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BBG Announces New Strategic Plan
October 14, 2011 | Washington, D.C. Email Print The Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), at its meeting on October 13, adopted a new five-year strategic plan designed to grow and reform U.S. international broadcasting. The Board also highlighted recent incidents of harassment and jailing of BBG journalists in Egypt and Turkmenistan. BBG’s 2012-2016 strategic plan aims to make BBG the world’s leading international news agency by 2016, focused on both mission and impact, and targeting a 50 million worldwide audience gain. Titled “Impact through Innovation and Integration,” the plan calls for the establishment of a global news network and development of new delivery and anti-circumvention technologies. It also recommends streamlining management, evaluation of the possible consolidation of the three grantee networks into one organization, exploring possible de-federalization of the federal agency components, ending language duplication, modernizing distribution mechanisms to reflect the media audiences prefer, and repealing the ban on domestic dissemination of BBG programs contained in the 1948 Smith-Mundt Act. The plan calls for the agency to focus not only on generating outstanding content but also embracing content generated by our audiences and creating an interactive environment in which they can converse with us and each other. To reflect the dual focus, the Board adopted the following new mission statement: “To inform, engage and connect people around the world in support of freedom and democracy.” “This plan is a response to the ever-changing world we live in,” said BBG Chairman Walter Isaacson. “To retain and increase our audiences and impact, we have to be smart and capitalize on the opportunities of digital integration and audience engagement.” At the meeting, MBN President Brian Conniff shared a video clip showing armed Egyptian military members entering Alhurra’s Cairo studio and interrupting live coverage of the violent clashes between Coptic elements and soldiers on October 9. RFE/RL President Steve Korn discussed the case of RFE/RL contributor Dovletmyrat Yazkuliyev, who was sentenced to five years in prison by the Turkmenistan government in what appears to be an attempt to silence his reporting. “Every day our people risk intimidation, violence, arrest and imprisonment to gather and report the news,” said BBG Chairman Walter Isaacson. “The threats to BBG journalists clearly demonstrate the challenges and risks we face as we continue to battle censorship and champion media freedom.” Governor Susan McCue highlighted the launch of the BBG’s volunteer Commission on Innovation last month in New York City. The Commission represents the BBG’s effort to tap the expertise of visionary leaders in digital media to help the Agency increase its impact among audiences abroad. For further information about the BBG discussion, on Demand Links are: Windows Media Broadband On Demand Link: http://www.voanews.com/wm/live/special-events/BBG_Open_Meeting_101311-vb.asx # by hildegart | 2011-11-02 00:20
S. Korean Authorities' Anti-DPRK Psychological Campaign Slammed
Pyongyang, October 1 (KCNA) -- A spokesman for the Ministry of Post and Communications of the DPRK released a statement Saturday blasting the south Korean puppet group's despicable psychological campaign against the DPRK that has reached an extreme phase. The statement said: From mid-August the group of traitors aired anti-DPRK broadcasting programs toward the western areas of the DPRK including North Phyongan Province from the areas around Paekryong Island in the same frequency band as used by the TV broadcasting in the DPRK. It has also intensified anti-DPRK radio propaganda with the same radio frequency band as used in the DPRK to dare hurt its socialist system and the dignity of its supreme leadership and shake the people's mindset. It has worked with bloodshot eyes to intensify psychological warfare, encroaching upon the radio frequency band of the DPRK, as if it were not enough with scattering leaflets, DVDs and transistor radios in the DPRK to hurt its system. Involved in the smear campaign are notorious intelligence and plot-breeding organizations including the Intelligence Service and institutions of the authorities including the Defense and Unification Ministries as well as ultra-right conservative media under their direct control and human scum who defected to the south. These reckless anti-DPRK confrontation moves aimed to undermine the dignified socialist system clearly prove to what extent the group has gone in its attempt to bring down the state system in the DPRK and in its frenzy for confrontation with the DPRK. The Ministry of Post and Telecommunications of the DPRK together with the army, people and all other Koreans strongly denounce the puppet group's mean and despicable anti-DPRK smear propaganda as a challenge to the sovereignty, system and dignity of the DPRK and another serious provocation to it. Psychological warfare is one form of a war against the other party. The DPRK has already strongly demanded the puppet group halt at once the provocative and dangerous anti-DPRK smear psychological campaign that may push the north-south relations to a grave military clash. However, the group is not only persisting in its campaign but has gone the lengths of committing radio wave-piracy defying international convention and order. The International Treaty of Tele-communication clearly stipulates that application for the use of frequency should precede and the use of a certain frequency is possible only with the user's approval while considering it an illegal act in wanton contravention of international order to infringe upon the frequency already in official use by other country and region. The puppet group's illegal use of the DPRK's radio and TV frequency bands is an outright violation of international convention and order and treacherous act of driving the north-south relations into extremes. The reality proves that the group is utterly indifferent to international convention and it has neither common sense nor reason as it is buoyed by inveterate hatred for the fellow countrymen and the ambition to bring down the system in the DPRK. It is ridiculous for the group to try to break the single-minded unity of the DPRK and bring down Korean-style socialism with such broadcasting piracy. The army and people of the DPRK will never pardon the anti-DPRK psychological campaign of the south Korean puppet group to bring down the indestructible system in the DPRK but resolutely smash it by dint of single-minded unity and Songun. Should the group persist in the campaign, defying the warning of the DPRK those broadcasting centers and those involved in it will never be able to escape deadly and merciless punishment by the army of the DPRK. # by hildegart | 2011-10-04 21:29
VOA overseer creates static with switch to Internet, social media
By Bill Gertz The Washington Times Sunday, July 31, 2011 The Obama administration is sharply restructuring the Broadcasting Board of Governors, the agency in charge of all U.S. government broadcasting, while being urged to increase the spread of unfettered news and information around the world. Cuts in official U.S. radio broadcasting to Russia and the Middle East since 2001 and plans to end Voice of America (VOA) broadcasts to China in October have sown "chaos and confusion" in the agency, one senior agency official said. The Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) is shifting broadcasts from radio to the Internet and social media. Critics say the move will make programs more vulnerable to disruption by governments that oppose U.S. efforts to promote democracy and freedom. The cuts are being made after a popular democratic uprising in Iran, the "Arab Spring" anti-government movement in the Middle East and mounting pressure inside China for democratic change. "I have serious reservations about the direction of U.S. international broadcasting," said Blanquita Cullum, a former board governor. "I believe the intended outcome of the BBG's strategic plan will leave many people in nondemocratic countries without access to critical news and information from our direct radio broadcasts." Current and former officials involved in U.S. government broadcasting for several networks, including the flagship VOA, said in interviews and emails that cutting costs and the shift to online broadcasting are devastating the organization at a time when promotion of key U.S. values is urgently needed in places such as China and the Middle East. New leadership The nine-member BBG, an independent federal agency that includes Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton as a board member, directs five major networks: VOA, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), Radio Free Asia (RFA), Radio and TV Marti, and Middle East Broadcasting Networks (MBN) called Radio Sawa and Alhurra Television. Its stated mission is to "promote freedom and democracy" through multimedia communication using "accurate, objective and balanced news, information, and other programming" about the United States around the world. The agency has about 760 employees, and its budget request for fiscal 2012 is $767 million. The changes began in April when Richard M. Lobo - head of the support staff working under the BBG, called the International Broadcasting Bureau (IBB) - was appointed BBG executive director. An internal BBG document from June stated that the board had delegated broad power to Mr. Lobo, including day-to-day management of all agencies and authority to make decisions about "trade-offs and conflicts" for the broadcasters. Mr. Lobo, a former public broadcasting station president in southwestern Florida, stated in a July 22 email to employees that "given today's budgetary climate, we are focused on ways to centralize leadership direction, streamline management and support functions, and eliminate duplication." 'Strategic vision' Mr. Lobo has what he calls a "strategic vision" that is leading to major consolidations, officials said. The vision is expected to produce sharp cuts in funding and staff at the networks. Mr. Lobo also is bringing in outside consultants to join what called a "daunting effort" to draw up and implement the strategy over the coming months. "We firmly believe that a new strategic road map and the organizational changes we are discussing will help to sharpen our mission and our focus, as U.S. international broadcasting takes on the increasingly complex challenges of a global, multiplatform media landscape in the years ahead," he said. A BBG official said in an email that the reorganization has created "a lot of chaos and confusion." New board members were appointed last summer, Mr. Lobo joined in March, and a new VOA director will be appointed next month. "Big changes [are] coming, but nobody knows for sure what they'll be," the official said. "The key word is 'consolidation' with the 'radios' [RFE/RL, MBN, RFA, Marti], but nobody knows for sure how that will happen." A former BBG official said U.S. international broadcasting is in serious trouble because of a lack of focus and mismanagement - problems that have plagued the agency for several years. The shift to Internet and social media services is rife with problems, the former official said. Hacking "The whole Internet strategy is bogus," this former official said, noting that Iranian hackers shut down some 40 VOA Internet broadcast sites for five hours in February. "It demonstrated the vulnerability of relying on Internet broadcasting. One can only imagine what the Chinese can do." The Iranian VOA hacking followed by two weeks the disclosure that VOA is ending all radio broadcasts to China this year in favor of Internet broadcasting and some radio through the heavily jammed Radio Free Asia. The decision was made after China refused to permit VOA to use China-based ground stations to transmit its programs, even though the Obama administration provided China with broad access to U.S. airwaves for its state-run media. BBG spokeswoman Letitia King said the strategic review has been under way for a year and has not been completed. The plan is looking for ways to make international broadcasting more efficient and to reduce duplication and overlap, she said. On the cutbacks in radio, Ms. King said: "The board has made clear that they recognize the value of radio and television as really important media worldwide." New media are an extension of news and information outlets, but are "by no means the central boulevard for broadcasting," she said. 'Painful' but 'necessary' A BBG report outlining the "realignment strategy" for shortwave and medium-wave radio broadcasts stated that "the process and transition will be as painful as they are necessary." According to the report, the radio outlets face tight budgets, an "onerous" federal labor structure and aging technology. The draft strategy calls for using more joint facilities, overturning legislative obstacles and "de-federalizing" the workforce - shifting from federal workers to contractors, a process likely to involve large-scale layoffs. Plans to cut short- and medium-wave radio broadcasts are projected to save $75 million annually and be carried out in phases by closing VOA stations in the Philippines, on the Pacific island of Saipan, in Germany and in North Carolina, and scaling back Kuwait-based stations. The goal is to cut $82 million by 2014, the report said. Under a section on "higher-profile eliminations," the report revealed plans to cut broadcasts to Cuba, China, Iran and Pakistan. Yet broadcasting uncensored news and information to those regions is more critical than ever, current and former BBG officials said. Some shortwave outlets to be kept under the plan include radio beamed into North Korea, Burma, Tibet, Pakistan's tribal areas, Afghanistan, Africa and in China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. Risk of losing audience However, the report stated that BBG's new focus is on creating a "global newsroom" using "inter-entity connectivity, content sharing and virtual studies." New media, such as Facebook and Twitter, will be expanded through "robust Internet connectivity." The former official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the board has failed to properly analyze the risks of the Internet strategy. For example, targeting audiences in China with Internet access fails to address the fact that China's security services use 50,000 Internet police to monitor electronic traffic. The Chinese are unlikely to tune in to U.S. broadcasting and risk losing Internet access or even being arrested for listening to banned news on the Internet, the former official said. The lessons of Russia and the Middle East also appear to have been ignored in the reorganization. Internal VOA surveys have shown that the BBG's decision in 2008 to end all direct radio broadcasts to Russia was a disaster because most of VOA's audience was lost after listeners declined to listen to the radio on the Internet. U.S. broadcasts to the Middle East also are lacking. Mrs. Clinton recently suggested that the United States has lost the "information war" against terrorism in that region. Media gap Critics traced the problems to a decision in 2002 to give up VOA broadcasting and launch the U.S.-funded radio and television. "We have not really kept up with the times," Mrs. Clinton said in March. "We are in an information war, and we cannot assume that this youth bulge that exists not just in the Middle East, but in so many parts of the world really knows much about us." The current and former officials said the Arabic-language stations have failed to garner wide audiences in the Arab world, where Al Jazeera, often sympathetic to Islamic terrorists, has flourished. "We've had this intense media effort for the last 10 years, and we don't have a lot to show for it," the former official said. Another part of the proposed reorganization is to move BBG operations out of the large headquarters building in Southwest Washington, the Wilbur J. Cohen Building, and relocate employees to the Dulles Town Center area in Northern Virginia. To counter the cut in Chinese broadcasting, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, California Republican, helped pass an amendment last month to a House bill that would add $13.7 million to VOA's budget for Chinese broadcasting. Ms. Cullum said large numbers of people around the world do not have access to the Internet. In China, she said, access is limited to large cities and to the affluent population. "There is an audience throughout the world who do not have access to the Internet, which is the intended foundation under the BBG strategic plan," she said. "Where will they go when we are not there? We know the Internet has vulnerabilities. If VOA relies largely on this method of distribution, it is setting itself up for failure." © Copyright 2011 The Washington Times, # by hildegart | 2011-09-10 00:00
VOA overseer creates static with switch to Internet, social media
