Lobsang Gyatso, a 19-year old monk from Kirti monastery in Ngaba, self-immolated on February 13, 2012.

“The [Buddhist] monks [in Tibet] listen secretly to Voice of America’s Tibetan service news every night, despite feeling almost physical pain at the bleak news.” – NPR reporter Louisa Lim

As reported for National Public Radio (NPR) by Louisa Lim, “Protests, Self-Immolation Signs Of A Desperate Tibet,” “The [Buddhist] monks [in Tibet] listen secretly to Voice of America’s Tibetan service news every night, despite feeling almost physical pain at the bleak news.”
In her NPR report, Louisa Lim describes scenes of repression of the Tibetans by the Chinese regime and of desperation among the local population and Tibetan monks:

“‘Too many of our people died this year,’ one monk told me, referring to nearly two-dozen Tibetans who have set themselves on fire as a protest against Chinese repression. Identifying details have been removed to protect those who talked to NPR.”

NPR did not report in this story that the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), a federal agency that manages the Voice of America, has just proposed to terminate VOA Tibetan language radio programs. This news has not yet been widely reported by American media. The BBG also wants to close down the VOA Cantonese Service, thus targeting two languages and cultures which are also being suppressed by the communist regime in Beijing. The Voice of America Tibetan Service was established in 1990 by an act of Congress and went on the air in 1991.
This is what one anonymous Voice of America journalist wrote after hearing the news that the Broadcasting Board of Governors was planning to end VOA radio broadcasts to Tibet:

Tibet activists unfurl a banner from Arlington Memorial Bridge to protest visit of China’s future president that reads 'Xi Jinping: Tibet will be Free'.

This commentary by an anonymous Broadcasting Board of Governors’ journalist analyzes the BBG’s FY2013 budget proposal which calls for silencing Voice of America (VOA) radio broadcasts to Tibet as part of cutting America’s broadcasts to three out of five remaining communist regimes.
Silencing Voice of America Radio to Tibet: Has the Broadcasting Board of Governors Gone Mad?
The Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) budget submission requests cutting seven employees out of 22 in the Voice of America (VOA) Tibetan Service, ending all six hours of daily VOA Tibetan radio broadcasts.
This is happening on the day China’s Vice President Xi Jinping, heir apparent of the communist regime, arrives in Washington on a get-to-know-you visit.
This is happening while Tibet is burning. A day after the 23rd Tibetan monk self-immolated to protest unprecedented Chinese crackdown on their religion.
This is happening one week after CCTV, China’s state TV launched its first live daily broadcast from its brand new 36000 sq ft studio in Washington DC, the first step of China’s $7 billion media offensive in America.
What is the BBG thinking? Has the Broadcasting Board of Governors gone mad?
And, decimating VOA broadcasts to the Laos (4 out of 6 employees), Vietnam (10 out of 15 employees) and Cantonese to China (all 7 employees). Cutting America’s broadcasts to three out of five remaining communist regimes. (…)
Who needs this Board that cannibalizes its own worker bees to feed itself?

The annonymous Voice of America journalist reported that as Broadcasting Board of Governors executives were planning to abolish Voice of America radio broadcasts to Tibet and fire journalists, they have created several new top level bureaucratic positions for themselves.

BBG members with IBB Director Richard Lobo and Deputy Director Jeff Trimble