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FreeMediaOnline.org International Broadcasting Updates
International Broadcasting Updates for Journalists, News Consumers, NGOs, Government, Business, and Scholars
FreeMediaOnline.org International Broadcasting Updates are designed to promote a better understanding of international broadcasting and media freedom issues. We will try to include on this page the most significant statements and documents dealing with international broadcasting. Users may also want to see our Public Diplomacy Updates, Censorship Report, and Propaganda Forum pages.
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FreeMediaOnline.org America's Voice abroad silenced as Russia continues its military action against Georgiamore
'Media is Half the Battle' - chief of U.S. international broadcasting James Glassman comments on information war with terroristsmore in WSJ (subscription required)...
FreeMediaOnline.orgByli pracownicy Sekcji Polskiej Głosu Ameryki przyznali się prywatnie do współpracy ze służbą bezpieczeństwa i wywiadem PRL (Były dyrektor Sekcji Polskiej Głosu Ameryki zaapelował by wszyscy dawni pracownicy z tego rodzaju ukrytymi powiązaniami ujawnili je publicznie i przeprosili ofiary swej współpracy.) more story...
FreeMediaOnline.org Communist era spy scandals still haunt U.S. government broadcasters at the Voice of America and Radio Free Europemore story...
Open Letter by 25 Russian human rights advocates asking G7 leaders not to repeat mistakes from the past in dealing with anti-democratic developments in the Russian Federation more from IHF...
Soft power unplugged Frank Gaffney writes about the Bush Administration/BBG proposal: "Reduce by a third RFE/RL's Russian-language broadcasts to Russia from 24- to 18- hours a day, and take VOA's Russian-language radio off the air altogether. This would come at a time when the authoritarian Vladimir Putin is making a comprehensive effort to deny his people access to truthful information about their country and the world." more of Frank Gaffney's column in RenewAmerica.us...
World journalists condemn ‘intolerable impunity’ and vow to show global solidarity in fight to defend Russian journalistsmore story from IFJ...
New Database on Deaths and Disappearances of Journalists in Russia, 1993 to Present link...
Former Voice of America directors protest program cuts Eleven former directors of the Voice of America have issued a joint statement calling on Congress to reverse a Bush administration plan to substantially reduce VOA’s English broadcasts and those in 15 other languages. VOA directors' statement...
FreeMediaOnline.orgVoice of America journalists mark VOA's 65th anniversary by resisting plans to restrict broadcasts in support of media freedom more story... | VIEW COMMENTS AND SIGNATURES ON PETITION TO SAVE VOA BROADCASTS TO RUSSIA AND OTHER MEDIA-AT-RISK COUNTRIES link... | WIKINEWS story...
EURASIANET.ORG article lists arguments against proposed U.S. broadcasting cuts to media-at-risk countries, includes comments by FreeMediaOnline.org founder Ted Lipien more story...
VIEW COMMENTS AND SIGNATURES ON PETITION TO SAVE VOA UZBEK BROADCASTS "Appeasement is always very costly..." LINK...
FreeMediaOnline.org Uzbekistan again faces U.S. broadcast cuts, programs to other countries without media freedom also at riskmore story...
Independent media portal in Uzbekistan posts comments critical of BBG decision to shut down Voice of America Uzbek radio programslink to ARBUZ...
Independent portal in Kazakhstan posts comments critical of U.S. broadcasting cuts to media-at-risk countries; RFE/RL management reluctantly accepts BBG decisions on program cutsKUB Kazakhstan story... | RFE/RL press release...
US budget plan would cut most VOA English radio programsVOA report..
U.S. plans to reduce its overseas broadcasts in English and 18 other languagesmore story...
FreeMediaOnline.orgNo censorship in Russia but capacity for jamming broadcasts should be preserved, Kremlin media chief saysmore story...
FreeMediaOnline.orgHolocaust conference in Iran: Aljazeera offers more balance than National Public Radio (NPR) reporter, objective coverage from most other international mediamore story...
FreeMediaOnline.orgVoice of Russia English web site ignores the murder of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya while offering extensive coverage of political scandals in the U.S. and Great Britainmore story...
Management of Middle East Broadcasting services could be improved The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) finds weaknesses in the conduct and reporting of Radio Sawa and Alhurra audience research. Highlights of GAO study... | full text...
State Department inspectors accuse BBG chairman Kenneth Tomlinson of improper use of his office; Tomlinson dismisses the charge as politically inspiredNYT report... | VOA report...
Freedom House Deputy Director Warns of Deteriorating Media Situation in Russia Thomas O. Melia asks Congress to restore funding for Voice of America radio broadcasts to Russia which the Bush Administration wants to eliminate as of October 1. more in Freedom House press release...
[The Russian government seeks] "to control the national media, explicitly in the case of all television and most radio (which have now come back under government control), and indirectly in the case of print media, which are one-by-one being bought out by interests sympathetic to the Kremlin, after independent-minded publication find their advertisers being discouraged by the Putin Administration until they become financially untenable as businesses."