By Bill Gertz The Washington Times Sunday, July 31, 2011 The Obama administration is sharply restructuring the Broadcasting Board of Governors, the agency in charge of all U.S. government broadcasting, while being urged to increase the spread of unfettered news and information around the world. Cuts in official U.S. radio broadcasting to Russia and the Middle East since 2001 and plans to end Voice of America (VOA) broadcasts to China in October have sown "chaos and confusion" in the agency, one senior agency official said. The Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) is shifting broadcasts from radio to the Internet and social media. Critics say the move will make programs more vulnerable to disruption by governments that oppose U.S. efforts to promote democracy and freedom. The cuts are being made after a popular democratic uprising in Iran, the "Arab Spring" anti-government movement in the Middle East and mounting pressure inside China for democratic change. "I have serious reservations about the direction of U.S. international broadcasting," said Blanquita Cullum, a former board governor. "I believe the intended outcome of the BBG's strategic plan will leave many people in nondemocratic countries without access to critical news and information from our direct radio broadcasts." Current and former officials involved in U.S. government broadcasting for several networks, including the flagship VOA, said in interviews and emails that cutting costs and the shift to online broadcasting are devastating the organization at a time when promotion of key U.S. values is urgently needed in places such as China and the Middle East. New leadership The nine-member BBG, an independent federal agency that includes Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton as a board member, directs five major networks: VOA, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), Radio Free Asia (RFA), Radio and TV Marti, and Middle East Broadcasting Networks (MBN) called Radio Sawa and Alhurra Television. Its stated mission is to "promote freedom and democracy" through multimedia communication using "accurate, objective and balanced news, information, and other programming" about the United States around the world. The agency has about 760 employees, and its budget request for fiscal 2012 is $767 million. The changes began in April when Richard M. Lobo - head of the support staff working under the BBG, called the International Broadcasting Bureau (IBB) - was appointed BBG executive director. An internal BBG document from June stated that the board had delegated broad power to Mr. Lobo, including day-to-day management of all agencies and authority to make decisions about "trade-offs and conflicts" for the broadcasters. Mr. Lobo, a former public broadcasting station president in southwestern Florida, stated in a July 22 email to employees that "given today's budgetary climate, we are focused on ways to centralize leadership direction, streamline management and support functions, and eliminate duplication." 'Strategic vision' Mr. Lobo has what he calls a "strategic vision" that is leading to major consolidations, officials said. The vision is expected to produce sharp cuts in funding and staff at the networks. Mr. Lobo also is bringing in outside consultants to join what called a "daunting effort" to draw up and implement the strategy over the coming months. "We firmly believe that a new strategic road map and the organizational changes we are discussing will help to sharpen our mission and our focus, as U.S. international broadcasting takes on the increasingly complex challenges of a global, multiplatform media landscape in the years ahead," he said. A BBG official said in an email that the reorganization has created "a lot of chaos and confusion." New board members were appointed last summer, Mr. Lobo joined in March, and a new VOA director will be appointed next month. "Big changes [are] coming, but nobody knows for sure what they'll be," the official said. "The key word is 'consolidation' with the 'radios' [RFE/RL, MBN, RFA, Marti], but nobody knows for sure how that will happen." A former BBG official said U.S. international broadcasting is in serious trouble because of a lack of focus and mismanagement - problems that have plagued the agency for several years. The shift to Internet and social media services is rife with problems, the former official said. Hacking "The whole Internet strategy is bogus," this former official said, noting that Iranian hackers shut down some 40 VOA Internet broadcast sites for five hours in February. "It demonstrated the vulnerability of relying on Internet broadcasting. One can only imagine what the Chinese can do." The Iranian VOA hacking followed by two weeks the disclosure that VOA is ending all radio broadcasts to China this year in favor of Internet broadcasting and some radio through the heavily jammed Radio Free Asia. The decision was made after China refused to permit VOA to use China-based ground stations to transmit its programs, even though the Obama administration provided China with broad access to U.S. airwaves for its state-run media. BBG spokeswoman Letitia King said the strategic review has been under way for a year and has not been completed. The plan is looking for ways to make international broadcasting more efficient and to reduce duplication and overlap, she said. On the cutbacks in radio, Ms. King said: "The board has made clear that they recognize the value of radio and television as really important media worldwide." New media are an extension of news and information outlets, but are "by no means the central boulevard for broadcasting," she said. 'Painful' but 'necessary' A BBG report outlining the "realignment strategy" for shortwave and medium-wave radio broadcasts stated that "the process and transition will be as painful as they are necessary." According to the report, the radio outlets face tight budgets, an "onerous" federal labor structure and aging technology. The draft strategy calls for using more joint facilities, overturning legislative obstacles and "de-federalizing" the workforce - shifting from federal workers to contractors, a process likely to involve large-scale layoffs. Plans to cut short- and medium-wave radio broadcasts are projected to save $75 million annually and be carried out in phases by closing VOA stations in the Philippines, on the Pacific island of Saipan, in Germany and in North Carolina, and scaling back Kuwait-based stations. The goal is to cut $82 million by 2014, the report said. Under a section on "higher-profile eliminations," the report revealed plans to cut broadcasts to Cuba, China, Iran and Pakistan. Yet broadcasting uncensored news and information to those regions is more critical than ever, current and former BBG officials said. Some shortwave outlets to be kept under the plan include radio beamed into North Korea, Burma, Tibet, Pakistan's tribal areas, Afghanistan, Africa and in China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. Risk of losing audience However, the report stated that BBG's new focus is on creating a "global newsroom" using "inter-entity connectivity, content sharing and virtual studies." New media, such as Facebook and Twitter, will be expanded through "robust Internet connectivity." The former official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the board has failed to properly analyze the risks of the Internet strategy. For example, targeting audiences in China with Internet access fails to address the fact that China's security services use 50,000 Internet police to monitor electronic traffic. The Chinese are unlikely to tune in to U.S. broadcasting and risk losing Internet access or even being arrested for listening to banned news on the Internet, the former official said. The lessons of Russia and the Middle East also appear to have been ignored in the reorganization. Internal VOA surveys have shown that the BBG's decision in 2008 to end all direct radio broadcasts to Russia was a disaster because most of VOA's audience was lost after listeners declined to listen to the radio on the Internet. U.S. broadcasts to the Middle East also are lacking. Mrs. Clinton recently suggested that the United States has lost the "information war" against terrorism in that region. Media gap Critics traced the problems to a decision in 2002 to give up VOA broadcasting and launch the U.S.-funded radio and television. "We have not really kept up with the times," Mrs. Clinton said in March. "We are in an information war, and we cannot assume that this youth bulge that exists not just in the Middle East, but in so many parts of the world really knows much about us." The current and former officials said the Arabic-language stations have failed to garner wide audiences in the Arab world, where Al Jazeera, often sympathetic to Islamic terrorists, has flourished. "We've had this intense media effort for the last 10 years, and we don't have a lot to show for it," the former official said. Another part of the proposed reorganization is to move BBG operations out of the large headquarters building in Southwest Washington, the Wilbur J. Cohen Building, and relocate employees to the Dulles Town Center area in Northern Virginia. To counter the cut in Chinese broadcasting, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, California Republican, helped pass an amendment last month to a House bill that would add $13.7 million to VOA's budget for Chinese broadcasting. Ms. Cullum said large numbers of people around the world do not have access to the Internet. In China, she said, access is limited to large cities and to the affluent population. "There is an audience throughout the world who do not have access to the Internet, which is the intended foundation under the BBG strategic plan," she said. "Where will they go when we are not there? We know the Internet has vulnerabilities. If VOA relies largely on this method of distribution, it is setting itself up for failure." © Copyright 2011 The Washington Times, # by hildegart | 2011-09-09 23:58
Lawmakers Scramble to Keep Voice of America On Air in China
By Judson Berger Published August 04, 2011 | FoxNews.com Congressional lawmakers are scrambling to prevent America's international media arm from going off-air in China, arguing that a plan to shift much of its reporting to the Internet won't do much good in a country notorious for its web censors. The group at the heart of the dispute is Voice of America -- part of the network of U.S. government-backed broadcasters that together reach more than 100 countries -- the American institution that has beamed news around the world since the '40s. Reflecting a broader shift from radio to digital media, a plan unveiled earlier this year called for overhauling Voice of America's China services to bring most of its media off air and online. The Broadcasting Board of Governors, which oversees Voice of America, argues that it only makes sense to go digital in a country with the largest Internet-using population in the world. Board officials claim the existing shortwave radio broadcasts don't have the audience they used to and that the Chinese government is jamming them anyway. In changing platforms, the board projects it will save $8 million and eliminate about 45 positions. But critics of the move, including Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., say the United States is setting itself up to cede vital territory in the battle of information abroad. "We've used Voice of America to pump in Democratic messages for years," Rohrabacher spokeswoman Tara Setmayer said. "Now it's another area where it looks like we're succumbing to the wants of the communist Chinese." A House panel moved last month to try and save those radio and TV broadcasts. The House Foreign Affairs Committee voted unanimously for a bill containing a provision that would allocate nearly $14 million exclusively for Voice of America's Mandarin and Cantonese radio and satellite TV stations. "Such funds may not be used for any other purpose," the provision says. The language, if approved, may not compel Voice of America to sustain its China broadcasts, but the thinking is that $14 million will be hard to turn down. Lawmakers are racing against the clock to get the language included in the complementary appropriations bill, given that the changes in China are scheduled to take place in October. In a bipartisan letter to the House Appropriations Committee in May, Rohrabacher and several House colleagues urged the panel to follow suit as it crafts the funding bill. They argued that the radio and satellite broadcasts remain "one of the best ways to communicate directly" with the Chinese people. "We believe the administration's proposal will hinder indigenous democracy movements in China and damage the long-term security of our own country," they wrote. "Sacrificing U.S. broadcasting abilities while China's authoritarian regime expands its broadcasting and public diplomacy efforts in the United States is the wrong answer." The debate comes as the United States fights to be heard overseas. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned earlier this year in congressional testimony: "We are in an information war and we are losing that war." A Rohrabacher aide said the restructuring only hurts the United States in that war. "It's very penny wise and pound foolish," the aide said. BBG spokeswoman Letitia King declined to comment on the implications of the budget process, noting it is still in the works. But she disputed critics' claims, saying the underlying goal is to reach "new and bigger audiences in China, where government-controlled media don't provide full and accurate information." Under the plan, VOA Mandarin would move from radio and television to a "web-only platform," where some audio and video programs would continue to be posted. Funding would also increase for mobile device content. Separately, the affiliated Radio Free Asia would continue to broadcast in Mandarin. In addition, the board would eliminate VOA's Cantonese Service. According to the board's proposal, Radio Free Asia would continue to broadcast in Cantonese. Justifying the changes, King said shortwave radio listening has become "almost nonexistent" in China. The BBG cited a survey showing one-tenth of 1 percent of Chinese listen to VOA in Mandarin, with radio ownership on the decline. Another survey showed computer and Internet usage on a steep upswing. Though expanding on the Internet raises concerns about censors, King said the Chinese can use proxy servers to access their websites already and noted that the BBG has been developing anti-censorship technology to evade Chinese filters. "Using mobile proxies under development now, VOA expects its reach in China to increase," King said. Indeed, the Broadcasting Board of Governors has been testing technology in order to bust through Chinese web censors to deliver news. A round of recent testing demonstrated how certain technology can get around those filters via email, as well as transmit proxy web addresses which users can access to browse an uncensored version of the Internet. But Ted Lipien, a former VOA executive who now runs Free Media Online, complained in an op-ed earlier this year that aside from the threat of censorship, two-thirds of China's population does not even have Internet access. He accused the BBG of turning its back on human rights activists who rely on radio for information. Print Close URL http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/08/04/lawmakers-scramble-to-keep-voice-america-on-air-in-china/ # by hildegart | 2011-08-05 23:07
BBC World Service audience drops after cuts
Date: 12.07.2011 Category: World Service BBC World Service audiences have fallen 14m in the past year, largely as a result of service closures and platform changes due to cuts to central Government grants. The overall audience estimate for the year is 166m, down from 180m last year. The World Service, currently funded by the UK's Foreign & Commonwealth Office, had its budget cut in the Government's Spending Review and in January announced that five language services would close along with significant platform changes to other services. However, there were solid improvements in some core areas of World Service which partly offset the effects of the cuts. World Service online audience figures have risen by 40% over the past 12 months. The 2010/11 figures indicate that there are 10m weekly unique users of World Service websites, a 3m increase from 2009/10. World Service English audiences are up 10% on the previous year with a total weekly reach of 43m and the audience in the US has risen to 10m. This follows record audience figures in the UK of 1.79m for the first quarter of 2011 – a reach of 3.5% among all UK adults. There were also increases in the audience figures for the World Service's Arabic television service. BBC Arabic TV had a strong year with audience growth of 2m taking it to 13.5m viewers. Peter Horrocks, Director BBC Global News, said: "We've had to make considerable changes to the World Service over the past year due to the cut in our funding from the Government and this was always going to result in a drop in our audience figures. "The World Service has been looking hard at the best way to provide impartial news and information to our audiences going forward, and it's encouraging to see improvement in key areas. The strong international journalism from the World Service, particularly during the Arab Spring, has been a key part of the significant increases for online, English radio and Arabic television. "We are also pleased to see that we are doing so well in the UK with audiences accessing World Service through digital radio, freeview and live streaming online. "We will continue to look for the best fit for the audience – online, radio, tv, mobile – wherever it suits them best." BBC World Service's Annual Review is also published today. BBC World Service Press Office # by hildegart | 2011-07-14 00:11
