter Isaacson is taking hold of that as a constructive thing. I would hope that we would be more successful in moving more money toward communication with China, and as we heard with our North Korean hearing yesterday, more complex as to how you get the message. But, this is still a great force of diplomacy to get our message into places. We’re doing better in Iran. We’re doing in better in the Middle East, and we saw, and Tunisia, Egypt and so forth. But, I’m hopeful you can bring us good news about the more aggressive policies, hoping with the BBG and others.

CLINTON: Well, senator, I want to thank you for the report that you did on the broadcasting board of governors and all of the problems that it has experienced. I agree with you. Walter Isaacson is an excellent choice. The board is a very invigorated group of Republicans and Democrats. They understand. We are engaged in an information war. During the Cold War, we did a great job in getting America’s message out. After the Berlin Wall fell we said, okay, fine, enough of that. We’ve done it. We’re done. And unfortunately, we are paying a big price for it.

And our private media cannot fill that gap. In fact, our private media, particularly cultural programming, often works at counterpurposes to what we truly are as Americans and what our values are.

I remember having an Afghan general tell me that the only thing he thought about Americans is that all the men wrestled and the women walked around in bikinis. Because the only TV he ever saw was Baywatch and World Wide Wrestling. So we are in an information war. And we are losing that war. I’ll be very blunt in my assessment. Al-Jazeera is winning.

The Chinese have opened up a global English-language and multi-language television network. The Russians have opened up an English-language network. I’ve seen it in a few countries, and it’s quite instructive. We are cutting back. The BBC is cutting back.

So here’s what we are trying to do. In the State Department, we have pushed very hard on new media. So we have an Arabic Twitter feed. We have a Farsi Twitter feed. I have this group of young techno-experts who are out there engaging on websites and we’re putting all of our young Arabic-speaking diplomats out, so that they are talking about our values.

Walter [Issacson] is working hard with his Board to try to transform the broadcasting efforts. Because most people still get their news from TV and radio. So even though we’re pushing online, we can’t forget TV and radio. And so I look — I would look very much towards your cooperation, to try to figure out how we get back in the game on this. Because I hate ceding what we are most expert in to anybody else.

Dr. Helle Dale of the Heritage Foundation, who frequently writes about U.S. international broadcasting, blogged about Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s remark in her testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on March 2, 2011 that the U.S. is losing the information war. Dr. Helle wrote:

“Most people still get their news from TV and radio,” Clinton said. This is entirely true, which makes it hard to understand why the BBG in February stated that it would end VOA radio and television transmission to China by next October, a decision that has caused joy in Beijing and great consternation among VOA employees and Chinese dissidents.

Dr. Helle also commented:

In response to a question from Representative Russ Carnahan (D–MO) in her testimony to the House Foreign Affairs Committee earlier in the day, Clinton made the same points, adding that she had spoken to BBG Chairman Walter Isaacson about the decline in U.S. global influence. If anyone could have a direct influence on the future of U.S. international broadcasting, it is her. Maybe Clinton should show up for some of the BBG’s monthly meetings and put her foot down.

Read more on the Heritage Foundation blog View the entire testimony on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee video

So we are in an information war. And we are losing that war. I’ll be very blunt in my assessment. Al-Jazeera is winning. The Chinese have opened up a global English-language and multi-language television network. The Russians have opened up an English-language network. I’ve seen it in a few countries, and it’s quite instructive.

Because most people still get their news from TV and radio. So even though we’re pushing online, we can’t forget TV and radio.

Secretary Clinton’s testimony before the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, March 2, 2011

LUGAR: I thank you for that answer. Let me just add one thought, and that is you have spoken eloquently about the broadcasters, the Broadcasting Board of Governors. And I think Walter Isaacson is taking hold of that as a constructive thing. I would hope that we would be more successful in moving more money toward communication with China, and as we heard with our North Korean hearing yesterday, more complex as to how you get the message. But, this is still a great force of diplomacy to get our message into places. We’re doing better in Iran. We’re doing in better in the Middle East, and we saw, and Tunisia, Egypt and so forth. But, I’m hopeful you can bring us good news about the more aggressive policies, hoping with the BBG and others.

CLINTON: Well, senator, I want to thank you for the report that you did on the broadcasting board of governors and all of the problems that it has experienced. I agree with you. Walter Isaacson is an excellent choice. The board is a very invigorated group of Republicans and Democrats. They understand. We are engaged in an information war. During the Cold War, we did a great job in getting America’s message out. After the Berlin Wall fell we said, okay, fine, enough of that. We’ve done it. We’re done. And unfortunately, we are paying a big price for it.

And our private media cannot fill that gap. In fact, our private media, particularly cultural programming, often works at counterpurposes to what we truly are as Americans and what our values are.

I remember having an Afghan general tell me that the only thing he thought about Americans is that all the men wrestled and the women walked around in bikinis. Because the only TV he ever saw was Baywatch and World Wide Wrestling. So we are in an information war. And we are losing that war. I’ll be very blunt in my assessment. Al-Jazeera is winning.

The Chinese have opened up a global English-language and multi-language television network. The Russians have opened up an English-language network. I’ve seen it in a few countries, and it’s quite instructive. We are cutting back. The BBC is cutting back.