"International broadcasting needs to be expanded not contracted. Perhaps most urgently, Congress needs to re-examine the budget proposal from the Broadcasting Board of Governors for FY 2007 which proposes elimination of Voice of America's Russian-language radio and significant funding reductions for RFE/RL as well which will be forced to cut daily programming. There are Russians who want to listen to American radio. Let's not cut them off."
Freedom House Deputy Director Thomas O. Melia testifying at the Helsinki Commission hearing, July 27, 2006
After Bush leaves Russia, Voice of Russia commentary questions President's intellectmore story...
How dangerous is the Internet in the hands of extremists? Internet forums represent underside of Russian politics, Russian analysts claim Paul Goble's Window on Eurasia more story...
On the eve of the G-8 summit reaction from Russia to proposed elimination of VOA Russian radio programs calls attention to U.S. neglect of free media in Eurasiafull story... | FreeMediaOnline.orgpress release... | PDF version
Management of Middle East Broadcasting services could be improved The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) is making several recommendations to the chairman of the BBG to improve the efficiency and operations of MBN. These include fully implementing strategic planning, internal control, and regular program reviews, as well as addressing weaknesses in the conduct and reporting of its audience research. Highlights of GAO study... | full text...
The International Broadcasting Bureau’s (IBB) Office of Performance Review provides quality control by evaluating programs and recommending improvements for IBB, the Voice of America’s (VOA) language services, and the Office of Cuba Broadcasting (OCB).
However, the performance rating scores that the office assigns have minimal effect on the strategic decisions the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) reaches through its annual Language Service Reviews and budget priorities. The scores also have minimal effect on IBB senior management in its decisionmaking and serve only as a quality control process. It is the problem-solving discussions and action items that result from the reviews that more effectively improve broadcast services’ quality.
OIG recommended that IBB prioritize significant remaining action items and provide the information to the BBG for consideration during Language Service Reviews.
U.S. International Broadcasting Should Not Engage in PropagandaCondoleezza Rice Says the U.S. Should Get Out the Truth and Engage in the War of Ideas - Not in Propaganda, Jan. 18, 2005 "Well, we really do have to enhance our efforts, I think, in getting our word out, I mean in getting the word out. And I use the word advisably because Radio Free Europe and Voice of America, and Radio Marti are about telling the truth, not about propagandizing. And we have to make certain that people that otherwise don't have access to the truth receive it. We also have to make certain that people who are hearing what is sometimes just incredibly amazing propaganda and lies about our policy have alternative sources of information. "
Broadcasting to Latin America "The Broadcasting Board of Governors broadcasts balanced news and information about the United States and the world to countries in Latin America, in order to promote the open communication of information and ideas. Rating: Effective.
This program is increasing the number of viewers and listeners in target countries. In Haiti, the number of radio listeners has increased by 53% in one year, from 29.4% of the country's population in 2004 to 45% of the country's population in 2005." Summary of OMB Report | Full Report
Engineering and Technical Services for International Broadcasting "This program provides engineering and technical services to the Voice of America, Radio and TV Marti, and Radio Free Asia, in order to produce and transmit nearly 1,000,000 hours each year of international broadcasting. This program also provides computer services to all US government international broadcasting programs.
Rating Effective
This program achieved 99.8% on-air availability in 2005. This is competitive with broadcasters in the private sector, many of whom do not face the same challenges to transmit signals around the world to underdeveloped media
environments." Summary of OMB Report | Full Report
Broadcasting to Near East Asia and South Asia "The Broadcasting Board of Governors broadcasts news and information to Near East Asia and South Asia via the Voice of America radio and television, Radio Sawa, al-Hurra television, and Radio Free Europe, in order to promote the open communication of information and ideas.
Rating: Moderately Effective
The program has significantly increased its audience size over three years. The combined, unduplicated weekly audience for Radio Sawa and al-Hurra television was 35 million in the Middle East in 2005, an increase from 2002 when al-Hurra television had 8.5 million regular viewers and Radio Sawa had 3.1 million regular listeners." Summary of OMB Report | Full Report
Broadcasting to East Asia and Eurasia "The Broadcasting Board of Governors broadcasts news and information to countries in East Asia and Eurasia in order to promote the open communication of information and ideas. Programming in several languages such as Chinese and Russian is broadcast via television, radio, and the internet.
Rating: Moderately Effective
The program has largely met its ambitious, long-term goals for increasing audience reach. Due to difficulties in surveying certain target audiences--North Korea and China, for example--data are not available for a number of countries. Where data are available this program has achieved fair results, such as an increase in audience size in Indonesia from 3.7 million in 2002 to 6.3 million in 2005. Summary of OMB Report | Full Report
Broadcasting to Africa "The Broadcasting Board of Governors broadcasts news and information about the world and the United States to Africa, in order to promote the open communication of information and ideas. The Voice of America broadcasts shortwave, FM, and AM radio across the continent in languages such as English, French, Hausa, and Swahili.
