OPINION

An op-ed in The Washington Examiner by a co-founder and supporter of USAGM Watch was written in response to recent media reports suggesting that leaders who have been long in charge of both the Voice of America (VOA) and the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) are responsible for a management culture which allows major abuses of journalistic practices and the VOA Charter to occur, such as repeating propaganda of the genocidal regime in Ethiopia and disinformation from the authoritarian governments in Russia, China and Iran.

Biden can combat foreign propaganda by reforming Voice of America

by Ted Lipien | June 30, 2021

What the Biden White House needs to do is appoint new leaders who are not naive about Russia, China, Iran, or Cuba. He must vastly reduce the agency’s federal bureaucracy and grant more independence and more money to RFE/RL [Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty] until all of U.S. international broadcasting gets a complete overhaul.

I do not share the view of some conservatives and some liberals who think that the answer lies in more centralized administration and federalization of all U.S. government-funded media outlets. I believe strongly in the need for much more scrutiny and accountability, but it can be more easily achieved if the Voice of America retains its federal status while the surrogate broadcasters are removed from under the control of the federal agency.

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Biden can combat foreign propaganda by reforming Voice of America

Previously classified U.S. government documents show that following the start of Voice of America radio broadcasts in February 1942 in response to the dangers and the turmoil of the Second World War, the first group of VOA managers and journalists uncritically embraced various Soviet propaganda…