So here’s what we are trying to do. In the State Department, we have pushed very hard on new media. So we have an Arabic Twitter feed. We have a Farsi Twitter feed. I have this group of young techno-experts who are out there engaging on websites and we’re putting all of our young Arabic-speaking diplomats out, so that they are talking about our values.

Walter [Issacson] is working hard with his Board to try to transform the broadcasting efforts. Because most people still get their news from TV and radio. So even though we’re pushing online, we can’t forget TV and radio. And so I look — I would look very much towards your cooperation, to try to figure out how we get back in the game on this. Because I hate ceding what we are most expert in to anybody else.

Dr. Helle Dale of the Heritage Foundation, who frequently writes about U.S. international broadcasting, blogged about Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s remark in her testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on March 2, 2011 that the U.S. is losing the information war. Dr. Helle wrote:

“Most people still get their news from TV and radio,” Clinton said. This is entirely true, which makes it hard to understand why the BBG in February stated that it would end VOA radio and television transmission to China by next October, a decision that has caused joy in Beijing and great consternation among VOA employees and Chinese dissidents.

Dr. Helle also commented:

In response to a question from Representative Russ Carnahan (D–MO) in her testimony to the House Foreign Affairs Committee earlier in the day, Clinton made the same points, adding that she had spoken to BBG Chairman Walter Isaacson about the decline in U.S. global influence. If anyone could have a direct influence on the future of U.S. international broadcasting, it is her. Maybe Clinton should show up for some of the BBG’s monthly meetings and put her foot down.

Read more on the Heritage Foundation blog View the entire testimony on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee video

Join Save Voice of America Radio to China Group on Facebook

All Americans, including members of Congress, who support free press and human rights, should watch this disturbing but highly informative video about the Obama  administration’s plan to end Voice of America (VOA) radio broadcasts to China on Oct. 1, 2011, which happens to be the national holiday of the Communist regime in Beijing.

The video shows a group of remarkable journalists from the Voice of America Mandarin and Cantonese radio, TV, and Internet services directing pointed questions to VOA Director Dan Austin and making persuasive arguments against  the Broadcasting Board of Governors  (BBG) decision to end all on-the-air radio news broadcasting in their languages to China. 

It’s now up to the U.S. Congress to save VOA from the BBG’s effort to destroy the Voice of America as a broadcasting organization. VOA radio broadcasts to Russia had already been terminated by the BBG in 2008, resulting in an over 80% drop in audience reach.

The BBG claims that Internet-only program delivery strategy prepares VOA for the future by targeting new media and a younger audience when in fact BBG’s own research shows that it has been a failure in Russia and is not likely to reach a vast new audience.

VOA Chinese Service journalists point out that the BBG with the support of VOA Director Austin are terminating VOA radio broadcasts that have a larger audience in China and higher name recognition than Radio Free Asia (RFA) and BBC. The BBG plans to give VOA shortwave frequencies to RFA. One cannot be but impressed with professionalism and expert knowledge of these journalists when they point out to Director Austin that 750 million of Chinese have no Internet access and that the regime in Beijing can block and censor Internet access for those who have it. Director Austin keeps repeating that the strategy will bring a new audience when in fact — as the members of his Chinese services point out — they already have extensive Internet presence. They also pointed out to him and it was obvious from his answers that neither he nor the BBG has a plan to deal with any future blocking of the Internet in China.

Director Austin insisted that the Chinese government is unlikely to block the Internet completely, but as one of the VOA Chinese Branch journalist pointed out, he saw his friends being killed next to him in 1989 on the Tienanmen Square and has no doubt that the Chinese government is fully capable of doing everything possible to prevent the free flow of information if its authoritarian rule is threatened. He also pointed out that while shortwave radio transmissions can be jammed in some limited areas, it is the only way of securely communicating with the Chinese people.

ProPublica.org: This report on a Holocaust deniers conference hosted by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was broadcast on Dec. 12, 2006 by the U.S. taxpayer-funded Arabic language network Alhurra. Although Alhurra is broadcast only in the Middle East, it operates out of Springfield, Virginia.

Alhurra assured Congress in a May 2007 hearing that the reporter, Ahmad Amin, was fired, but according to internal e-mails he was still on the U.S. payroll, working for Radio Sawa, Alhurra’s Middle East station, until June 12th, 2008.

All captions and speaker identifications are direct translations of the Alhurra report, which incorrectly identifies one attendee as former Louisiana state Representative (and KKK Imperial Wizard) David Duke, and erroneously describes Duke as a “former member of the American House of Representatives.”

VOA journalists protest against BBG's decision to end their radio and TV news broadcasts to China.

Join Save Voice of America Radio to China Group on Facebook

The Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) and Voice of America Director Dan Austin have told Congress that their plan to end VOA radio broadcasts to China in Mandarin and Cantonese as of October 1, 2011, which — by the way — is the national holiday of the Chinese Communist Party, will allow them to improve and expand Internet and new media presence for VOA in China.

The VOA Chinese Branch journalist in this video exposes the misleading nature of this argument. As she correctly points out, the VOA Chinese Branch already has a vibrant multimedia presence in China. The problem is that the Chinese government censors and blocks VOA websites and is likely to do it even more effectively in the future. BBG and VOA executives will also not admit that their decision to end VOA radio to Russia in 2008, which — by the way — happened just 12 days before the Russian military attack on the Republic of Georgia, has resulted in over 80% drop in audience reach for VOA in Russia between 2007 and the end of 2009. The promised audience gains from the Internet in Russia did not materialize.

