One of our exciting tours in Washington D.C. was to the Voice of America. Interestingly, not many of us were aware that there was such a broadcasting organization that is funded by our government and is not allowed to be broadcast in the United States.
WHAT?
Yeah, I know - surprising! It's rather intriguing when you discover the facts about Voice of America. This "multimedia international broadcasting" (not company - nor network - nor cable station or news station) service (for a more politically correct term) is a news gathering and distributing 'service' that is "funded by the U.S. government through the Broadcasting Board of Governors."
It was incredible to learn that the budget of VOA for the year of 2006 was $166 million. Oh, and did I mention that it is funded by our government?
Is that a problem?
I don't know... is it? A broadcasting (not company or Public Access station), but a multimedia entity, which functions as a "typical network station," is a widely known gem in other countries, yet not in ours. I do find it difficult to digest that VOA is able to broadcast programs outside our country, but not within our country.
I understand that VOA was (and is) set up to be an "international broadcasting service" that is aimed to educate and inform other countries. According to the VOA Charter:
1. VOA will serve as a consistently reliable and authoritative source of news. VOA news will be accurate, objective, and comprehensive.
2. VOA will represent America, not any single segment of American society, and will therefore present a balanced and comprehensive projection of significant American thought and institutions.
3. VOA will present the policies of the United States clearly and effectively, and will also present responsible discussions and opinion on these policies.
The concerns and debates of the VOA could be based from its origination; this entity was birthed out of the Office of War Information in 1942, which could easily be mistaken for a "government-industry corporation."
I'm sure VOA presents a lot of programs that could be informative; however, the detriment could also be that there is a hidden agenda or a hidden strategy - - more like a subtle bias. My concern is if my tax dollars are donating to a particular propaganda or is my tax dollars contributing to a particular bias?
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
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1 comments:
Interesting piece. I wish you could have given us some examples of the types of programs they produce . . . did you find out anything like that? What they produce and for whom? But I would probably say that most of what appears on VOA is pretty one-sided.
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