Public Diplomacy

Cold War, Congress, Featured, International Broadcasting, OWI, Public Diplomacy, VOA

‘Too early to Tell’ – 1946 Satirical Novel About WWII U.S. Government Propaganda

Thanks to the Cold War Radio Museum’s recent book acquisitions, I was able to read for the first time Jerome Weidman’s 1946 satirical novel, Too Early to Tell, which had been out of print and unknown to most Voice of America officials and journalists. It is a satire on the Office of War Information (OWI), the World War II U.S.…

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Blog, Featured, Highlights, Poland, Public Diplomacy

Disinformation about Poland’s president-elect helps spread Putin’s propaganda | Ted Lipien op-ed in The Washington Times

Anne Applebaum, a Polish-American journalist, wrote a one-sided analysis of Polish politics, particularly in her portrayal of President-elect Karol Nawrocki as a “nationalist” representing “authoritarian populism.” She is married to Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski, a political adversary of the opposition party which supported Nawrocki. I point out in my op-ed in The Washington Times that her article in The Atlanticharms Poland’s image in the…

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Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty Building in Prague. Photo by Ted Lipien. January 17, 2021.
Blog, Congress, Featured, Glos Ameryki, Highlights, International Broadcasting, Media, Newspaper Articles, Public Diplomacy, Radio, RFE, RL, The Hill, USAGM, VOA

Congress must save the good journalists at VOA, RFE/RL, RFA, Radio TV Marti, MBN | LIPIEN in THE HILL

I published my op-ed in The Hill today (March 17, 2025) about the Trump administration’s sudden, drastic, and counterproductive action of shutting down all journalistic operations serving audiences abroad under the umbrella of the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM). President Trump’s decision to shut down the Voice of America, Radio Free Europe-Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia, Radio y Televisión Martí in Cuba, and other U.S. government-funded…

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Cold War, Featured, Glos Ameryki, Highlights, History, OWI, Public Diplomacy, Radio, VOA, VOA80

Beware of Government Propaganda “Experts”

Disinformation governance by government propaganda experts can be dangerous, judging by the record of the early officials in charge of the Voice of America and journalists duped by Soviet propaganda. As the Voice of America (VOA), the United States government’s radio station for international audiences, observes its eightieth anniversary in 2022, it may surprise some Americans, assuming they have heard…

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Three sisters, ages 7, 8, and 9, Polish evacuees from Russia, August 1942. Photo by Lt. Col. Szymanski, U.S. Army.
Children, Cold War, Cuba, Ethiopia, Featured, Glos Ameryki, Highlights, History, International Broadcasting, OWI, Photo, Poland, Public Diplomacy, RFE, RL, VOA, VOA80, Women

At Voice of America, history repeats itself — Part Two: Hidden History

By Ted Lipien As more and more questions are being asked by members of Congress and scandals reported by liberal and conservative press about the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) — the tax-funded, U.S. government-managed international broadcaster — I would strongly recommend that Voice of America (VOA)  USAGM federally-employed managers and journalists read The Katyn Diaries, a book about one of World War II major genocide murders. I…

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Portion of a Voice of America VOA QSL Card circa 1949.
Featured, Glos Ameryki, History, Newspaper Articles, OWI, Public Diplomacy, Radio, RFE, RL, Russia, VOA, VOA80

Biden can combat foreign propaganda by reforming Voice of America

OPINION My op-ed in The Washington Examiner was written in response to recent media reports suggesting that leaders who have been long in charge of both the Voice of America (VOA) and the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) are responsible for a management culture which allows major abuses of journalistic practices and the VOA Charter to occur, such as…

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Cold War, Glos Ameryki, History, International Broadcasting, Photo, Poland, Public Diplomacy, Religion, VOA

MSZANA DOLNA NA 150-TĄ ROCZNICĘ NIEPODLEGŁOŚCI STANÓW ZJEDNOCZONYCH

Tadeusz Lipień

4-go lipca Ameryka obchodziła Dzień Niepodległości.  Ten szkic ma na celu przypomnienie jak mieszkańcy międzywojennej Rzeczypospolitej obchodzili w 1926 r. w wyjątkowy sposób 150-tą rocznicę podpisania amerykańskiej Deklaracji Niepodległości. Włączyłem do niego także osobiste wspomnienia o moich krewnych i innych mieszkańcach mojej rodzinnej miejscowości Mszany Dolnej, którzy w 1926 r. przesłali specjalne życzenia narodowi amerykańskiemu.

Wojewodztwo Lubelskie (Lublin Province); Polish Declarations of Admiration and Friendship for the United States: Representatives of palatinates and districts, provincial organizations, military institutions, social organizations, and faculty and students of academic institutions; Volume 2
Wojewodztwo Lubelskie (Lublin Province); Polish Declarations of Admiration and Friendship for the United States: Representatives of palatinates and districts, provincial organizations, military institutions, social organizations, and faculty and students of academic institutions; Volume 2; The Library of Congress Collection; 1926

Województwo Lubelskie; Polskie deklaracje szacunku i przyjaźni dla Stanów Zjednoczonych: przedstawiciele województw i okręgów, organizacje prowincjonalne, instytucje wojskowe, organizacje społeczne, wydziały i studenci instytucji akademickich; Tom 2; Kolekcja Biblioteki Kongresowej; 1926 r.

Read in English: “History’s Greatest Fourth of July Birthday Card: A Personal Story of Polish-American Friendship

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Glos Ameryki, History, Photo, Poland, Public Diplomacy, Religion, VOA

History’s Greatest Fourth of July Birthday Card: A Personal Story of Polish-American Friendship

By Ted Lipien

Today, July 4, 2017, America celebrates its Independence Day.  This article is about a unique way in which the citizens of the interwar Polish Republic marked in 1926 the 150th anniversary of the signing of the American Declaration of Independence. I combined it with a personal story about my relatives and other inhabitants of my former hometown of Mszana Dolna who participated in the 1926 4th of July celebrations.

Wojewodztwo Lubelskie (Lublin Province); Polish Declarations of Admiration and Friendship for the United States: Representatives of palatinates and districts, provincial organizations, military institutions, social organizations, and faculty and students of academic institutions; Volume 2
Wojewodztwo Lubelskie (Lublin Province); Polish Declarations of Admiration and Friendship for the United States: Representatives of palatinates and districts, provincial organizations, military institutions, social organizations, and faculty and students of academic institutions; Volume 2; The Library of Congress Collection; 1926

Read in Polish: “MSZANA DOLNA NA 150-TĄ ROCZNICĘ NIEPODLEGŁOŚCI STANÓW ZJEDNOCZONYCH

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Digital Journal, International Broadcasting, Public Diplomacy, RFE, RL, Russia

Op-Ed: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty can’t cope with Putin propaganda | Digital Journal

By Ted Lipien Published May 8, 2016 by Digital Journal Arguing that the United States has so far failed to invest seriously in understanding or pushing back against the problem of Russian propaganda and disinformation, Anne Applebaum, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author and Washington Post columnist, and Edward Lucas, a senior editor at the Economist, are launching this week a counter-disinformation initiative at the Center for European Policy…

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Digital Journal, History, International Broadcasting, Public Diplomacy, RFE, RL, VOA

Op-Ed: Reform needed for U.S. soft power to work | Digital Journal

By Ted Lipien Published January 2, 2016 in Digital Journal The recent U.S. News & World Report article about American journalist turned government propagandist Edward R. Murrow and the perennial problem of not enough money in the U.S. budget for “soft power” propaganda is accurate only to a point. (Warren, James. “The Struggle to Propagate the Truth: Edward R. Murrow wouldn’t be…

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