The BBG and the VOA director have a profound misunderstanding of what VOA audience in China is, what it should be, and how to reach it.

Their audience are not young, rich Chinese who go on shopping tripts to the U.S. and can access the Internet outside of China or buy a subscription to Newsweek. Their audience are the Chinese whose basic rights are being violated, those under house arrest, 750 million Chinese without Internet access. Yet, these BBG and VOA executives think they know better and want to fire 40 plus experienced VOA Chinese Branch journalists who specialize in human rights reporting and replace them with contractors who supposedly know how to produce slick content for the Internet.

But, as we know, the Internet is censored in China and can be blocked completely if the Chinese authorities decide to do it at the most convenient time for them and the worst time for pro-democracy activists and for the United States.

BBG and VOA executives could learn something from the wife of imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo. During a five-minute reprieve from the usual Internet isolation imposed on her, Liu Xia wrote a friend that she is “miserable.”

“Can’t go out. My whole family are hostages,” Liu Xia wrote, as The Washington Post’s Keith B. Richburg reported last month. “I don’t know how I managed to get online,” she also wrote. “Don’t go online. Otherwise my whole family is in danger.”

The BBG and VOA executives could also learn something from Freedom House: “”In July, police in Xinjiang forcibly suppressed a peaceful demonstration in Urumqi by Uighurs, sparking an outbreak of violence between Uighurs and Han Chinese. The authorities responded with mass arrests and an almost complete shutdown of internet access, international phone service, and text messaging in the region that remained in effect for several months.”

BBG and VOA executives could also learn something from VOA reporters. From a VOA reporter Heda Bayron: “Freedom of expression in China is already severely curtailed. Social media sites like Facebook and Twitter and many foreign broadcasters, like the Voice of America, are blocked, as are many foreign news Web sites.”

For more information see Save Voice of America Radio to China Group on Facebook.

View Voice of America Journalists Protest Ending of VOA Radio to China, Part Five

View Part Four

View Part Three

View Part Two

View Part One

All Americans, including members of Congress, who support free press and human rights, should watch this disturbing but highly informative video about the Obama administration’s plan to end Voice of America (VOA) radio broadcasts to China on Oct. 1, 2011, which happens to be the national holiday of the Communist regime in Beijing.

These videos show a group of remarkable journalists from the Voice of America Mandarin and Cantonese radio, TV, and Internet services directing pointed questions to VOA Director Dan Austin and making persuasive arguments against the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) decision to end all on-the-air radio news broadcasting in their languages to China.

It’s now up to the U.S. Congress to save VOA from the BBG’s effort to destroy the Voice of America as a broadcasting organization. VOA radio broadcasts to Russia had already been terminated by the BBG in 2008, resulting in an over 80% drop in audience reach.

The BBG and Voice of America Director Austin makes a claim that Internet-only program delivery strategy prepares VOA for the future by targeting new media and a younger audience when in fact BBG’s own research shows that it has been a failure in Russia and is not likely to reach a vast new audience.

VOA Chinese Service journalists point out that the BBG with the support of VOA Director Austin are terminating VOA radio broadcasts that have a larger audience in China and higher name recognition than Radio Free Asia (RFA) and BBC. The BBG plans to give VOA shortwave frequencies to RFA. One cannot be but impressed with professionalism and expert knowledge of these journalists when they point out to Director Austin that 750 million of Chinese have no Internet access and that the regime in Beijing can block and censor Internet access for those who have it. Director Austin keeps repeating that the strategy will bring a new audience when in fact — as the members of his Chinese services point out — they already have extensive Internet presence. They also pointed out to him and it was obvious from his answers that neither he nor the BBG has a plan to deal with any future blocking of the Internet in China.

Director Austin insisted that the Chinese government is unlikely to block the Internet completely, but as one of the VOA Chinese Branch journalist pointed out, he saw his friends being killed next to him in 1989 on the Tienanmen Square and has no doubt that the Chinese government is fully capable of doing everything possible to prevent the free flow of information if its authoritarian rule is threatened. He also pointed out that while shortwave radio transmissions can be jammed in some limited areas, it is the only way of securely communicating with the Chinese people.

###

From Free Media Online.org

“We believe that members of Congress and the American public are being grossly mislead by the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) officials who oversee the Voice of America (VOA) and want to terminate all on-the-air uncensored news radio broadcasts to China on October 1, 2011, which happens to be the national holiday of the Chinese Communist Party. Time after time, BBG officials have shown their inability to understand market research in closed societies and failed to grasp the desperation of people living under authoritarian and totalitarian regimes.

Their earlier decision to cut VOA radio broadcasts to Russia has resulted in over 80% drop in audience reach, and they have shown their inability to expand Internet audience there, just as they could not protect VOA websites from a successful Iranian cyber attack last week.

Members of Congress and American taxpayers should demand from BBG officials to explain why they want to eliminate radio broadcasts by the Voice of America, which has more listeners in China than Radio Free Asia and BBC; why they want to ignore 750 million Chinese; and what they plan to do during any future Tiananmen event in China when the regime in Beijing will completely block or censor the Internet at the most convenient time for them and the most inconvenient time for the U.S. government and pro-democracy supporters in China,” said Free Media Online president Ted Lipien.