BBC World Service audience drops after cuts
Date: 12.07.2011 Category: World Service BBC World Service audiences have fallen 14m in the past year, largely as a result of service closures and platform changes due to cuts to central Government grants. The overall audience estimate for the year is 166m, down from 180m last year. The World Service, currently funded by the UK's Foreign & Commonwealth Office, had its budget cut in the Government's Spending Review and in January announced that five language services would close along with significant platform changes to other services. However, there were solid improvements in some core areas of World Service which partly offset the effects of the cuts. World Service online audience figures have risen by 40% over the past 12 months. The 2010/11 figures indicate that there are 10m weekly unique users of World Service websites, a 3m increase from 2009/10. World Service English audiences are up 10% on the previous year with a total weekly reach of 43m and the audience in the US has risen to 10m. This follows record audience figures in the UK of 1.79m for the first quarter of 2011 – a reach of 3.5% among all UK adults. There were also increases in the audience figures for the World Service's Arabic television service. BBC Arabic TV had a strong year with audience growth of 2m taking it to 13.5m viewers. Peter Horrocks, Director BBC Global News, said: "We've had to make considerable changes to the World Service over the past year due to the cut in our funding from the Government and this was always going to result in a drop in our audience figures. "The World Service has been looking hard at the best way to provide impartial news and information to our audiences going forward, and it's encouraging to see improvement in key areas. The strong international journalism from the World Service, particularly during the Arab Spring, has been a key part of the significant increases for online, English radio and Arabic television. "We are also pleased to see that we are doing so well in the UK with audiences accessing World Service through digital radio, freeview and live streaming online. "We will continue to look for the best fit for the audience – online, radio, tv, mobile – wherever it suits them best." BBC World Service's Annual Review is also published today. BBC World Service Press Office # by hildegart | 2011-07-14 00:11
Horn of Africa chief suspended over critical comments By Abebe Gellaw
July 8th, 2011 Print Print Email Email Goto comments Leave a comment The Voice of America (VOA) has been accused of censoring itself and suspending its Horn of Africa Chief, David Arnold, over fallout with the Ethiopian government. The suspension of Mr. Arnold was directly related to his comments in a news report that was broadcast on VOA Amharic service on June 23rd, informed sources told Addis Voice. Mr. Arnold was part of a seven-member delegation headed by three Board of Broadcasting Governors (BBG), Susan McCue, Dana Perino, and Michael Meehan, who met officials in Ethiopia, Nigeria and Southern Sudan from June 21 to June 28. BBG, an agency of the US government, oversees all of its civilian international broadcasts in 59 languages to an estimated weekly audience of 165 million people across the world. Arnold had revealed that the Ethiopian government demanded VOA to deny platform to its vocal critics as a precondition to cooperate with VOA. The blacklist, drawn up by the Government Communication Affairs Minister, Bereket Simon, included Prof. Pawlos Milkeas, Prof. Beyene Petros, Dr. Merera Gudina, Getachew Metaferia, Dr. Berhanu Nega, Girma Mogess, former Minister of Defense Seye Abraha and the Eritrean Minister of Information, Ali Abdou. “The list goes on,” Arnold told VOA Amharic. He had said that the mission of the BBG delegation was “to make sure that they address some of the issues in Ethiopia concerning free press because for many years the government has objected to some of our broadcasts.” He also pointed out that the BBG governors discussed with Ethiopian officials the constant jamming of Voice of America transmissions in Amharic, Oromiffa and Tigrigna. In what appears to be an unprecedented move in VOA’s history, bosses ordered the removal of the audio as well as text files of the news report in question from VOA’s website and archive pages in less than 24 hours after Ethiopian officials lodged complaints about the report on “confidential” matters, it was learn. It emerged that the meeting between the BBG delegation and Ethiopian government officials was fraught with problems and tension as Mr. Simon and his cohorts have reportedly launched a scathing attack against the media organization in a 41-page long litany of complaints about VOA broadcasts. Mr. Simon was said to have complained that the June 23rd report ruined ongoing talks. He threatened to cancel further talks with the delegation and cease any future cooperation. Before the VOA chief was suspended, he was reportedly admonished for expressing critical views and airing sensitive information without seeking clearance from the delegation. In an email sent to Addis Voice, VOA’s Director of Public Relations, David Borgida denied allegations of censorship. “VOA always strives to be accurate in its reporting. That includes material on our websites. There was a misinterpretation of what went on during a recent meeting between Ethiopian government officials and visiting BBG Governors, and so the recent item you cite, which appeared on the website of the VOA Amharic service, was taken down.” Asked to explain why VOA did not publicly issue corrections instead of deleting the whole content, Mr. Borgida declined to comment. Addis Voice also asked why the Horn of Africa chief was suspended. “”We do not comment publicly on personnel matters,” he said. When I pressed Borgida to explain if the “personal matter” included his comments contained in the news report in question, Borgida said that VOA would not give any further statements on this matter. But Addis Voice has confirmed from two reliable sources that VOA bosses were not pleased with Arnold’s comments on sensitive issues that they felt needed clearance. The renowned Ethiopian artiste Tamagne Beyene is one of first people to notice the removal of all the contents of the June 23rd VOA Amharic broadcast from the online archive page. He says that the measure taken by VOA is unjustifiable and a pure act of censorship. Tamagn asked VOA to come out of the closet and tell its listeners the truth why the news was deleted and a highly experienced staff member was suspended for reporting the truth. “This is a classic case of censorship and shooting the messenger. If this is not censorship, what else can VOA call it?” he asked. “This case of suspension and censorship has shocked so many people at VOA. Some people are wondering how a professional journalist like Arnold with over three decades of experience can be suspended and censored to assuage the anger of a dictatorial regime in Ethiopia,” said one of the sources who spoke on condition of anonymity. “Arnold only reported the truth accurately. I am personally confused to witness politics overriding the First Amendment, which is as one of the pillars of the Constitution of the United States,” the source added. “The Minister [Bereket Simon] is willing to consider any new initiatives but he is going to wait to see if we change the way we broadcast,” Arnold had said. Arnold had dismissed the demand as contrary to the mission of VOA and basic principles of free press. According to him, Simon, not only complained about the contents of VOA broadcasts but also pointed out that the Ethiopian government had problems with some of the journalists working for VOA. During the 2005 election turmoil in Ethiopia, the government charged five VOA journalists, along with local journalists and opposition leaders, with high treason. The charges were dropped in the course of the trial under pressure from the U.S. government. During their visit, the delegation posted pictures and brief accounts of their experience on a dedicated blog, VOA on the Road Africa. In Ethiopia, the delegation that included four VOA staffers including the English to Africa Chief, Sonya Laurence Green, talked to senior Ethiopian government officials on issues related to the persistent jamming of VOA its transmissions and press freedom violations. Alemayehu Gebremariam, a constitutional law attorney and professor of political science at California State University, San Bernardino, says: “Disclosure of a few names from an illegal list of names prepared by a foreign government to be blacklisted by the VOA presents no basis for legal or administrative action against him. “Telling the truth in a news broadcast is not a crime. That is what Mr. Arnold has done. Journalists are censured and punished for reporting the truth in places like Iran and Ethiopia,” he noted. Prof. Gebremariam further pointed out that the First Amendment guaranteed American citizens and inhabitants of the U.S. the absolute right to publicly criticize, denounce, condemn and berate any government institution or leader with impunity. He said: “Congress shall make no law … abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, which simply means that no government official or institution has the power to restrict, censor, suppress, restrain, muzzle or blackball any American citizen or inhabitant of the U.S. from exercising their right to free speech or restrain the independent press from performing its institutional functions.” In March 2010, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi publicly threatened to jam VOA. “We have been convinced for many years that in many respects, the VOA Amharic Service has copied the worst practices of radio stations such as Radio Mille Collines of Rwanda in its wanton disregard of minimum ethics of journalism and engaging in destabilizing propaganda,” Zenawi told reporters in Addis Ababa. “We have to know before we make the decision to jam, whether we have the capacity to do it. But I assure you if they assure me at some future date that they have the capacity to jam it, I will give them the clear guideline to jam it,” he added. The government of Ethiopia has now developed a capacity to jam shortwave and satellite TV broadcasts. A few weeks ago, the Ethiopian Satellite Television issued a statement urging the government of China to stop providing technology and technical support that has enabled the Meles regime to jam its transmissions to Ethiopia. In October 2010, Human Rights Watch released a special report, Development Without Freedom: How Aid Underwrites Repressions in Ethiopia, that accused western governments of complicity in repressions by turning a blind eye to the fact that “development aid flows through, and directly supports, a virtual one-party state with a deplorable human rights record.” The Meles regime, which is a key U.S. ally in the Horn of Africa, receives over 3 billion dollars in aid annually from Western donors. One-third of the money comes from the coffers of the U.S. treasury in the form of relief and development aid. ———– Related links Removed webpage www.voanews.com/amharic/news/amh_voa_ethiopia_6_23_11-124452979.html Deleted but cached on Google http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:9KEkXuDtGoAJ:www.voanews.com/amharic/news/amh_voa_ethiopia_6_23_11-124452979.html+www.voanews.com/amharic/news/amh_voa_ethiopia_6_23_11-124452979.html&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=gmail&source=www.google.com Cached webpage JPEG (attached) http://addisvoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/VOA-deleted-page.jpg Missing page: Where is June 23? http://addisvoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/VOA-June-23-file-missing.pdf Removed news report (Amharic audio) http://addisvoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/VOA-removed-audio-file.mp3 VOA on the Road Africa http://voaontheroadafrica.tumblr.com/ —— Abebe Gellaw can be reached for comment at editor@addisvoice.com # by hildegart | 2011-07-10 00:21
Horn of Africa chief suspended over critical comments By Abebe Gellaw
July 8th, 2011 Print Print Email Email Goto comments Leave a comment The Voice of America (VOA) has been accused of censoring itself and suspending its Horn of Africa Chief, David Arnold, over fallout with the Ethiopian government. The suspension of Mr. Arnold was directly related to his comments in a news report that was broadcast on VOA Amharic service on June 23rd, informed sources told Addis Voice. Mr. Arnold was part of a seven-member delegation headed by three Board of Broadcasting Governors (BBG), Susan McCue, Dana Perino, and Michael Meehan, who met officials in Ethiopia, Nigeria and Southern Sudan from June 21 to June 28. BBG, an agency of the US government, oversees all of its civilian international broadcasts in 59 languages to an estimated weekly audience of 165 million people across the world. Arnold had revealed that the Ethiopian government demanded VOA to deny platform to its vocal critics as a precondition to cooperate with VOA. The blacklist, drawn up by the Government Communication Affairs Minister, Bereket Simon, included Prof. Pawlos Milkeas, Prof. Beyene Petros, Dr. Merera Gudina, Getachew Metaferia, Dr. Berhanu Nega, Girma Mogess, former Minister of Defense Seye Abraha and the Eritrean Minister of Information, Ali Abdou. “The list goes on,” Arnold told VOA Amharic. He had said that the mission of the BBG delegation was “to make sure that they address some of the issues in Ethiopia concerning free press because for many years the government has objected to some of our broadcasts.” He also pointed out that the BBG governors discussed with Ethiopian officials the constant jamming of Voice of America transmissions in Amharic, Oromiffa and Tigrigna. In what appears to be an unprecedented move in VOA’s history, bosses ordered the removal of the audio as well as text files of the news report in question from VOA’s website and archive pages in less than 24 hours after Ethiopian officials lodged complaints about the report on “confidential” matters, it was learn. It emerged that the meeting between the BBG delegation and Ethiopian government officials was fraught with problems and tension as Mr. Simon and his cohorts have reportedly launched a scathing attack against the media organization in a 41-page long litany of complaints about VOA broadcasts. Mr. Simon was said to have complained that the June 23rd report ruined ongoing talks. He threatened to cancel further talks with the delegation and cease any future cooperation. Before the VOA chief was suspended, he was reportedly admonished for expressing critical views and airing sensitive information without seeking clearance from the delegation. In an email sent to Addis Voice, VOA’s Director of Public Relations, David Borgida denied allegations of censorship. “VOA always strives to be accurate in its reporting. That includes material on our websites. There was a misinterpretation of what went on during a recent meeting between Ethiopian government officials and visiting BBG Governors, and so the recent item you cite, which appeared on the website of the VOA Amharic service, was taken down.” Asked to explain why VOA did not publicly issue corrections instead of deleting the whole content, Mr. Borgida declined to comment. Addis Voice also asked why the Horn of Africa chief was suspended. “”We do not comment publicly on personnel matters,” he said. When I pressed Borgida to explain if the “personal matter” included his comments contained in the news report in question, Borgida said that VOA would not give any further statements on this matter. But Addis Voice has confirmed from two reliable sources that VOA bosses were not pleased with Arnold’s comments on sensitive issues that they felt needed clearance. The renowned Ethiopian artiste Tamagne Beyene is one of first people to notice the removal of all the contents of the June 23rd VOA Amharic broadcast from the online archive page. He says that the measure taken by VOA is unjustifiable and a pure act of censorship. Tamagn asked VOA to come out of the closet and tell its listeners the truth why the news was deleted and a highly experienced staff member was suspended for reporting the truth. “This is a classic case of censorship and shooting the messenger. If this is not censorship, what else can VOA call it?” he asked. “This case of suspension and censorship has shocked so many people at VOA. Some people are wondering how a professional journalist like Arnold with over three decades of experience can be suspended and censored to assuage