BBG Watch — BBG Politburo Media Review (also on BBG Watch Hot Tub Blog) The Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) wants to end all Voice of America radio and TV broadcasts to China on Oct. 1. BBG members should read these recent news stories which may show that they and their executive staff have no first-hand or other direct experience of what life under authoritarian regimes is like and what dissidents, pro-democracy activists, and those who are the most oppressed expect from the United States. A recent BBG statement on threats to free media around the world did not mention China while at the their last meeting BBG members were ecstatic about a VOA English teaching video in Mandarin, which the Chinese cyber police allowed on the Internet in China. Apparently, the Chinese censors are not offended by words like “All of the icky stuff that comes out of your face!!, eye gunk, sleepies, earwax, booger, snot, drool, slobber, pimple/zit/blemish” — which the delightful and very talented Jessica Beinecke teaches the Chinese youth to use. We’re not saying that such videos have no place in VOA programs to China, but BBG members could have perhaps benefitted from also watching this video. Direct link to this video. Compare the previous video with the next one, which BBG members loved so much that they forgot to include China in their statement condemning assaults on free media. Quite a contrast! Direct link to this video. OK. Keep producing such videos that the Chinese cyber police will allow. By the way, since this is our first BBG Watch Politburo Media Review, we looked at the Voice of America English website and did not find any China-related human rights stories. But we did find this story, Meet Tara (Again), Graduate Student from China and Fashionista, no doubt highly recommended by your social media private consultants whose only experience of human rights violations was probably limited to being denied computer access by their American parents. OK, Meet Tara has some redeeming content, although not much. But what will happen, BBG members, to “Free Chen Guangcheng” video and VOA radio and television interviews with those Americans who are trying to help him and thousands of other political prisoners in China? You want to end VOA satellite TV to China on October 1, as well as radio. Do you really think that the heavily jammed and not very well-known Radio Free Asia is enough? RFA does not have satellite television programs and neither will VOA after Oct. 1. Does that mean that Voice of America will represent American views on China with content such Yucky GUNK!, since this is about the only material that the Chinese censors will allow on the Internet. And what happens when they ban it when it becomes too popular. We will be posting these media roundups, which we call BBG Politburo Media Review, to help focus BBG members’ attention on the real information needs of people living under authoritarian and totalitarian regimes. Just…

 Sourced from: BBG Watch