Ted Lipien is a former BBG manager and (until 2006) former acting associate director of the Voice of America.

VOA journalists protest against BBG's decision to end their radio and TV news broadcasts to China.

View Part Four

View Part Three

View Part Two

View Part One

All Americans, including members of Congress, who support free press and human rights, should watch this disturbing but highly informative video about the Obama administration’s plan to end Voice of America (VOA) radio broadcasts to China on Oct. 1, 2011, which happens to be the national holiday of the Communist regime in Beijing.

The video shows a group of remarkable journalists from the Voice of America Mandarin and Cantonese radio, TV, and Internet services directing pointed questions to VOA Director Dan Austin and making persuasive arguments against the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) decision to end all on-the-air radio news broadcasting in their languages to China.

It’s now up to the U.S. Congress to save VOA from the BBG’s effort to destroy the Voice of America as a broadcasting organization. VOA radio broadcasts to Russia had already been terminated by the BBG in 2008, resulting in an over 80% drop in audience reach.

The BBG and Voice of America Director Austin makes a claim that Internet-only program delivery strategy prepares VOA for the future by targeting new media and a younger audience when in fact BBG’s own research shows that it has been a failure in Russia and is not likely to reach a vast new audience.

VOA Chinese Service journalists point out that the BBG with the support of VOA Director Austin are terminating VOA radio broadcasts that have a larger audience in China and higher name recognition than Radio Free Asia (RFA) and BBC. The BBG plans to give VOA shortwave frequencies to RFA. One cannot be but impressed with professionalism and expert knowledge of these journalists when they point out to Director Austin that 750 million of Chinese have no Internet access and that the regime in Beijing can block and censor Internet access for those who have it. Director Austin keeps repeating that the strategy will bring a new audience when in fact — as the members of his Chinese services point out — they already have extensive Internet presence. They also pointed out to him and it was obvious from his answers that neither he nor the BBG has a plan to deal with any future blocking of the Internet in China.

Director Austin insisted that the Chinese government is unlikely to block the Internet completely, but as one of the VOA Chinese Branch journalist pointed out, he saw his friends being killed next to him in 1989 on the Tienanmen Square and has no doubt that the Chinese government is fully capable of doing everything possible to prevent the free flow of information if its authoritarian rule is threatened. He also pointed out that while shortwave radio transmissions can be jammed in some limited areas, it is the only way of securely communicating with the Chinese people.

###

From Free Media Online.org

“We believe that members of Congress and the American public are being grossly mislead by the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) officials who oversee the Voice of America (VOA) and want to terminate all on-the-air uncensored news radio broadcasts to China on October 1, 2011, which happens to be the national holiday of the Chinese Communist Party. Time after time, BBG officials have shown their inability to understand market research in closed societies and failed to grasp the desperation of people living under authoritarian and totalitarian regimes.

Their earlier decision to cut VOA radio broadcasts to Russia has resulted in over 80% drop in audience reach, and they have shown their inability to expand Internet audience there, just as they could not protect VOA websites from a successful Iranian cyber attack last week.

Members of Congress and American taxpayers should demand from BBG officials to explain why they want to eliminate radio broadcasts by the Voice of America, which has more listeners in China than Radio Free Asia and BBC; why they want to ignore 750 million Chinese; and what they plan to do during any future Tiananmen event in China when the regime in Beijing will completely block or censor the Internet at the most convenient time for them and the most inconvenient time for the U.S. government and pro-democracy supporters in China,” said Free Media Online president Ted Lipien.

Ted Lipien is a former BBG manager and until 2006 former acting associate director of the Voice of America.

VOA journalists protest against BBG's decision to end their radio and TV news broadcasts to China

Join Save Voice of America Radio to China Group on Facebook

Sign a petition on http://voashortwave.org

View Part Three

View Part Two

View Part One

All Americans, including members of Congress, who support free press and human rights, should watch this disturbing but highly informative video about the Obama administration’s plan to end Voice of America (VOA) radio broadcasts to China on Oct. 1, 2011, which happens to be the national holiday of the Communist regime in Beijing.

The video shows a group of remarkable journalists from the Voice of America Mandarin and Cantonese radio, TV, and Internet services directing pointed questions to VOA Director Dan Austin and making persuasive arguments against the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) decision to end all on-the-air radio news broadcasting in their languages to China.

It’s now up to the U.S. Congress to save VOA from the BBG’s effort to destroy the Voice of America as a broadcasting organization. VOA radio broadcasts to Russia had already been terminated by the BBG in 2008, resulting in an over 80% drop in audience reach.

The BBG and Voice of America Director Austin makes a claim that Internet-only program delivery strategy prepares VOA for the future by targeting new media and a younger audience when in fact BBG’s own research shows that it has been a failure in Russia and is not likely to reach a vast new audience.

VOA Chinese Service journalists point out that the BBG with the support of VOA Director Austin are terminating VOA radio broadcasts that have a larger audience in China and higher name recognition than Radio Free Asia (RFA) and BBC. The BBG plans to give VOA shortwave frequencies to RFA. One cannot be but impressed with professionalism and expert knowledge of these journalists when they point out to Director Austin that 750 million of Chinese have no Internet access and that the regime in Beijing can block and censor Internet access for those who have it. Director Austin keeps repeating that the strategy will bring a new audience when in fact — as the members of his Chinese services point out — they already have extensive Internet presence. They also pointed out to him and it was obvious from his answers that neither he nor the BBG has a plan to deal with any future blocking of the Internet in China.