the anger of a dictatorial regime in Ethiopia,” said one of the sources who spoke on condition of anonymity. “Arnold only reported the truth accurately. I am personally confused to witness politics overriding the First Amendment, which is as one of the pillars of the Constitution of the United States,” the source added. “The Minister [Bereket Simon] is willing to consider any new initiatives but he is going to wait to see if we change the way we broadcast,” Arnold had said. Arnold had dismissed the demand as contrary to the mission of VOA and basic principles of free press. According to him, Simon, not only complained about the contents of VOA broadcasts but also pointed out that the Ethiopian government had problems with some of the journalists working for VOA. During the 2005 election turmoil in Ethiopia, the government charged five VOA journalists, along with local journalists and opposition leaders, with high treason. The charges were dropped in the course of the trial under pressure from the U.S. government. During their visit, the delegation posted pictures and brief accounts of their experience on a dedicated blog, VOA on the Road Africa. In Ethiopia, the delegation that included four VOA staffers including the English to Africa Chief, Sonya Laurence Green, talked to senior Ethiopian government officials on issues related to the persistent jamming of VOA its transmissions and press freedom violations. Alemayehu Gebremariam, a constitutional law attorney and professor of political science at California State University, San Bernardino, says: “Disclosure of a few names from an illegal list of names prepared by a foreign government to be blacklisted by the VOA presents no basis for legal or administrative action against him. “Telling the truth in a news broadcast is not a crime. That is what Mr. Arnold has done. Journalists are censured and punished for reporting the truth in places like Iran and Ethiopia,” he noted. Prof. Gebremariam further pointed out that the First Amendment guaranteed American citizens and inhabitants of the U.S. the absolute right to publicly criticize, denounce, condemn and berate any government institution or leader with impunity. He said: “Congress shall make no law … abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, which simply means that no government official or institution has the power to restrict, censor, suppress, restrain, muzzle or blackball any American citizen or inhabitant of the U.S. from exercising their right to free speech or restrain the independent press from performing its institutional functions.” In March 2010, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi publicly threatened to jam VOA. “We have been convinced for many years that in many respects, the VOA Amharic Service has copied the worst practices of radio stations such as Radio Mille Collines of Rwanda in its wanton disregard of minimum ethics of journalism and engaging in destabilizing propaganda,” Zenawi told reporters in Addis Ababa. “We have to know before we make the decision to jam, whether we have the capacity to do it. But I assure you if they assure me at some future date that they have the capacity to jam it, I will give them the clear guideline to jam it,” he added. The government of Ethiopia has now developed a capacity to jam shortwave and satellite TV broadcasts. A few weeks ago, the Ethiopian Satellite Television issued a statement urging the government of China to stop providing technology and technical support that has enabled the Meles regime to jam its transmissions to Ethiopia. In October 2010, Human Rights Watch released a special report, Development Without Freedom: How Aid Underwrites Repressions in Ethiopia, that accused western governments of complicity in repressions by turning a blind eye to the fact that “development aid flows through, and directly supports, a virtual one-party state with a deplorable human rights record.” The Meles regime, which is a key U.S. ally in the Horn of Africa, receives over 3 billion dollars in aid annually from Western donors. One-third of the money comes from the coffers of the U.S. treasury in the form of relief and development aid. ———– Related links Removed webpage www.voanews.com/amharic/news/amh_voa_ethiopia_6_23_11-124452979.html Deleted but cached on Google http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:9KEkXuDtGoAJ:www.voanews.com/amharic/news/amh_voa_ethiopia_6_23_11-124452979.html+www.voanews.com/amharic/news/amh_voa_ethiopia_6_23_11-124452979.html&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=gmail&source=www.google.com Cached webpage JPEG (attached) http://addisvoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/VOA-deleted-page.jpg Missing page: Where is June 23? http://addisvoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/VOA-June-23-file-missing.pdf Removed news report (Amharic audio) http://addisvoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/VOA-removed-audio-file.mp3 VOA on the Road Africa http://voaontheroadafrica.tumblr.com/ —— Abebe Gellaw can be reached for comment at editor@addisvoice.com # by hildegart | 2011-07-10 00:12
Implementation of the N Korean Human Rights Act
June 3rd, 2011 - 10:26 UTC by Andy Sennitt. Robert R King, US Special Envoy for North Korean Human Rights Issue, testified yesterday before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs on the implementation of the North Korean Human Rights Act. This is what he said about broadcasting: “Given the closed nature of North Korean society, broadcasting is one of the more effective means of sharing information about the outside world with residents of the country. To increase the flow of independent information into, out of, and within the country, the US government funds Korean-language broadcasting into North Korea by the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) and supports independent and defector-run broadcasts through the Bureau for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor. “In FY 2010, the BBG expended $8.5 million for a ten-hour-daily schedule of Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Asia (RFA) broadcasts, transmitted via shortwave and mediumwave during peak listening hours. RFA broadcasts 3.5 hours of original programming and 1.5 hours of repeat programming; VOA broadcasts four hours of original and one hour of repeat programming with daily news updates. “With the FY 2009 ESF appropriation, the Department of State provided approximately $1 million from the Human Rights and Democracy Fund to support independent broadcasts into North Korea. These broadcasts are produced by North Korean defectors, now living in South Korea, and provide news and information with a more authentically North Korean voice. “The BBG continues to explore avenues to expand broadcast capability into North Korea, and the Department of State is exploring opportunities using new media to reach North Koreans. Reports indicate that North Koreans are listening to foreign broadcasts in increasing numbers, even at serious risks to their personal safety.” (Source: US Department of State) # by hildegart | 2011-07-01 16:10
Implementation of the N Korean Human Rights Act
June 3rd, 2011 - 10:26 UTC by Andy Sennitt. Robert R King, US Special Envoy for North Korean Human Rights Issue, testified yesterday before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs on the implementation of the North Korean Human Rights Act. This is what he said about broadcasting: “Given the closed nature of North Korean society, broadcasting is one of the more effective means of sharing information about the outside world with residents of the country. To increase the flow of independent information into, out of, and within the country, the US government funds Korean-language broadcasting into North Korea by the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) and supports independent and defector-run broadcasts through the Bureau for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor. “In FY 2010, the BBG expended $8.5 million for a ten-hour-daily schedule of Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Asia (RFA) broadcasts, transmitted via shortwave and mediumwave during peak listening hours. RFA broadcasts 3.5 hours of original programming and 1.5 hours of repeat programming; VOA broadcasts four hours of original and one hour of repeat programming with daily news updates. “With the FY 2009 ESF appropriation, the Department of State provided approximately $1 million from the Human Rights and Democracy Fund to support independent broadcasts into North Korea. These broadcasts are produced by North Korean defectors, now living in South Korea, and provide news and information with a more authentically North Korean voice. “The BBG continues to explore avenues to expand broadcast capability into North Korea, and the Department of State is exploring opportunities using new media to reach North Koreans. Reports indicate that North Koreans are listening to foreign broadcasts in increasing numbers, even at serious risks to their personal safety.” (Source: US Department of State) # by hildegart | 2011-07-01 16:10
BBC Statement in response to Foreign Affairs Committee report
Date: 13.04.2011 Category: World Service The BBC today issued the following statement: The BBC welcomes the FAC's strong support for the World Service and the value it brings in promoting British values and providing a widely respected and trusted news service. It is of course for the Government and Parliament to decide on the priorities for public spending. The cuts being made to the World Service are a consequence of last autumn's Spending Review and the BBC regrets the scale and pace of cuts that have been necessary. If, in the light of the FAC report, the Government is prepared to re-open aspects of the Spending Review settlement the BBC will be pleased to engage with them constructively. We look forward to the Government's response to the Committee's recommendations. The BBC is committed to the long-term future of the World Service and hopes to reinvest when responsibility for funding transfers to the licence fee in 2014. BBC Press Office # by hildegart | 2011-06-22 21:11
BBC Statement in response to Foreign Affairs Committee report
Date: 13.04.2011 Category: World Service The BBC today issued the following statement: The BBC welcomes the FAC's strong support for the World Service and the value it brings in promoting British values and providing a widely respected and trusted news service. It is of course for the Government and Parliament to decide on the priorities for public spending. The cuts being made to the World Service are a consequence of last autumn's Spending Review and the BBC regrets the scale and pace of cuts that have been necessary. If, in the light of the FAC report, the Government is prepared to re-open aspects of the Spending Review settlement the BBC will be pleased to engage with them constructively. We look forward to the Government's response to the Committee's recommendations. The BBC is committed to the long-term future of the World Service and hopes to reinvest when responsibility for funding transfers to the licence fee in 2014. BBC Press Office # by hildegart | 2011-06-22 21:11
The New York Times
June 7, 2011 A New Voice of America for the Age of Twitter By MARK LANDLER WASHINGTON — When Walter Isaacson championed Voice of America’s decision to shut down its shortwave radio broadcasts to China — and shift those funds to the Internet, cellphones and other forms of digital media — he viewed it as the sensible updating of a propaganda playbook dating from the cold war. But nothing is simple in the world of government broadcasting. Representative Dana Rohrabacher, a California Republican and staunch critic of China, condemned the move, saying it would deprive Chinese listeners of unfiltered news. It amounted, he said, to an American retreat in the face of Beijing’s growing global influence. “Who knew shortwave in China was a land mine?” said Mr. Isaacson, a onetime head of CNN who is chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, which oversees Voice of America and its four sister networks. With the Obama administration embarking on a fundamental overhaul of Voice of America and other official broadcasters — one that seeks to adapt their traditional diplomatic missions to the era of Facebook and Twitter — Mr. Rohrabacher’s response could be a foretaste of battles to come. As part of its yearlong review, Mr. Isaacson’s board is seeking ways to streamline and modernize Voice of America and its sister networks: Radio Free Europe, Radio Free Asia, Alhurra, and Radio and TV Martí. Each service has its protectors in Congress — Cuban-American lawmakers fiercely defend Radio Martí, for example — and they are likely to view any change as a threat. “It’s going to take some tilling of the ground,” acknowledged Mr. Isaacson, who brings the perspective of both a media executive and an aspiring diplomat (he has been in line for senior jobs at the State Department). While the need for the United States to get its message across to an often hostile world is greater than ever, Mr. Isaacson said, digital technology risks turning these services into relics of a bygone era, when dissidents in closed societies huddled over their transistor radios for scraps of information from the West. To be sure, the broadcasters have made significant strides. Voice of America is inviting listeners to file reports about the uprisings in Bahrain on Facebook, while Radio Free Asia is aggressively developing technology to circumvent firewalls that the Chinese government puts up to block its transmissions. Yet in a brutal budget climate, the money for foreign broadcasting is shrinking. And the competition is relentless. In Egypt alone, 12 new commercial television channels have sprouted up since the January revolt. “It’s not the neatly defined world of the cold war,” said Robert McMahon, a former news director of Radio Free Europe, which reinvented itself after the fall of the Berlin Wall by beaming into countries like Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. “It’s a crowded, chaotic media marketplace.” Mr. Isaacson’s solution sounds like the blueprint for a state-owned CNN: create a state-of-the-art global newsroom that would gather all the programming generated by the five networks and send it out via television, the Web, social-media services, mobile phones — even shortwave, where it still makes sense. To run Voice of America, Mr. Isaacson has recruited David Ensor, a former CNN and ABC News correspondent who is finishing a stint as director of communications and public diplomacy at the American Embassy in Kabul. During his two years in Afghanistan, Mr. Ensor said, one of his biggest achievements was helping set up an Afghan company that offers SMS text messaging services. “Whether it’s Voice of America or my previous employers, CNN or ABC, they need to be on the Internet, on Flickr and on Twitter,” Mr. Ensor said by phone from Kabul, where he was packing to leave. The United States government may be the largest broadcaster that few Americans know about. Although its networks reach 100 countries in 59 languages, they are banned from distribution in the United States by a 1948 law devised to prevent the government from turning its propaganda machine on its own citizens. Mr. Issacson wants to rewrite that law, saying it is obsolete in the Internet age. In some countries, Voice of America and Radio Free Europe have iconic brand names and loyal audiences. But other, newer government broadcasters have a more checkered history. The signals of Radio and TV Martí are jammed by the Cuban government and reach few people on the island. Alhurra, an Arabic-language satellite television service started by the Bush administration in 2004 to counter the influence of Al Jazeera, has struggled to build an audience in the Middle East. It has also weathered criticism on Capitol Hill for airing the views of militant leaders from Hamas and Hezbollah. Still, officials said Alhurra had attracted record viewers and hits on its Web site during the protests in Egypt, where it was the last network to carry a live feed from Tahrir Square. And its reporters are embedded with rebel fighters in Libya. A NATO airplane is beaming broadcasts into the country. “It has attracted a sizable new audience; the question is, can it keep that audience?” said S. Enders Wimbush, chairman of Middle East Broadcasting Networks, which oversees Alhurra and its sister network, Radio Sawa. The broadcasting board is also trying to reallocate money to take account of shifting geopolitical realities. Radio and TV Martí, for example, currently soak up the lion’s share of the total Latin American broadcasting budget. Looking beyond Fidel Castro, the board wants to use Radio Martí’s studios in Miami to broadcast all over the region, said Michael Meehan, a board member. The overall budget for government broadcasting in the 2011 fiscal year is $748 million, down from $759 million last year. China is emblematic of the difficult choices. The Mandarin- and Cantonese-language shortwave broadcasts are closely identified with Voice of America; shutting them down will mean letting go up to 45 longtime employees. But officials said they reach only one-tenth of 1 percent of China’s population. Radio Free Asia — a so-called surrogate service that focuses on delivering news about China rather than the United States — will take over some of Voice of America’s better shortwave frequencies. That is important, officials said, because some jailed political dissidents do get news from the service on transistor radios. Yet “China has moved dramatically from radio to Internet,” said Libby Liu, the president of Radio Free Asia. Ms. Liu said she spends most of her time trying to figure out how to get around Chinese government firewalls that make it difficult for young people to get Radio Free Asia’s broadcasts on the Internet or their cellphones. “We have to put circumvention technology on mobile phones,” she said. “The key to reaching people electronically is breaching the firewall.” # by hildegart | 2011-06-18 16:51