Rating: Moderately Effective
This program has already surpassed its long-term goal to increase the size of its audience in Africa by 5%. In 2002, this program had 34 million listeners in Africa; by 2008, this program's goal is to have 35.7 million listeners. In 2005, the program had 38.5 million listeners. Summary of OMB Report | Full Report
U.S. International Broadcasting: Challenges Facing the Broadcasting Board of Governors, Testimony of the U.S. Government Accountability Office before the Subcommittee on International Operations and Terrorism, Committee on Foreign Relations, U.S. Senate, April 29, 2004. "Organizationally, the existence of five separate broadcast entities has led to overlapping language services, duplication of program content, redundant newsgathering and support services, and difficulties coordinating broadcast efforts. Marketing challenges include outmoded program formats, poor signal delivery, and low audience awareness in many markets. Alhurra television broadcasts to the Middle East and Radio Farda broadcasts to Iran illustrate the Board’s efforts to better manage program content and meet the needs of its target audiences. Although we have not validated available research data, the Board claims that the application of its new approach has led to dramatic increases in listening rates in key Middle East markets."
U.S. Public Diplomacy: State Department and Broadcasting Board of Governors Expand Efforts in the Middle East but Face Significant Challenges, Testimony of the U.S. Government Accountability Office before the Subcommittee on National Security, Emerging Threats, and International Relations, Committee on Government Reform, U.S. House of Representatives, February 10, 2004."State and BBG have increased their efforts to support the war on terrorism.However, State does not have a strategy that integrates all of its diverse public diplomacy activities and directs them toward common objectives. In addition, we found that while the BBG did have a strategic plan, the plan lacked a long-term strategic goal or related program objective to gauge the Board’s success in increasing audience size, the key focus of its plan. Furthermore, there is no interagency strategy to guide State’s, BBG’s, and all federal agencies’ communication efforts and thus ensure consistent messages to overseas audiences. In addition to strategy deficiencies, we found that State and the BBG were not systematically and comprehensively measuring progress toward the goals of reaching broader audiences and increasing publics’ understanding about the United States.
U.S. International Broadcasting: Enhanced Measure of Local Media Conditions Would Facilitate Decisions to Terminate Language Services.Report of the U.S. Government Accountability Office to the Committee on Foreign Relations, U.S. Senate, February 2004."While the Board’s press freedom measure addresses the issue of press freedom, it does not specifically measure whether domestic media provide news that is accurate, balanced, and comprehensive. GAO’s analysis of relevant data sources and discussions with agency officials indicate that among the services targeted for elimination, Bulgaria, Croatia, and Romania stand out as having the most unstable media environments."
U.S. International Broadcasting: New Strategic Approach Focuses on Reaching Large Audiences but Lacks Measurable Program Objectives, Report of the U.S. Government Accountability Office to the Committee on International Relations, U.S. House of Representatives, July 2003 "The Board’s plan lacks measurable program objectives designed to gauge the success of its new approach to broadcasting, detailed implementation strategies, resource needs, and project time frames. A number of key effectiveness measures could provide a starting point for developing measurable program objectives and related performance goals and indicators under the Board’s annual performance plan. These measures include audience size in specific markets, audience awareness, broadcaster credibility, and whether the Voice of America (VOA) effectively presentsinformation about U.S. thought, institutions, and policies to target audiences."
Reclaiming America’s Voice Overseas, The Heritage Foundation, May 2003 "....[U.S] foreign broadcasting, cast free from USIA in the 1999 reorganization, has lapsed into a jumble of duplicative efforts, some effective—some not, led by a part-time Board of Governors euphemistically called a “collective CEO.” Each of its eight voting members can make personnel decisions and meddle directly in daily operations. This octopus sits on top of the venerable Voice of America (VOA) that countered enemy propaganda from World War II through the Cold War as well as the Office of Cuban Broadcasting and grantees Radios Free Europe, Free Liberty, and Free Asia."
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U.S. Senator charges USG broadcasts help America's enemies
EURASIANET.ORG article lists arguments against proposed U.S. broadcasting cuts to media-at-risk countries, includes comments by Free
Uzbekistan again faces U.S. broadcast cuts, programs to other countries without media freedom also at risk
Content of U.S. radio programs to Iran called a "losing strategy" by former international broadcasting official 
Holocaust conference in Iran: Aljazeera offers more balance than National Public Radio (NPR) reporter, objective coverage from most other international media 
Voice of Russia's web site ignores poisoning death of Putin's critic 
Reporters Without Borders protest shutdown of independent TV station by Azeri authorities 
Russia Today is on air on SKY and in North America, U.S. broadcasters in Russia face growing government restrictions 
U.S. democracy assistance for Cuba needs better management and oversight 
Iranian radio revives Papal-Jewish conspiracy theories 
Putin makes false claim to excuse clampdown on local and international media in Russia 
Radio Liberty Russian managers put a positive spin on Putin's comments about the murder of a pro-democracy journalist 
After Bush leaves Russia, Voice of Russia commentary questions President's intellect 