Director Austin insisted that the Chinese government is unlikely to block the Internet completely, but as one of the VOA Chinese Branch journalist pointed out, he saw his friends being killed next to him in 1989 on the Tienanmen Square and has no doubt that the Chinese government is fully capable of doing everything possible to prevent the free flow of information if its authoritarian rule is threatened. He also pointed out that while shortwave radio transmissions can be jammed in some limited areas, it is the only way of securely communicating with the Chinese people.

###

From Free Media Online.org

“We believe that members of Congress and the American public are being grossly mislead by the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) officials who oversee the Voice of America (VOA) and want to terminate all on-the-air uncensored news radio broadcasts to China on October 1, 2011, which happens to be the national holiday of the Chinese Communist Party. Time after time, BBG officials have shown their inability to understand market research in closed societies and failed to grasp the desperation of people living under authoritarian and totalitarian regimes.

Their earlier decision to cut VOA radio broadcasts to Russia has resulted in over 80% drop in audience reach, and they have shown their inability to expand Internet audience there, just as they could not protect VOA websites from a successful Iranian cyber attack last week.

Members of Congress and American taxpayers should demand from BBG officials to explain why they want to eliminate radio broadcasts by the Voice of America, which has more listeners in China than Radio Free Asia and BBC; why they want to ignore 750 million Chinese; and what they plan to do during any future Tiananmen event in China when the regime in Beijing will completely block or censor the Internet at the most convenient time for them and the most inconvenient time for the U.S. government and pro-democracy supporters in China,” said Free Media Online president Ted Lipien.

Ted Lipien is a former BBG manager and until 2006 former acting associate director of the Voice of America.

Join Save Voice of America Radio to China Group on Facebook

Sign a petition on http://voashortwave.org

View Part Two

View Part One

All Americans, including members of Congress, who support free press and human rights, should watch this disturbing but highly informative video about the Obama administration’s plan to end Voice of America (VOA) radio broadcasts to China on Oct. 1, 2011, which happens to be the national holiday of the Communist regime in Beijing.

The video shows a group of remarkable journalists from the Voice of America Mandarin and Cantonese radio, TV, and Internet services directing pointed questions to VOA Director Dan Austin and making persuasive arguments against the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) decision to end all on-the-air radio news broadcasting in their languages to China.

It’s now up to the U.S. Congress to save VOA from the BBG’s effort to destroy the Voice of America as a broadcasting organization. VOA radio broadcasts to Russia had already been terminated by the BBG in 2008, resulting in an over 80% drop in audience reach.

The BBG and Voice of America Director Austin makes a claim that Internet-only program delivery strategy prepares VOA for the future by targeting new media and a younger audience when in fact BBG’s own research shows that it has been a failure in Russia and is not likely to reach a vast new audience.

VOA Chinese Service journalists point out that the BBG with the support of VOA Director Austin are terminating VOA radio broadcasts that have a larger audience in China and higher name recognition than Radio Free Asia (RFA) and BBC. The BBG plans to give VOA shortwave frequencies to RFA. One cannot be but impressed with professionalism and expert knowledge of these journalists when they point out to Director Austin that 750 million of Chinese have no Internet access and that the regime in Beijing can block and censor Internet access for those who have it. Director Austin keeps repeating that the strategy will bring a new audience when in fact — as the members of his Chinese services point out — they already have extensive Internet presence. They also pointed out to him and it was obvious from his answers that neither he nor the BBG has a plan to deal with any future blocking of the Internet in China.

Director Austin insisted that the Chinese government is unlikely to block the Internet completely, but as one of the VOA Chinese Branch journalist pointed out, he saw his friends being killed next to him in 1989 on the Tienanmen Square and has no doubt that the Chinese government is fully capable of doing everything possible to prevent the free flow of information if its authoritarian rule is threatened. He also pointed out that while shortwave radio transmissions can be jammed in some limited areas, it is the only way of securely communicating with the Chinese people.

###

From Free Media Online.org

“We believe that members of Congress and the American public are being grossly mislead by the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) officials who oversee the Voice of America (VOA) and want to terminate all on-the-air uncensored news radio broadcasts to China on October 1, 2011, which happens to be the national holiday of the Chinese Communist Party. Time after time, BBG officials have shown their inability to understand market research in closed societies and failed to grasp the desperation of people living under authoritarian and totalitarian regimes.

Their earlier decision to cut VOA radio broadcasts to Russia has resulted in over 80% drop in audience reach, and they have shown their inability to expand Internet audience there, just as they could not protect VOA websites from a successful Iranian cyber attack last week.

Members of Congress and American taxpayers should demand from BBG officials to explain why they want to eliminate radio broadcasts by the Voice of America, which has more listeners in China than Radio Free Asia and BBC; why they want to ignore 750 million Chinese; and what they plan to do during any future Tiananmen event in China when the regime in Beijing will completely block or censor the Internet at the most convenient time for them and the most inconvenient time for the U.S. government and pro-democracy supporters in China,” said Free Media Online president Ted Lipien.