Veteran CNN And Turner Broadcasting Executive Named RFE/RL President
New RFE/RL President Steven W. Korn New RFE/RL President Steven W. Korn June 03, 2011 (Washington, D.C.) Steven W. Korn, former Vice Chairman and Chief Operating Officer of CNN, has been named RFE/RL President and CEO by the board of directors of RFE/RL. In his new role, Korn will oversee RFE/RL's broadcast operations to 21 countries, including Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Russia. "Steve Korn has a tremendous track record in the international media and communications field, and his leadership and wide-ranging experience will be of enormous value to RFE/RL," said BBG Governor and RFE/RL Chairman Dennis Mulhaupt, who led the search for a new CEO. Korn will take up his duties on July 11 and will be based at RFE/RL's headquarters in Prague. "I am thrilled and humbled to have the opportunity to support RFE/RL's crucial mission," Korn said. "For 60 years, RFE has stood as an outstanding example of the power of free media, and RFE/RL's journalists continue to persevere in some of the most challenging news environments in the world today." The announcement was made today at a meeting of RFE/RL's board of directors, which consists of members of the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG). Steve Korn has a tremendous track record in the international media and communications field, and his leadership and wide-ranging experience will be of enormous value to RFE/RL. "U.S. international broadcasting is facing some tough challenges, not just from growing competition and tight budgets, but also from the increasingly sophisticated crackdown on free media in many countries around the world," said BBG Chairman Walter Isaacson. "Steve knows the news business, and his experience will be essential as we look for ways to improve the efficiencies and increase cooperation among the five networks of U.S. International Broadcasting." Korn succeeds Jeffrey Gedmin, who stepped down in March after four years as RFE/RL president. The BBG expressed its appreciation to RFE/RL Senior Vice President Michael Marchetti for his distinguished service in managing the transition period as acting CEO. Steven W. Korn served as Vice Chairman and Chief Operating Officer of CNN from 1996-2000, where he oversaw all operational, financial, technological, and other non-editorial functions for the CNN News Group on a global basis. In addition, he served on the supervisory board of German television news channel n-tv and on the board of CNN Plus, a Spanish language news service based in Madrid. Previously, Korn served as the Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary at Turner Broadcasting Systems, Inc. (TBS), where he was responsible for all legal affairs of TBS and its subsidiaries worldwide. Following his 17 years at Turner Broadcasting, he assumed the role of publisher of the Daily Report, a legal newspaper, and GC South magazine, both located in Atlanta, Georgia. Before joining Turner in 1983, he was an attorney specializing in civil litigation involving media, entertainment and telecommunications issues. Mr. Korn has extensive leadership experience as a director on a variety of public and private company boards and as a trustee for a range of leading cultural and educational not-for-profit institutions, including, Brown Shoe Company, Vassar College, SV Investment Partners and Precision IR Group. From 2000-2007, Mr. Korn served on the Board of Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) where he was Chairman of the Investment and Compensation committees and was a member of the Executive, Strategic Planning, Finance and Budget, Programming, and Presidential Search committees. Mr. Korn received a bachelor’s degree with honors from Vassar College in 1975, where he was elected Phi Beta Kappa, and a juris doctor degree from Cornell University in 1978. At Cornell, he served as chancellor of the Cornell Law School Moot Court Board and a member of the National Moot Court Team. The candidate search for this position was completed by the firm Spencer Stuart and the RFE/RL board thanked them for their outstanding efforts. About RFE/RL RFE is an independent, international news and broadcast organization whose programs -- radio, Internet and television -- reach influential audiences in 21 countries such as Russia, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan and the republics of Central Asia. It is funded by the U.S. Congress through the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG). You can follow RFE on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook. # by hildegart | 2011-06-06 23:13
Press Releases | 18.05.2011
Deutsche Welle: Changes in radio broadcasts starting this summer Increased focus on television, online and mobile services and a reduction of shortwave broadcasts. Starting July 1, 2011, Deutsche Welle (DW) will be making major changes in how and when its radio programming is broadcast in Asia and Europe, as well as German radio programming as a whole. The measures will ensure the further development of Germany’s international broadcaster to a truly multimedia organization. As stipulated in the organization’s strategic plan for 2010-2013, DW will focus on modern modules that can be integrated into partner’s FM line-ups as well as being offered as stand-alone, on-demand services for the Internet and mobile devices. DW will thereby increase the cooperation with its partners throughout the world. With the exception of Africa and parts of Asia, linear shortwave broadcasts will be discontinued due to limited usage. The resources that have been saved will be reinvested in projects for the future – especially in the development of television services with regional languages and content, as well as an increase in online and mobile services. DW will aim to use its available resources to offer two TV channels per region. This will give viewers the opportunity to choose between a channel with predominantly German programming and a channel with a focus on one of the regional languages – English, Spanish or Arabic. In the future, DW will work with partner stations in Central and Southeast Europe to broadcast regional TV magazines and produce online services – each in the regional language. Starting July 1, 2011, the FM services for Bulgarian, Greek, Croatian, Macedonian and Romanian will be reduced and eventually discontinued. The frequencies that were purchased or rented in Sofia, Bucharest, Pristina and Tirana will be returned, as well as the corresponding licenses. The FM broadcasts for Albanian, Bosnian and Serbian will be reduced. In the future, these services will focus on selected partnerships with local FM stations. A service in Romani will be maintained for the time being. For Ukraine, DW is currently examining whether or not an agreement can be made with a partner to broadcast a reduced amount of FM radio programming that has been tailored to fit their needs. Radio programming for Hindi will be discontinued on July 1. Reduction of shortwave On November 1, 2011, DW will be discontinuing the shortwave broadcast for German, Russian, Farsi and Indonesian. For English, the shortwave broadcast will be limited to Africa. The broadcasting times for Chinese programming will be reduced from 120 minutes to 60 minutes. For these languages, DW will also be increasing the online and mobile services as well as video-on-demand and audio-on-demand. The portfolio will also include audio productions for rebroadcast by partners (when applicable). Starting in November, DW will only be broadcasting radio programming via shortwave in the following languages: Amharic, Chinese, Dari, English and French for Africa, Hausa, Kiswahili, Pashtu, Portuguese for Africa and Urdu. Closing of relay stations The shortwave program currently broadcasts 260 hours daily with DW’s own or rented relay stations – with the new focus on Africa and regions in Asia that will be reduced to just 55 at the beginning of the winter season. Only the relay station in Kigali (Rwanda) will be needed for shortwave broadcasts in Africa. The stations in Trincomalee (Sri Lanka) und Sines (Portugal) can no longer be used to capacity. The financial operation is no longer possible and the relay stations will stop being used on November 1, 2011 and closed at the next possible point in time. With the reduction of rental prices and the closing of the two relay stations, DW will be able to save resources that can be reinvested in the further development of its services. Development of FM broadcasts with partners DW will continue to expand its network of FM partners in Africa. The radio production for Hausa, Kiswahili, French and Portuguese for Africa will be optimized for FM broadcasts step by step. DW will also produce a regional radio magazine daily in English, to be rebroadcast by partners in Africa. Audio content in Arabic will be created for the Middle East and North Africa and distributed online, via mobile or rebroadcast by partners. DW will focus on FM partnerships for Bengali, Urdu, Dari/Pashtu und Indonesian for South Asia, India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. A decision will be made about the future of these partnerships in accordance with the budget situation and following the evaluation results. Strategic plan for 2010 to 2013 The German Bundestag approved DW’s strategic plan in April 2011 with an overwhelming majority. The core of the plan is the multimedia orientation of the broadcaster, the focus on major tasks and target regions with regards to the budgetary issues. The new strategic direction ensures that DW is prepared for the changing conditions of international media markets: Services for certain languages and regions will be reinforced to secure DW’s competitive position in the future. The focus for the coming years will be on Sub-Sahara Africa, the Middle East, Iran and North Africa, South Asia and Afghanistan, Russia and Latin America. Due to the limited budget, the development of services will only be possible when activities are reduced somewhere else. In the area of television, DW will work more closely together with the German public broadcasters ARD and ZDF and develop regionalized TV programming with selected partners. For many areas around the world, it will be necessary to further development online and mobile services in order to reach DW’s target audience better: Individuals who are interested in diverse perspectives and use a large amount and variety of media resources. That especially includes opinion leaders and future opinion leaders as well as people who lobby for democracy, freedom and progress in authoritarian countries and thereby strengthen the civil society. # by hildegart | 2011-05-20 15:13
BBC World Service to sign funding deal with US state department
Low six-figure investment will aim to help combat censorship of TV and internet services in countries including Iran and China Customers in an internet cafe in Changzhi, China. Customers in an internet cafe in Changzhi, China. The US government's investment is intended to help people circumnavigate state censorship. Photograph: Reuters The BBC World Service is to receive a "significant" sum of money from the US government to help combat the blocking of TV and internet services in countries including Iran and China. In what the BBC said is the first deal of its kind, an agreement is expected to be signed later this month that will see US state department money – understood to be a low six-figure sum – given to the World Service to invest in developing anti-jamming technology and software. The funding is also expected to be used to educate people in countries with state censorship in how to circumnavigate the blocking of internet and TV services. It is understood the US government has decided the reach of the World Service is such that it makes investment worthwhile. The US government money comes as the World Service faces a 16% cut in its annual grant from the Foreign Office – a £46m reduction in its £236.7m budget over three years that will lead to about 650 job cuts. The money will be channelled through the World Service's charitable arm, the World Service Trust. The deal, which is expected to be formally announced on International Press Freedom Day, 3 May, follows an increase in incidents of interference with World Service output across the globe, according to its controller of strategy and business, Jim Egan. BBC Persian television, which launched in early 2009 and airs in Iran and its neighbouring countries, has experienced numerous instances of jamming. The BBC Arabic TV news service has also been jammed in recent weeks across various parts of north Africa during the recent uprisings in Egypt and Libya. "Governments who have an interest in denying people information particularly at times of tension and upheaval are keen to do this and it is a particular problem now," said Egan. Another area in which the BBC World Service is expected to use the US money is continuing its development of early warning software. This will allow it to detect jamming sooner than it does currently where it relies on reports from users on the ground. "Software like this helps monitor dips in traffic which act as an early warning of jamming, and it can be more effective than relying on people contacting us and telling us they cannot access the services," said Egan. The BBC also expects to use state department money to help combat internet censorship by establishing proxy servers that give the impression a computer located in one country is in fact operating in another, thereby circumnavigating attempts by repressive governments to block websites. "China has become quite expert at blocking websites and one could say it has become something of an export industry for them – a lot of countries are keen to follow suit," said Egan. "We have evidence of Libya and Egypt blocking the internet and satellite signals in recent weeks." Egan added that the battle against jamming is likely to be an ongoing one because repressive countries are likely to develop methods to counter any anti-censorship technology that is developed. "It is a bit of a game of cat and mouse," said a BBC source. • To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email editor@mediaguardian.co.uk or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication". # by hildegart | 2011-03-26 15:44
VOA radio broadcasts to China signing off, while Beijing boosts propaganda
