BBG Watch has learned from a reliable source that Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) executives in the International Broadcasting Bureau (IBB) have been working on a response attacking a recent criticism of their strategic and management decisions posted on The Heritage Foundation blog by Dr. Helle Dale. She is the Heritage Foundation’s Senior Fellow in Public Diplomacy studies.
In her article, “BBG Budget: Voice of America Slashed, Fewer Broadcasters, More Bureaucrats,” Dr. Dale wrote: “The Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) recently released its 2013 budget request, which slashes Voice of America (VOA) funding by more than $17 million while increasing funding for major bureaucratic offices inside the International Broadcasting Bureau. A reprioritization is clearly necessary.”
She has also included this chart:

In analyzing this chart, Dr. Dale made the following points:
1. Actual broadcasting services are being cut, resulting in lost viewers and listeners who, since they often have no Internet access, are deprived of trustworthy and important news sources.
2. We should not be spending more than eight times as much per capita on public diplomacy broadcasting in Tajikistan than in China.
3. An added emphasis on broadcasting in China will let the U.S. respond to China’s messaging blitz.
4. Instead of increasing funding to bureaucratic offices and cutting back on VOA, the opposite should be done.