Ted Lipien is a former BBG manager and until 2006 former acting associate director of the Voice of America.

All Americans, including members of Congress, should watch this disturbing but highly informative video.  It shows a group of remarkable journalists from the Voice of America Mandarin and Cantonese radio, TV, and Internet services directing pointed questions to VOA Director Dan Austin and making persuasive arguments against  the BBG decision to end all on-the-air radio news broadcasting in their languages to China. 

Journalists from Voice of America Question Decision to Stop VOA Mandarin and Cantonese Radio Broadcasts to China

FreeMediaOnline.orgPart Three: BBG’s Internet Only Strategy Loses Audience and Fails in Russia — Read Part One: No Apology for Failure — Read Part Two: Special Report: Sound of Hope Plans to Increase Shortwave Radio to China while Voice of America Retreats

Inside-the-Beltway parochialism and arrogance toward the needs of their audience have continued to define the management style of BBG and VOA executives. The agency’s rank-and-file employees — including among others the staff of the Voice of America, Radio Free Asia (RFA), and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) — know it all too well. In government-wide employee surveys, the Broadcasting Board of Governors has been consistently rated as one of the worst-managed among all federal agencies. Yet the same BBG executives keep their jobs year after year. They now advise new BBG members, selected by President Obama and confirmed by the Senate, on how to best manage U.S. international broadcasting. Deprived of good outside expert advice in a very complex and specialized field of international broadcasting and public diplomacy, the new BBG members rely on the same group of BBG managers. Inside sources have told Free Media Online that even the new Republican members of the BBG went along with the staff’s recommendations to cut VOA radio broadcasts to China.

What members of Congress and U.S. taxpayers should know and be concerned about is that the very same BBG executives who have failed to protect the Voice of America websites, not once but twice from being hacked and shut down for hours and days, are now proposing to eliminate completely all on-the-air VOA radio broadcasts to China and to reduce Radio Free Asia shortwave radio programs as well. Nearly three years ago, at the height of Mr. Putin’s attack on independent media, they had ignored warnings from members of Congress and human rights activists and terminated all on-the-air VOA radio broadcasts to Russia. It happened just 12 days before the Russian military staged an attack on the territory of the Republic of Georgia. The same officials had also proposed earlier to reduce radio broadcasts to Tibet. Fortunately in this case, the Congress stepped in to save these critical programs after hearing from Tibetan human rights activists and observing sit-in protests by Buddhist monks on Capital Hill.

The results of the BBG radio pullback in Russia have been disastrous on many levels, including establishing a bad anti-human rights precedent, diminished audience reach, and diminished impact. In October 2007, VOA’s weekly reach in Russia was 1.7 percent, both through radio and TV, but mostly through radio. RFE/RL’s weekly reach stood at that time 0.9 percent. What did BBG bureaucrats do? They got together with some of the former members of the BBG, confused enough of the other former members, and denied radio program delivery to a U.S. broadcaster who had a larger radio audience in Russia.

Even after Russian troops entered the territory of the Republic of Georgia 12 days later, BBG executives kept rejecting urgent requests from VOA journalists to allow them to resume radio broadcasts to Russia and the war zone in Georgia. In fact, they also planned to end VOA radio broadcasts to Georgia, but the war put these plans on a temporary hold.

Their reaction then, as it has been as now after the Iranian cyber attack, is very telling about what these bureaucrats care more about: their audience or their bureaucratic games. Only after Free Media Online and other free media advocates had exposed their manipulations in Russia, one former Republican BBG member Blanquita Cullum eventually managed to persuade enough of her colleagues to allow the VOA Russian Service to resume a limited 30-minute radio news broadcast Monday through Friday. This drastically shortened VOA broadcast to Russia still generates far much larger audience than the Internet. RFE/RL managed to hold on to its audience in Russia through radio despite Mr. Putin’s relentless attacks on independent and foreign media.

But overall, U.S. international broadcasting audience reach in Russia has declined significantly after July 2008. This happened not because of Mr. Putin, who had already done his damage and did not have to do more, but because of what a group of entrenched BBG executives decided to do to make the Voice of America less effective in Russia. Now they want to do the same thing to the Voice of America in China.

Members of Congress and U.S. taxpayers may be wondering why a group of bureaucrats within the BBG and some of its members would want to make U.S. international broadcasting as a whole less robust in countries like Russia and China and less threatening to the local regimes. The answer is not easily apparent, but it is well known to those who have worked at the BBG and know the organization from within.

Surrogate broadcasters, who had generally performed much better than the Voice of America during the Cold War, in some cases are not doing as well now in the Middle East and elsewhere, where the Cold War surrogate broadcasting model was not appropriate to begin with or is no longer appropriate. They are, however, still needed in some countries and do extremely well in some of them. But instead of supporting both surrogate and VOA broadcasting — since each has a slightly different mission — through efficient management, or even better by reforming the entire bureaucracy and combining some of these services to save taxpayers’ money — these clever bureaucrats found an easy way to protect the jobs of their friends, associates, and private contractors. Making the Voice of America less effective as a radio broadcaster protects the future of some of the surrogate radios, even if it make no fiscal sense and the overall audience reach and impact are sacrificed in the process.