Critics point out Sino-cast expansion **FILE** President Obama looks on as Chinese President Hu Jintao speaks during a Jan. 19 news conference in the East Room of the White House. (Associated Press)**FILE** President Obama looks on as Chinese President Hu Jintao speaks during a Jan. 19 news conference in the East Room of the White House. (Associated Press) By Bill Gertz - The Washington Times 10:06 p.m., Tuesday, February 15, 2011 The Obama administration will cancel shortwave radio broadcasts by Voice of America into China this year, as Beijing is expanding its propaganda operations in the United States and around the world. Critics of the broadcasting cuts, announced Monday, said major reductions in staff and shortwave broadcasts will sharply curtail an important outlet for unfiltered news and information for large numbers of people in China, especially areas such as Tibet and western Xinjiang province, where pro-democracy forces are opposing Chinese rule. "This is another alarming sign that America is cowering before China's gangster regime," said Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, California Republican and member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. "The Chinese people are our greatest allies, and the free flow of information is our greatest weapon." The cuts were outlined as a cost-cutting measure in the fiscal 2012 budget report of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, VOA's parent agency. The plan calls for shifting the focus from shortwave to digital media, such as Internet broadcasts. The plan was announced at a recent meeting of China branch employees by VOA Director Dan Austin, who said he supports the administration plan, despite opposition within the unit. If Congress approves the plan, all shortwave VOA radio and television broadcasts in Chinese, under way since 1942, will end on Oct. 1. The U.S. government will continue to operate Radio Free Asia, a less official and smaller news operation that will continue broadcasts into China and other closed states in Asia. It also is facing budget cuts that officials say will limit its effectiveness. However, Voice of America has a much wider audience and larger reach that will be sharply curtailed by the shift to the Internet because many Chinese in rural areas or regions facing central government punishment do not have access to the Internet or cell phones. "This cut will send a very wrong message to China," said an administration official close to VOA. "By eliminating all VOA radio and TV broadcasts to China, the United States will remove one of the most important sources of unfiltered news broadcasting into China." A second administration official familiar with internal discussions on the issue said one reason for the cuts was the Chinese government's refusal to assist U.S. broadcasts in China by providing affiliates to rebroadcast programs through AM and FM radio. That refusal came as China is about to launch 60 U.S. affiliates for its propaganda broadcasts here. China's CCTV state television also is widely available on U.S. cable television networks. According to the second official, the State Department refused to pressure China to permit U.S. radio affiliates over concerns that Beijing would cancel exchanges for U.S. academics. Former Broadcast Board of Governors member Blanquita Cullum said now is not the time to limit broadcasts into closed societies like communist China. "When it comes to pro-democracy broadcasting to the world and with events like Egypt happening, this is not the time to retreat," she said. "This is the time to advance and reach out with more broadcasting." Internet-only broadcasting will prevent millions of Chinese from getting news and information, especially those in restricted areas. "Our broadcasts must not only be focused only on the elites but should target the masses who are protesting against the elites," Ms. Cullum said. Officials said internal Broadcasting Board of Governors surveys have shown the number of VOA listeners in China is greater than both Radio Free Asia and the British Broadcasting Corp. combined. "During Uighur unrest in July 2009, VOA reporters were told by interviewees that the audience got their information via radio because there was no Internet access and phone lines were cut off," the firstofficial said, referring to a pro-democracy uprising by a Turkic ethnic group in western Xinjiang province. The plan to cut VOA China broadcasts follows the recent state visit to the United States by Chinese President Hu Jintao. Some officials say the VOA cuts were a concession to China to alleviate Beijing's decades-long jamming of VOA radio signals. "The ironic thing is that VOA's shortwave broadcasts into China are much more difficult and labor-intensive to jam than VOA's digital, social media and satellite broadcasts," said John J. Tkacik Jr., a former State Department China specialist. "The Egypt demonstrations were organized via text messaging and Facebook, but those media are very tightly monitored and censored in China," he said. "So I'm not sure it makes much sense for VOA to divert all its efforts into social and digital media." Mr. Tkacik said the Broadcasting Board of Governors is cutting U.S. programs to the world's largest potential market at a time when Beijing is expanding its propaganda footprint in the United States. It also comes as the BBC and Taiwanese government broadcasts to China are being cut. Board spokeswoman Letitia King said the cuts are part of a budget review and that broadcasting would continue through Radio Free Asia. VOA's China branch will focus solely on Web operations and mobile-phone operations, she said. As for Internet blocking by China, Ms. King said, "We understand that China censors, and we are the leaders in anti-censorship and censorship circumvention." Board member S. Enders Wimbush said in an interview that the cuts were made after surveys showed a sharp decline in shortwave radio listeners in China, except in certain regions. "That said, we're perfectly aware that we want to maintain a shortwave foothold and what we've done is taken VOA frequencies and time slots and consolidated them into Radio Free Asia," he said. "We haven't stopped broadcasting to China, we've just recalibrated the broadcasts." The broadcasting board's budget report, made public Monday, said the agency will save up to $8 million from its $767 million request by "realigning its transmission network and resources for broadcasts to China." "Research indicates that China has the second-largest number of Internet users in the world - trailing only the United States and, despite blocking by the Chinese government, many survey respondents access BBG websites through proxy servers," the report said. The cuts include the dismissal of 45 Chinese broadcasters, 38 from the Mandarin language service and all Cantonese broadcasters. The current staff in the Mandarin service is 69 people. A third administration official involved in Asian radio broadcasts said shortwave radio remains an important tool to reach Asia's information-deprived audiences. In Tibet and western Xinjiang province, where ethnic Uighurs are opposing Chinese rule, "shortwave is a lifeline to those who are cut off from all but the official media," this official said. Shortwave listeners are not as numerous as Web users, "but those who are limited to shortwave still represent millions of highly motivated information seekers," the official said. In Xinjiang, the government shut off Internet and cell-phone links during and after the protests from July 2009 to April 2010. "Throughout China, Beijing puts millions of dollars into jamming shortwave signals to keep stories about a dissident talking about nonviolent dissent, the Dalai Lama discussing the real situation in Tibet or growing protests throughout China by those who have been displaced by government malfeasance," the official said. VOA broadcasts to China began in 1942. The change will affect more than 90 hours of radio and television programs in Chinese every week through a dozen radio and television affiliates in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Last year, China's state-controlled news agency Xinhua began an English-language television service operating 24 hours as part of what officials say is an effort to expand the communist government's media influence abroad. "China has appropriated $7 billion on international propaganda in the past two years," said the first official who is close to VOA. "In 2011, CCTV [state television] North America in Washington, D.C., plans to increase its reporters from 12 to 20 people. Meanwhile, VOA Chinese staff will be cut over 50 percent." © Copyright 2011 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission. # by hildegart | 2011-03-26 15:34
25 March 2011 Last updated at 15:07 GMT
BBC Chinese Service makes final broadcast in Mandarin By Vivien Marsh BBC World Service Asia-Pacific editor BBC broadcast from Bush House To a country starved of information, BBC Chinese carried news from inside and outside China Continue reading the main story Related Stories * BBC closes its Caribbean Service * BBC Russian radio hits off switch * BBC confirms World Service cuts The BBC Chinese Service has made its final radio broadcast in Mandarin after nearly 70 years. Shortwave programming in Mandarin is a casualty of spending cuts announced by the BBC World Service in January. From now on, Mandarin-speakers will be served only by the BBC's Chinese-language websites; a weekly radio broadcast in Cantonese will continue. BBC managers say they have had to make tough choices because of a 16% cut in UK government funding. BBC World Service Mandarin programming began back in 1941, pre-dating by eight years the proclamation of the People's Republic of China. Listening in secret To a country starved of information, BBC Chinese carried news from inside and outside China - most notably of the Vietnam War and Mao Zedong's Cultural Revolution in the 1960s and 1970s. In June 1989, with the world's attention on the democracy protests in China, more and more Chinese tuned in. Joseph Ren, who began working for the Chinese service in 1970, said the broadcasts were very important. "Via our letter-boxes in south-east Asia, we got a lot of letters, so we knew that they were listening to us. "They could hardly get any news about the world, and hardly anything about the rest of China, so they listened to us in secret just to understand the world and understand China itself." Chinese sailors were avid listeners, carrying home what they had gleaned from the transmissions from London. But with leader Deng Xiaoping's economic reforms in the 1980s, China began opening up. Later, the internet delivered new ways to serve those hungry for global news. Anxious to control their citizens' access, the Chinese authorities built what is known as the Great Firewall, blocking many foreign news sites - including that of BBC Chinese. The head of the Chinese service, Raymond Li, believes China's Mandarin-speakers will still be adequately served by the BBC. "You need a bit of effort, but having said that, a lot of people as far as I know actually are using what they call proxy servers or proxy sites. "It's not ideal. But then of course, away from online, actually we know the mobile technology has taken up. A lot of people in China are increasingly using mobile phones to access foreign media websites." So for the BBC, the future is digital. And also, it seems, for the Voice of America, funded by the US government. It, too, plans to shift Mandarin to a web-only service. The English-language version of one of China's largest papers, the Global Times, called it the "end of an era". The Western broadcasters contend they have simply moved with the times. Related Stories * BBC closes its Caribbean Service 25 MARCH 2011, LATIN AMERICA & CARIBBEAN * BBC Russian radio hits off switch 23 MARCH 2011, EUROPE * BBC confirms World Service cuts 26 JANUARY 2011, ENTERTAINMENT & ARTS # by hildegart | 2011-03-26 15:07
中国上空に真実の窓を 「希望の声」ラジオ局放送拡大へ
【大紀元日本3月1日】情報統制という壁に囲まれる中国人にとって、アンテナから拾う短波ラジオの電波は時には真実を知る唯一の手段である。その電波の２大柱となっていた米VOAと英BBCが相次いで中国の上空から撤退しようとする中、在米中国人による「希望の声」ラジオはこのほど、その放送をさらに拡大し、中国当局が封鎖するニュースを引き続き報道していく姿勢を示した。 サンフランシスコに本部を置く「希望の声」ラジオは２００４年から中国向け短波放送を始めている。当初毎日２時間だった放送も、いまでは毎日平均２０時間にまで拡大している。同ラジオの年間制作番組数は２万超で、民間資本では最大の中国向けラジオ放送局である。 同ラジオの曾勇・総裁は短波放送の拡大について、「中国のような不均衡な発展模式をとりながら、厳しい情報規制を課している国に対して、真実を短波に載せて広く伝えることはわれわれの希望で使命である」と述べ、BBCやVOAの対中国ラジオ放送の中止は「早すぎる」と、遺憾の意を示した。 短波ラジオの意義について同総裁はさらに、「専制政権の中国では、メディアによる世論の監督作用が果たされていないため、人々はいっそう中立の真実の情報を渇望している」と述べた。また、インターネットの普及率も人口の三分の一に留まっており、５０代以上の年齢層や、農村と中小都市の住民、出稼ぎ労働者などのグループにとって、短波ラジオ放送は依然として情報取得の重要手段であると指摘。インターネットへの妨害が恣意になされている中国では、「情報提供ルートの多様化は重要不可欠であり、対中国ラジオ放送はむしろ増やすべきだ」などと語った。 同総裁はまた、国際社会に対し、中国のインターネット、短波ラジオ放送、衛星テレビ放送などの情報提供手段への投資を呼びかけた。「国際社会に本当に使命感を持ち、長い目で事態を見ることができるならば、中国の民衆の需要に耳を傾けるべきだ」として、多種多様な情報提供こそ「中国という国を良い方向に導くための有効な手段である」と訴えた。 VOAの放送停止は米中首脳会談で決めたことか 「希望の声」が強まるなかで、消えそうなVOAも注目されている。６０年の中国向け短波放送の歴史を持つ同ラジオは、中国国民に当局の検閲で知らされないニュースを提供する役割を果たしてきた。中国の情報封鎖や世界へ向けてのイデオロギーの輸出が際立っているなか、同放送の撤退方針を発表した米当局に対し、議会から「米国が中国の無法政権におびえた証拠だ」との反対論が出ている。 また、VOAの中国向け放送停止の方針は胡錦濤・主席が１月にアメリカを訪問した後に出されており、中国国営新華社もVOAの放送停止のニュースを報道するとき、背景の写真は胡主席とオバマ大統領がホワイトハウスで握手を交わすシーンだった。ラジオ・フランス・インターナショナル（RFI）の中国語部元主任・呉葆璋氏は、「VOAの中国語放送停止は米中両国首脳の会談で決めたこと、と新華社は誇示したかったのではないか」と分析した。 在米経済学者の何清漣氏もVOAやBBCの放送停止は「中国当局にコントロールされていない、中国語自由報道の最後の領域を自ら放棄してしている」と批判し、「世界の民主化事業の推進に害をもたらす」と、憂慮を示した。 （翻訳編集・叶子） (11/03/01 08:23) # by hildegart | 2011-03-04 18:03
FY 2012 Budget Request for the Broadcasting Board of Governors
February 14,2011 | Washington, DC The President’s budget request for Fiscal Year 2012, sent to the Congress today, includes $767 million for the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), an increase of 2.5 percent from the FY 2011 full year Continuing Resolution level. The proposed funding reflects the importance of ongoing U.S. international broadcasting to critical audiences as well as technical infrastructure to support modern multimedia operations. “The BBG is continuing to modernize across a range of communications platforms to be effective in the 21st century media environment,” said Walter Isaacson, Chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors. “As we continue our strategic review of U.S. international broadcasting, we will be seeking to introduce greater innovations and improvements in order to meet the challenges of our mission.” The FY 2012 budget request continues to fund the operations of the BBG networks of the Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio and TV Marti, Radio Free Asia, and the Middle East Broadcasting Networks (Alhurra TV and Radio Sawa), which distribute programming via radio, TV, the Internet, and an increasing array of new media to over 100 countries. Through its global transmission network, the BBG delivers news to countries without independent media, engages audiences and promotes dialogue through interactive programs, reaches people in conflict and crisis, and combats Internet censorship. The FY 2012 budget request supports ongoing programming as well as funding to: * enhance the Agency’s global satellite transmission infrastructure, * initiate a global news-sharing network, * roll out new media technologies across the Agency, * ensure broadcast disaster recovery capabilities, and * expand efforts to move VOA to an all-digital broadcast platform The FY 2012 budget request proposes a number of reductions. They include: restructuring broadcasting to China by realigning resources to implement a cost-effective and market-specific strategy; eliminating VOA broadcasts to Croatia; optimizing the BBG’s worldwide transmission network; and finding efficiencies within current operations. Further detail on the requested BBG budget is available here. # by hildegart | 2011-03-01 17:35
Welcoming the end to VOA's Chinese broadcasts
Updated: 2011-02-18 10:51 By Chen Weihua (China Daily) Voice of America's announcement that it would pull the plug on its Chinese language radio broadcast in October was a decision made by the US Broadcasting Board of Governors, VOA's parent company, out of budget concerns. However, it is a ruling that has evolved with time despite regrets and protests these days among some in Washington. Established in 1942 during World War II under the Office of War Information, VOA had its heyday in the Cold War years under the State Department when communication and information flow between the East and West was molasses. Now that more than 20 years have lapsed since the end of the Cold War, the world is obviously different. China and the United States have not only set up diplomatic ties, their exchanges are overwhelming in almost every aspect, spanning the fields of government, business and academia. There's also a significant people-to-people relationship. Every day about 7,000 to 8,000 people travel between the two countries, totaling more than 3 million a year. Around 120,000 Chinese students are studying in the US while more than 20,000 American students are studying in China. The number of Chinese Internet users has exceeded 420 million and that figure is growing fast. In many hotels and foreign language bookstores, Western publications, such as Time, Newsweek, the International Herald Tribune and the Financial Times, are readily available. Many in China find it cheaper and more efficient to read them online. That has not included many Chinese who watch Western television, such as CNN and BBC, via satellite, legally or illegally. The Chinese news media has also become more sophisticated and diversified. Despite the fact that there is still much to be desired in China's news media, progress has been phenomenal over the past three decades. At an Asia Society seminar in New York last month, former deputy assistant secretary of state Susan Shirk, Columbia University law professor Benjamin Liebman and Barnard College professor Yang Guobin all talked positively about the new media's role in transforming the Chinese society. VOA, a product designed for countries with little communication and interaction, no longer makes much sense in this context. The US taxpayers' money could also be better spent, such as sending more American students to China. The same is true with the BBC World Service, which announced it would end several of its foreign language broadcasts, including Chinese. VOA's bias is obvious. Ironically, the US Information and Educational Exchange Act of 1948, better known as the Smith-Mundt Act, forbids VOA to broadcast directly to American citizens. The legislation, an attempt to protect the American public from propaganda actions by its own government, speaks much of VOA's credibility. It also raises the question of why some people believe that information harmful to Americans is going to be good to Chinese or other nationalities, especially in a global village with numerous other instant sources of information. At a time when misunderstandings and misperceptions between China and the US still abound, what is truly needed between China and the US is a radio or other news outlet that focuses on facilitating understanding between the two nations. What is also needed is more representation from the developing world, such as China, Brazil, India and the Middle East in a global news media market now dominated by American and European companies. For VOA and the BBC World Service, time has come for them to sign off on their Chinese language broadcasts. The author is deputy editor of China Daily USA. He can be reached at chenweihua@chinadaily.com.cn. (China Daily 02/18/2011 page11) # by hildegart | 2011-02-19 22:40