What happened to VOA audience reach in Russia as a result of the BBG decisions that are now being proposed for China? It declined by over 80 percent, just as Free Media Online had warned in 2008.

The dramatic drop in audience reach and effectiveness can be seen and calculated using the BBG’s own sponsored research. While the BBG audience data from countries ruled by authoritarian regimes is not reliable, for the purposes of this analysis only, it shows an unmistakable trend. Here is how percentage drops are calculated from the BBG data. VOA’s audience reach in Russia in October 2007 was 1.7%. According to the BBG’s latest available data, VOA’s weekly reach in Russia for both radio and Internet is only 0.3%. Subtract 0.3 from 1.7 and you get 1.4 drop. Then you want to find out 1.4 is what percent of 1.7, so divide: 1.4 / 1.7 = 0.82. As a result of the BBG’s decision to cut VOA radio to Russia, VOA’s weekly reach declined by roughly 82%.

Members of Congress should take note that instead of paying the salaries of American citizens and residents — all highly experienced journalists, specializing in human rights reporting — BBG officials eliminated their jobs and used some of the savings to pay advertising agencies in Russia to promote use of VOA websites. As we can see from the BBG’s own data, this approach did not work. It’s likely that some of these agencies are controlled by the Russian security agencies, just as some of the research companies that the BBG is using in countries like Russia and China are probably closely monitored and manipulated by the secret police. I would venture a guess that they can produce any audience research results for the BBG that their security services would request.

Figures obtained from international broadcasting surveys done in countries like Russia and China should not be taken at face value. The actual radio reach in these countries is most likely higher than the BBG data suggests — although not nearly as high as it was in Poland during the Cold War — but there is no reason to doubt that the drop in audience reach, as suggested by the BBG data, is real. The unprecedented drop in audience reach in Russia cannot be denied, even if the numbers of radio listeners are higher than what the BBG is reporting.

We have also pointed out that if the BBG had completely ignored our protests and not restored a limited VOA radio broadcast to Russia, the percentage drop in audience reach would have been even more devastating. VOA’s weekly Internet reach in Russia is only 0.1%. Subtract 0.1 from 1.7 and you get 1.6 drop. Divide 1.6 /1.7 = 0.94. If the BBG executives had it their way and there was no outside pressure that forced them to make a limited concession, VOA would have experienced a 94% decline in audience reach in Russia.

Voice of America

The same executives have now managed to convince new BBG members to make the same mistake in China.

Americans for U. S. International Broadcasting Petition Save Voice of America Shortwave

Americans for U.S. International Broadcasting, a group of current and former VOA and BBG employees and free media advocates, have started a petition drive to convince Congress to reject the BBG’s and the Obama Administration’s proposals for eliminating shortwave radio broadcasts to China.

Excerpts from other sections of “U.S. International Broadcasting in Crisis“

• The article cites political reasons (autocratic rule, censorship, hacking and blocking of the Internet, no free press to defend rights of citizens) and market research data (750 million without Internet access, extensive use of shortwave by China National Radio, ability to reach 230 million migrant population) used by Sound of Hope Radio to justify its decision on expanding shortwave radio while VOA and BBC are moving in the opposite direction.
• “We believe that members of Congress and the American public are being grossly mislead by BBG officials who time after time have shown their inability to understand market research in closed societies and the desperation of people living under authoritarian and totalitarian regimes. Their decision to cut VOA radio broadcasts to Russia has resulted in over 80% drop in audience reach and they have shown their inability to expand Internet audience just as they could not protect VOA websites from a successful Iranian cyber attack last week. Members of Congress and American taxpayers should demand from BBG officials to explain why they want to eliminate radio broadcasts by the Voice of America, which has more listeners in China than Radio Free Asia and BBC; why they want to ignore 750 million Chinese; and what they plan to do during any future Tiananmen event in China when the regime in Beijing will completely block or censor the Internet at the most convenient time for them and the most inconvenient time for the U.S. government and pro-democracy supporters in China,” said Free Media Online president Ted Lipien. He was a former BBG manager and until 2006 former acting associate director of the Voice of America.
• In their confused messages to members of Congress, BBG officials often contradict themselves. While arguning in favor of eliminating VOA radio to China, they point out that only [sic] 22 out of 8635 respondents reported having ever listened to VOA, while 7 had ever listened to RFA or BBC. Well, 22 is three times more than 7. Does his proves that the Congress should by all means eliminate the radio broadcast, which according to even BBG-sponsored research, has an audience that is three times larger? We don’t think so.
• BBG executives don’t have the slightest idea how many people in nations ruled by undemocratic regimes listen to U.S. news broadcasts on shortwave. Even their own researchers point out that “these audience figures are based on surveys conducted in politically repressive environments that are generally hostile to international broadcasting. Because individuals in these countries are discouraged or even prohibited by their governments from listening to U.S. international broadcasts, actual audience numbers may be higher.”
• They tell members of Congress that keeping shortwave broadcasts to China imposes significant opportunity costs on U.S. strategic interests because the continued investment in SW depletes resources that could be invested more effective media platforms and technologies that are the choice of most Chinese citizens.
  The problem with this line of reasoning is that the current team of BBG officials has not been able to take advantage of these opportunities because they don’t know how and because the potential for expanding their Internet audience is extremely small no matter how much taxpayers’ money they plan to spend on advertising in China and Russia, which is what they do. They could not increase their Internet reach it in Russia and they will not be able to do it in China. Their Internet audience in Russia is still and will continue to be at “trace” level, as it will be in China, no matter how much money they intend to spend. They just fail to point this out to members of Congress.
• According to BBG officials, the expected savings from the proposed radio cuts will be about $8 million (about $4.9 million in personnel costs and $3.2 million in transmission costs). The real beneficiaries will no longer be Chinese-speaking human rights journalists in the United States, who will be laid off, but private contractors, including advertising agencies in China The real damage will be the loss of the ability to demonstrate continued U.S. commitment to human rights and the loss of a platform for pro-democracy supporters in China, a platform that cannot be easily blocked or silenced.
• The argument that the Chinese government would want the U.S. to continue shortwave broadcasts because they are supposedly ineffective and a waste of money is completely false. BBG officials fail to understand the desperation of those who seek information and the psychology of authoritarian governments who live in fear of being deposed with the help of outside radio, TV, and Internet. If these arguments were true, the Chinese government would not bother to jam VOA and RFA shortwave broadcasts. Tibetan monks would not have protested on Capital Hill against cuts in shortwave broadcasts to Tibet, which had been proposed earlier by the same BBG bureaucrats who are now pushing for cuts in radio broadcasting to China and who outsourced the hosting of VOA websites to outside contractors.
• The Chinese government has demonstrated its ability to block the Internet at the time most convenient for them. It does not take a genius to figure out that it will be the most inconvenient and dangerous time for the United States and for pro-democracy supporters in China. The BBG executives, who could not protect VOA websites from a cyber attack by Iranian Islamists, want the United States to take this risk.
• Depriving the Voice of America of shortwave radio capability in China is especially misquided since VOA has a bigger brand recognition among the Chinese population, and in a crisis, they are far more likely to turn to VOA for news from the United States just as they now listen more frequently to VOA radio. There is no good reason why both VOA and RFA should not keep all of their program delivery options open and to share both Internet and shortwave delivery resources. There is no advantage to only one broadcaster using radio. There is certainly no advantage to denying radio program delivery to the one broadcaster who now has a larger radio audience.