VOA radio broadcasts to China signing off, while Beijing boosts propaganda
Critics point out Sino-cast expansion * By Bill Gertz - The Washington Times 10:06 p.m., Tuesday, February 15, 2011 The Obama administration will cancel shortwave radio broadcasts by Voice of America into China this year, as Beijing is expanding its propaganda operations in the United States and around the world. Critics of the broadcasting cuts, announced Monday, said major reductions in staff and shortwave broadcasts will sharply curtail an important outlet for unfiltered news and information for large numbers of people in China, especially areas such as Tibet and western Xinjiang province, where pro-democracy forces are opposing Chinese rule. "This is another alarming sign that America is cowering before China's gangster regime," said Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, California Republican and member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. "The Chinese people are our greatest allies, and the free flow of information is our greatest weapon." The cuts were outlined as a cost-cutting measure in the fiscal 2012 budget report of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, VOA's parent agency. The plan calls for shifting the focus from shortwave to digital media, such as Internet broadcasts. The plan was announced at a recent meeting of China branch employees by VOA Director Dan Austin, who said he supports the administration plan, despite opposition within the unit. If Congress approves the plan, all shortwave VOA radio and television broadcasts in Chinese, under way since 1942, will end on Oct. 1. The U.S. government will continue to operate Radio Free Asia, a less official and smaller news operation that will continue broadcasts into China and other closed states in Asia. It also is facing budget cuts that officials say will limit its effectiveness. However, Voice of America has a much wider audience and larger reach that will be sharply curtailed by the shift to the Internet because many Chinese in rural areas or regions facing central government punishment do not have access to the Internet or cell phones. "This cut will send a very wrong message to China," said an administration official close to VOA. "By eliminating all VOA radio and TV broadcasts to China, the United States will remove one of the most important sources of unfiltered news broadcasting into China." A second administration official familiar with internal discussions on the issue said one reason for the cuts was the Chinese government's refusal to assist U.S. broadcasts in China by providing affiliates to rebroadcast programs through AM and FM radio. That refusal came as China is about to launch 60 U.S. affiliates for its propaganda broadcasts here. China's CCTV state television also is widely available on U.S. cable television networks. According to the second official, the State Department refused to pressure China to permit U.S. radio affiliates over concerns that Beijing would cancel exchanges for U.S. academics. Former Broadcast Board of Governors member Blanquita Cullum said now is not the time to limit broadcasts into closed societies like communist China. "When it comes to pro-democracy broadcasting to the world and with events like Egypt happening, this is not the time to retreat," she said. "This is the time to advance and reach out with more broadcasting." Internet-only broadcasting will prevent millions of Chinese from getting news and information, especially those in restricted areas. "Our broadcasts must not only be focused only on the elites but should target the masses who are protesting against the elites," Ms. Cullum said. Officials said internal Broadcasting Board of Governors surveys have shown the number of VOA listeners in China is greater than both Radio Free Asia and the British Broadcasting Corp. combined. "During Uighur unrest in July 2009, VOA reporters were told by interviewees that the audience got their information via radio because there was no Internet access and phone lines were cut off," the firstofficial said, referring to a pro-democracy uprising by a Turkic ethnic group in western Xinjiang province. The plan to cut VOA China broadcasts follows the recent state visit to the United States by Chinese President Hu Jintao. Some officials say the VOA cuts were a concession to China to alleviate Beijing's decades-long jamming of VOA radio signals. "The ironic thing is that VOA's shortwave broadcasts into China are much more difficult and labor-intensive to jam than VOA's digital, social media and satellite broadcasts," said John J. Tkacik Jr., a former State Department China specialist. "The Egypt demonstrations were organized via text messaging and Facebook, but those media are very tightly monitored and censored in China," he said. "So I'm not sure it makes much sense for VOA to divert all its efforts into social and digital media." Mr. Tkacik said the Broadcasting Board of Governors is cutting U.S. programs to the world's largest potential market at a time when Beijing is expanding its propaganda footprint in the United States. It also comes as the BBC and Taiwanese government broadcasts to China are being cut. Board spokeswoman Letitia King said the cuts are part of a budget review and that broadcasting would continue through Radio Free Asia. VOA's China branch will focus solely on Web operations and mobile-phone operations, she said. As for Internet blocking by China, Ms. King said, "We understand that China censors, and we are the leaders in anti-censorship and censorship circumvention." Board member S. Enders Wimbush said in an interview that the cuts were made after surveys showed a sharp decline in shortwave radio listeners in China, except in certain regions. "That said, we're perfectly aware that we want to maintain a shortwave foothold and what we've done is taken VOA frequencies and time slots and consolidated them into Radio Free Asia," he said. "We haven't stopped broadcasting to China, we've just recalibrated the broadcasts." The broadcasting board's budget report, made public Monday, said the agency will save up to $8 million from its $767 million request by "realigning its transmission network and resources for broadcasts to China." "Research indicates that China has the second-largest number of Internet users in the world - trailing only the United States and, despite blocking by the Chinese government, many survey respondents access BBG websites through proxy servers," the report said. The cuts include the dismissal of 45 Chinese broadcasters, 38 from the Mandarin language service and all Cantonese broadcasters. The current staff in the Mandarin service is 69 people. A third administration official involved in Asian radio broadcasts said shortwave radio remains an important tool to reach Asia's information-deprived audiences. In Tibet and western Xinjiang province, where ethnic Uighurs are opposing Chinese rule, "shortwave is a lifeline to those who are cut off from all but the official media," this official said. Shortwave listeners are not as numerous as Web users, "but those who are limited to shortwave still represent millions of highly motivated information seekers," the official said. In Xinjiang, the government shut off Internet and cell-phone links during and after the protests from July 2009 to April 2010. "Throughout China, Beijing puts millions of dollars into jamming shortwave signals to keep stories about a dissident talking about nonviolent dissent, the Dalai Lama discussing the real situation in Tibet or growing protests throughout China by those who have been displaced by government malfeasance," the official said. VOA broadcasts to China began in 1942. The change will affect more than 90 hours of radio and television programs in Chinese every week through a dozen radio and television affiliates in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Last year, China's state-controlled news agency Xinhua began an English-language television service operating 24 hours as part of what officials say is an effort to expand the communist government's media influence abroad. "China has appropriated $7 billion on international propaganda in the past two years," said the first official who is close to VOA. "In 2011, CCTV [state television] North America in Washington, D.C., plans to increase its reporters from 12 to 20 people. Meanwhile, VOA Chinese staff will be cut over 50 percent." © Copyright 2011 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission. # by hildegart | 2011-02-19 15:57
VOA, BBC scale back Chinese-language services
* Source: Global Times * [08:13 February 17 2011] * Comments By Zhu Shanshan Voice of America (VOA) is to scale back its Chinese service later this year, following a similar proposal by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), as the Western media landscape is swept by a tsunami of budget cuts. The Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), which supervises all US government-supported, civilian international broadcasting, proposed to cut VOA's radio and television programs in China that began in 1942, a move the board said could save up to $8 million. Short-wave radio broadcasts in Chinese Mandarin and Cantonese, as well as Cantonese television programs and a website, will be closed October 1, according to the budget submitted to the US Congress. The move would also mean laying off 45 staff, according to the Central News Agency in Taiwan. The content resources will be diverted to Radio Free Asia (RFA), a smaller news broadcaster that is also supported by the US government. "As VOA shifts delivery of Mandarin content to the Web and other new media, the BBG will strategically consolidate the network's shortwave transmissions to ensure availability of peak listening hours for RFA Mandarin," BBG said. An RFA staff member in Hong Kong, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed to the Global Times Wednesday that content resources would be channeled to reinforce RFA, but that little action had taken place so far. S. Enders Wimbush, a member of the BBG, said the decision was made after surveys showed a sharp decline in short-wave radio listeners in China, according to a Washington Post report. "We're perfectly aware that we want to maintain a short-wave foothold, and what we've done is take VOA frequencies and time slots and consolidated them into Radio Free Asia," Wimbush said. "We haven't stopped broadcasting to China. We've just recalibrated the broadcasts." An article on the BBG website also says part of the fiscal year 2012 plan is to "expand efforts to move VOA to an all-digital broadcast platform." Critics in the US slammed the decision, claiming that the move will "prevent people from getting unfiltered news and information." However, Chinese media analysts claimed that VOA is a government-funded propaganda tool of the US. Qiao Mu, director of the International Communication Studies Center at Beijing Foreign Studies University, told the Global Times that shutdown the VOA's Chinese service does not signify a downturn in communicating Washington's values, it is simply a structural adjustment made to dedicate more resources to new media. In contrast with the Western decline of media operations, China has been more aggressive in reaching out to the world as media communications still remain underdeveloped here, Qiao said. "There is huge space for the media, including traditional media outlets, to thrive for a long time in China." The VOA cut came on the heels of the BBC's decision in January to close five of its language services, including Chinese Mandarin radio programing. This will cut up to 650 jobs, about a quarter of all jobs at the BBC World Service, after it was ordered to save 46 million pounds ($74 million) in annual costs by the Conservative-led government. Chen Weixing, a vice dean of the International Communication School at the Communication University of China, told the Global Times that this move is but another piece of evidence showing how new media is overtaking traditional media platforms. Meanwhile, in an effort to make Chinese voices heard globally, a multi-billion-dollar program is reportedly underway to strengthen its media presence. The Xinhua News Agency has launched a 24-hour English language news channel, CNC World, which will provide services in other foreign languages. China Central Television (CCTV), the country's biggest State-run television station, is planning to launch an international channel in Portuguese this year, adding to its broadcasting in Chinese, English, French, Arabic and Russian, and it will have 11 international channels by 2012. "China has become the focus of the world, as the country is now in the middle of a great transition and plenty of significant events take place here. There is a need for it to present itself to the world," Qiao said. Song Shengxia contributed to this story # by hildegart | 2011-02-19 15:54
VOA & BBC signing off in China spells doom
* Source: Global Times * [08:05 February 17 2011] * Comments Voice of America (VOA) and British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), two broadcasters carrying strong ideological labels, are gradually being phased out of China, signaling the end of an era. It is reported that VOA will cancel its Chinese broadcasts this year. This followed the announcement just last month that the BBC was significantly cutting its Chinese-language service. The cut demonstrates a blow to the ideological campaign that certain countries have waged for over half a century. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, California Republican, whined that the US is cowing before China, "The Chinese people are our greatest allies, and the free flow of information is our greatest weapon." The US has long been good at using propaganda while maintaining its military strategy. VOA started its service in 1942 and has enjoyed a generous budget from the US government. But Rohrabacher overestimated the effect of VOA in winning the hearts and minds of Chinese audiences. Even in its heyday, foreign broadcasters did not dominate Chinese mainstream thinking, though indeed, there were times when foreign broadcasters provided additional sources for those Chinese eager to learn more about current affairs. They were able to break news much earlier than domestic news media. The invasion that foreign broadcasters made in China was more a result of the information seclusion of China in its old days. It was also a symbol when hostility between East and the West was at its highest. VOA and BBC did cultivate a large number of followers among Chinese English learners. With limited access to learning material, VOA's Special English and BBC news became favorite programs among English learners. A short-wave radio became a must-have for English majors. Those days are now gone. As China has integrated into the world, and the people have accessed more multi-sourced and multi-dimensional information, they now make their own judgments. During the process, domestic media platforms have grown with comparable influence. The Chinese service of VOA and BBC are heading toward an inevitable fall. In addition to competition from other media, they are being marginalized due to their biased and unprofessional reporting. As tremendous changes have happened in China, their coverage has been persistently negative, which has increasingly turned away Chinese audiences. Their Chinese service is coming to a historical end, with their mission unfinished. # by hildegart | 2011-02-19 15:50
Critics decry axing of Mandarin-language VOA service