###

February 28, 2011

Open Letter to Members of House Appropriations Committee

Dear Members of Congress:

This letter is to request your strong support to restore the budget for Voice of America Cantonese Service and Voice of America Mandarin Service in the FY 2012 Budget.

We object to the proposal by the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), which serves to manage Voice of America (VOA), to eliminate the entire VOA Cantonese Service, as well as eliminate the positions of more than half of the VOA Mandarin Service staff members.

This egregious effort to disappropriate funding from VOA will effectively eliminate the purpose of the Congressionally mandated Public Law 94-350 to the people in China who speak Cantonese and Mandarin to be provided with news broadcasts that promote freedom and democracy.

This target against Voice of America – right on the heels of PRC President Hu Jintao’s recent visit to the United States – is nothing less than a concession that will dismantle America’s commitment to broadcast news from the United States. During the same time of this funding cutback, the PRC intends to spend more than a billion dollars to enhance their propaganda goals in the United States.

This campaign against Voice of America comes during the PRC’s media crackdown on stories against Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Liu Xiaobo. It comes during a time when PRC’s media has blocked news about uprisings in Egypt and Libya. It comes during a PRC crackdown against any stories shared about the blind lawyer Chen Guangcheng, and all prisoners of conscience in China.

We implore you to restore the FY 2012 Budget funding for the Voice of America’s Mandarin and Cantonese Services so Voice of America can continue to fulfill its mandate to provide a balanced and comprehensive view of significant American thought and institutions; and to clearly present the policies of the United States to the people of China.

Respectfully,
Harry Wu, Laogai Research Foundation
Justin Yu, Chinese The Chinese Chamber of Commerce in New York
Ann Lau, Visual Artists Guild
Ann Noonan, Free Church for China
Bob Fu, China Aid
Anna Cheung, Alliance for Hong Kong Chinese in the US
Peggy Chane, Visual Artists Guild
Doris Chan, Visual Artists Guild
Reggie Littlejohn, Women’s Rights Without Frontiers
Ganden Thurman, Tibet House
Jeremy Taylor, Free Burma Alliance
Ethan Gutmann. Recipient Tiananmem Spirit Award
Joe Brown, Pasadena NAACP
Jonathan Cao, Chinese Coalition for Citizens’ Rights
Juntao Wang, National Committee Democratic Party of China
Robert A. Senser, Human Rights for Workers
Jing Zhang, Women’s Rights in China

###

ProPublica.org: This report on a Holocaust deniers conference hosted by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was broadcast on Dec. 12, 2006 by the U.S. taxpayer-funded Arabic language network Alhurra. Although Alhurra is broadcast only in the Middle East, it operates out of Springfield, Virginia.

Alhurra assured Congress in a May 2007 hearing that the reporter, Ahmad Amin, was fired, but according to internal e-mails he was still on the U.S. payroll, working for Radio Sawa, Alhurra’s Middle East station, until June 12th, 2008.

All captions and speaker identifications are direct translations of the Alhurra report, which incorrectly identifies one attendee as former Louisiana state Representative (and KKK Imperial Wizard) David Duke, and erroneously describes Duke as a “former member of the American House of Representatives.”