BEIJING BONUS?：A congressional staffer said that the decision by VOA to end its broadcasts into China is a major propaganda victory for the Chinese authorities By William Lowther and J. Michael Cole / Staff reporters in WASHINGTON and Taipei Fri, Feb 18, 2011 - Page 3 Despite growing protests, the US government’s Voice of America (VOA) broadcasting system is determined to go ahead with budget cutting plans and cancel shortwave radio broadcasts into China. “This is another alarming sign that America is cowering before China’s gangster regime,” Representative Dana Rohrabacher said. “The Chinese people are our greatest allies and the free flow of information is our greatest weapon,” said Rohrabacher, a Republican and member of the House of Representatives’ Foreign Affairs Committee. To save about US$8 million, VOA is firing 45 of its 69 Chinese-speaking journalists and as of October next year will stop all of its radio and TV programs aimed at China. Instead, it will expand Internet and other digital media efforts — especially mobile-phone operations — to get uncensored news into China. Sources say that there is enormous opposition to the plan within VOA and the conservative Washington Times has quoted an unnamed US government official as saying that in Tibet and Xinjiang, “shortwave is a lifeline to those who are cut off from all but the official media.” “Those who are limited to shortwave still represent millions of highly motivated information seekers,” the official said. “Beijing puts millions of dollars into jamming shortwave signals to keep out stories about a dissident talking about nonviolent dissent, the Dalai Lama discussing the real situation in Tibet or growing protests throughout China by those who have been displaced by government malfeasance,” he said. At the same time, China is greatly expanding its own propaganda broadcasting service, especially programming aimed at North America. Other sources have told the Taipei Times the Chinese government lobby in Washington had been working hard to persuade the administration of US President Barack Obama that VOA broadcasts amount to “an unfriendly gesture.” “The decision by VOA to end its broadcasts into China is a major victory in the propaganda war for Beijing,” a senior congressional staff member said. However, although many members of Congress were opposed to the move, it was not considered greatly significant when considered within the whole of Obama’s new budget package, the staffer said. “There are too many other major priorities to deal with and I’m afraid the VOA’s China decision will just slip through,” he said. In comments to the Washington Times published on Tuesday, John Tkacik, a former US State Department official and China specialist, said the decision to stop shortwave broadcasts was “ironic” because they “are much more difficult [and labor intensive] to jam than VOA’s digital, social media and satellite broadcasts.” “The Egypt demonstrations were organized via text messaging and Facebook, but those media are very tightly monitored and censored in China,” Tkacik told the paper. “So, I’m not sure it makes much sense for VOA to divert all its efforts into social and digital media.” In unpublished comments obtained by the Taipei Times, Tkacik said ending VOA’s Mandarin broadcasts would represent a major victory for Beijing in what he called “the global propaganda wars.” “Chinese communist media have completely unfettered access to US audiences and Beijing is now building up its US programming, both via cable TV channels as well as via its so-called ‘Confucius Institutes,’” he said. “The Broadcasting Board of Governors [BBG] is cutting American programming to the world’s biggest potential audience … [and] Taiwan has curtailed its free broadcasts into China to avoid antagonizing the Chinese. The BBG is responsible for all US government or government-sponsored, non-military international broadcasting. “I’m not sure there is any other news source available in China that the Chinese government cannot manipulate absolutely,” Tkacik said. He said the VOA Chinese Service served as an effective instrument for China’s policymaking elite to gather open source intelligence on US issues — an important role that he said US policymakers didn’t seem to fully appreciate. “You can use VOA as a direct line to China’s foreign and military policy elites — not so much to change their minds, but to get your message across at a very high level to policy-level bureaucrats,” he said. Published on Taipei Times : http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2011/02/18/2003496189 Copyright © 1999-2011 The Taipei Times. All rights reserved. # by hildegart | 2011-02-19 15:46
Critics decry axing of Mandarin-language VOA service
BEIJING BONUS?：A congressional staffer said that the decision by VOA to end its broadcasts into China is a major propaganda victory for the Chinese authorities By William Lowther and J. Michael Cole / Staff reporters in WASHINGTON and Taipei Fri, Feb 18, 2011 - Page 3 Despite growing protests, the US government’s Voice of America (VOA) broadcasting system is determined to go ahead with budget cutting plans and cancel shortwave radio broadcasts into China. “This is another alarming sign that America is cowering before China’s gangster regime,” Representative Dana Rohrabacher said. “The Chinese people are our greatest allies and the free flow of information is our greatest weapon,” said Rohrabacher, a Republican and member of the House of Representatives’ Foreign Affairs Committee. To save about US$8 million, VOA is firing 45 of its 69 Chinese-speaking journalists and as of October next year will stop all of its radio and TV programs aimed at China. Instead, it will expand Internet and other digital media efforts — especially mobile-phone operations — to get uncensored news into China. Sources say that there is enormous opposition to the plan within VOA and the conservative Washington Times has quoted an unnamed US government official as saying that in Tibet and Xinjiang, “shortwave is a lifeline to those who are cut off from all but the official media.” “Those who are limited to shortwave still represent millions of highly motivated information seekers,” the official said. “Beijing puts millions of dollars into jamming shortwave signals to keep out stories about a dissident talking about nonviolent dissent, the Dalai Lama discussing the real situation in Tibet or growing protests throughout China by those who have been displaced by government malfeasance,” he said. At the same time, China is greatly expanding its own propaganda broadcasting service, especially programming aimed at North America. Other sources have told the Taipei Times the Chinese government lobby in Washington had been working hard to persuade the administration of US President Barack Obama that VOA broadcasts amount to “an unfriendly gesture.” “The decision by VOA to end its broadcasts into China is a major victory in the propaganda war for Beijing,” a senior congressional staff member said. However, although many members of Congress were opposed to the move, it was not considered greatly significant when considered within the whole of Obama’s new budget package, the staffer said. “There are too many other major priorities to deal with and I’m afraid the VOA’s China decision will just slip through,” he said. In comments to the Washington Times published on Tuesday, John Tkacik, a former US State Department official and China specialist, said the decision to stop shortwave broadcasts was “ironic” because they “are much more difficult [and labor intensive] to jam than VOA’s digital, social media and satellite broadcasts.” “The Egypt demonstrations were organized via text messaging and Facebook, but those media are very tightly monitored and censored in China,” Tkacik told the paper. “So, I’m not sure it makes much sense for VOA to divert all its efforts into social and digital media.” In unpublished comments obtained by the Taipei Times, Tkacik said ending VOA’s Mandarin broadcasts would represent a major victory for Beijing in what he called “the global propaganda wars.” “Chinese communist media have completely unfettered access to US audiences and Beijing is now building up its US programming, both via cable TV channels as well as via its so-called ‘Confucius Institutes,’” he said. “The Broadcasting Board of Governors [BBG] is cutting American programming to the world’s biggest potential audience … [and] Taiwan has curtailed its free broadcasts into China to avoid antagonizing the Chinese. The BBG is responsible for all US government or government-sponsored, non-military international broadcasting. “I’m not sure there is any other news source available in China that the Chinese government cannot manipulate absolutely,” Tkacik said. He said the VOA Chinese Service served as an effective instrument for China’s policymaking elite to gather open source intelligence on US issues — an important role that he said US policymakers didn’t seem to fully appreciate. “You can use VOA as a direct line to China’s foreign and military policy elites — not so much to change their minds, but to get your message across at a very high level to policy-level bureaucrats,” he said. Published on Taipei Times : http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2011/02/18/2003496189 Copyright © 1999-2011 The Taipei Times. All rights reserved. # by hildegart | 2011-02-19 15:45
U.S. Plans to Lower Its 'Voice' in China
By KEITH JOHNSON 2/17/2011 WASHINGTON—The U.S. plans to cut back on radio broadcasts in China through the Voice of America radio network, echoing similar moves by cash-strapped broadcasters such as the British Broadcasting Corp. The 2012 budget proposal submitted to Congress this week would end VOA's Mandarin-language short-wave radio broadcasts, focusing instead on transmitting news through the Internet and mobile phones. The U.S. would continue broadcasting in Chinese by bolstering Radio Free Asia's Mandarin-language broadcasts. The move is a reflection of both budget pressures and changing technology. The U.S. is rethinking how it can best promote democracy around the world in the wake of the revolts in the Middle East that were spurred in part by social networking. Initially created during the Second World War, the Voice of America and sister networks such as Radio Free Europe and Radio Free Asia were part of the government-sponsored effort to promote U.S. values around the world, especially during the Cold War. In recent years, some of VOA's new programming has garnered a cult following, including Parazit, a "Daily Show"-style parody of the Iranian government. The proposed cuts in radio broadcasting, including the cancellation of VOA's broadcasts in Croatia, would save about $8 million out of VOA's $207 million budget. The 2012 budget proposal for all U.S. international civil broadcasting is $767 million, a slight increase over 2010 levels. The shift to newer technologies has been a goal of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, which oversees U.S. international broadcasts, since it drew up its new strategy in 2008. That is partly a reflection of the small and shrinking audience for short-wave radio broadcasts in China and the recognition that the Internet and smartphones offer a potentially cheaper way to reach more people, despite fears of Chinese-government control of the Web. "China is the largest Internet market in the world," said Letitia King, a spokeswoman for the BBG, which submitted the budget proposal. She said the BBG has worked extensively to develop methods to ensure U.S. content can sidestep efforts by Chinese censors to block unwanted material, and added that short-wave radio broadcasts have also been subject to intensive jamming by the Chinese government. The VOA has been transmitting radio broadcasts inside China since 1941, but its audience is shrinking. The latest audience survey carried out for the broadcasting corporation showed that short-wave radio broadcasts by Voice of America reached just 0.1% of the population. Radio Free Asia, which started broadcasting in Mandarin in 1996, reached an even smaller share of the audience and was less well-known. U.S. efforts aren't reaching many more people via the Internet: The same study estimated a Chinese Internet audience of about 200,000 for VOA, less than the 300,000 it estimates listened to VOA radio. Under its new plan, the BBG would continue to produce audio and video content to be distributed on the Web and via mobile platforms, including smartphones. The goal is to tap into the explosion of Web-enabled mobile phones in China. According to the BBG's audience surveys, 7% of Chinese use mobile phones to access the Internet every week—and there are more mobile Internet users in rural China than in urban areas. Write to Keith Johnson at keith.johnson@wsj.com # by hildegart | 2011-02-19 15:43
Statement on BBC World Service
Date: 25.01.2011 Category: BBC; World Service BBC World Service has announced that it will be closing five language services – Albanian, Macedonian, Portuguese for Africa and Serbian; as well as the English for the Caribbean regional service. This is part of its response to a cut to its Grant-in-Aid funding from the UK's Foreign & Commonwealth Office. The cut is part of a BBC World Service restructure in order to meet a 16% savings target announced in the Government's Spending Review of 20 October last year. BBC Global News Director Peter Horrocks said: "These closures are not a reflection on the performance of individual services or programmes. They are all extremely important to their audiences and to the BBC. "It is simply that there is a need to make savings due to the scale of the cuts to the World Service's Grant-in-Aid funding from the UK's Foreign & Commonwealth Office and we need to focus our efforts in the languages where there is the greatest need and where we have the strongest impact." Notes to Editors BBC World Service will not be confirming further details tonight ahead of briefing staff tomorrow. However, further information will be confirmed tomorrow at a press conference. BBC World Service Press Office # by hildegart | 2011-02-12 00:26
BBC, Facing Budget Cuts, Will Trim World Service and Lay Off 650
By SARAH LYALL Published: January 26, 2011 LONDON — Facing a 16 percent reduction in its budget, the BBC World Service said on Wednesday that it would close 5 of its 32 language services and reduce its work force by about a quarter, cutting around 650 jobs over the next three years. Enlarge This Image Ben Stansall/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images Peter Horrocks, the BBC’s global news director, speaking to reporters Wednesday in London. Readers' Comments Readers shared their thoughts on this article. * Read All Comments (37) » The service, which began broadcasting in 1932, is one of Britain’s most visible exports and is known for bringing uncensored news to places where there is no free press. It currently has a budget of $433 million a year, a staff of 2,400 and a listening and viewing audience of 180 million a week across television, radio and the Internet. The BBC is facing deep cuts in spending over the next several years, and this week announced that it would cut 25 percent, or $54 million, from its online budget. But it hastened to point out that it was the government, which is responsible for financing the World Service through the Foreign Office, that made the decision to cut the budget so sharply in this case. “I want to stress that these are cuts that we would not have chosen to make without the funding reduction by the government,” Peter Horrocks, the BBC’s global news director, told reporters. “We made our case as strongly as we possibly could.” The government had praised the importance of the World Service, Mr. Horrocks said, but “the funding that we have received makes it difficult to reconcile that.” In fact, he said, when other factors were taken into account, the budget cuts were equal to about 20 percent annually for three years, or $73 million a year by 2014. In the House of Commons, angry legislators, some from the governing Conservative Party, lined up to denounce the plans. “There is very deep concern in the House about this decision,” said Andrew Tyrie, a Conservative member of Parliament. Mr. Tyrie pointed out that the government was planning to increase its overseas aid budget by 37 percent in real terms. Referring to William Hague, the foreign secretary, who was appearing on behalf of the government, he said, “I hope that he will hear the message from the House that if there is a choice between the two, we want to put the World Service first.” Sir Gerald Kaufman, a Labour member of Parliament, said that the BBC World Service was “the most trusted voice in the world — more trusted than any government, and more trusted than any other broadcaster in English or any other language.” He added, “To undermine the BBC World Service is to undermine truth.” But Mr. Hague said that the BBC had to accept that cuts were being made across the government and that it had to shoulder some of the burden. “The BBC World Service has a viable and promising future, but it is not immune from public spending constraints or from a reassessment of its priorities and services that have become less well used,” he said. Outside the World Service offices, staff members held a demonstration against the impending cuts and laid wreaths with messages like “R.I.P. World Service.” “As far as I’m concerned, this announcement is a death knell for the World Service,” Michelle Stanistreet, deputy general secretary of the National Union of Journalists, told The Guardian. “We knew there were cuts coming down the line, but I think the scale of the cuts that are proposed has staggered everybody.” The cuts include the closing of the Macedonian, Serbian and Albanian services, as well as broadcasts in English for the Caribbean and in Portuguese for Africa. The broadcaster also intends to cut radio broadcasts to China, Russia, Ukraine and Turkey, and to cease evening radio broadcasts in Arabic. In addition, the service will cut off radio programming in Mandarin Chinese, Russian, Turkish, Vietnamese, Ukrainian and Azeri, the official language of Azerbaijan, as well as radio broadcasts to Cuba in Spanish. The BBC pledged that it would reverse the cuts in 2014, when it takes over responsibility for financing the World Service from the Foreign Office. # by hildegart | 2011-01-31 23:10
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