Tag: Public Diplomacy

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Broadcasting Board of Governors Misleads Congress in Its 2010 Budget Request, Hides Its Poor Management Record, and Plans to Terminate More Broadcasts

FreeMediaOnline.org & Free Media Online Blog, May 11, 2009, San Francisco — The Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), the federal agency responsible for managing U.S. international broadcasts made a number of misleading statements in its Fiscal Year 2010 Budget Request to the U.S. Congress. The BBG repeatedly states that the Voice of America (VOA) Russian service responded with “comprehensive coverage”…

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WILL AMERICA’S VOICE STAY SILENCED? – Understanding Government – understandinggov.org

FreeMediaOnline.org & Free Media Online Blog, May 8, 2009, San Francisco —  Understanding Government website — undestandinggov.org — has published an in-depth report on the management crisis at the Voice of America (VOA) and the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), which runs U.S. international broadcasting operations. The report refers to the work of FreeMediaOnline.org and GovoritAmerika.us in support of independent journalism in media-at-risk countries. WILL…

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Voice of America Russian Service Journalists Blamed for Management’s Failures

FreeMediaOnline.org & Free Media Online Blog, March 18, 2009, San Francisco — My commentary on the poor state of U.S. public diplomacy and international broadcasting, Sexy Images from the Voice of America, has produced  management backlash against the Voice of America Russian Service journalists. It was unfortunate but not unexpected that the Agency’s management, rated by its employees as one of the…

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Sexy Images from the Voice of America

No in-depth reports from the Voice of America or high-resolution photos from the State Department, but one can now find sexy images on the VOA Russian website. The Clinton-Lavrov meeting and the First Lady’s visit to the State Department revealed  a sorry state of U.S. public diplomacy and international broadcasting. It took hours after Secretary Clinton and her Russian counterpart Foreign Minister Lavrov had finished their joint press conference in Geneva before the…

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Senator Lugar is right about past U.S. public diplomacy mistakes

 FreeMediaOnline.org & Free Media Online Blog Commentary by Ted Lipien, March 4, 2009, San Francisco   Senator Richard Lugar is right about past mistakes that had crippled U.S. public diplomacy, but new actions by the U.S. Broadcasting Board of Governors also continue to silence America’s voice abroad   Closed Down American Centers and Crippled Voice of America In an insightful and candid article posted on the Foreign Policy magazine blog,…

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What? – No Voice of America in Arabic? – President Obama and U.S. Broadcasting in the Middle East

 FreeMediaOnline.org & Free Media Online Blog, January 29, 2009, San Francisco —  President Obama may have been surprised to find out that the Voice of America, which Secretary of State Hillary Clinton described as largely responsible for “telling America’s story” to the world, no longer has programs in Arabic of any kind due to actions taken by the Bush Administration and…

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Hillary Clinton: Telling America’s Story Largely the Task of the Voice of America, But the Bush Administration Leaves VOA Barely Surviving

In answers to written questions from Senator Richard Lugar submitted during her Senate confirmation process, Hillary Clinton said that “telling America’s story is largely the task of the VOA.” What she may not have been told by her briefers is that the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), which manages the Voice of America, has completely eliminated or severely restricted VOA…

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With Hillary Clinton’s Arrival at State, Public Diplomacy 2.0 Video Contest Gets Less Exposure

 FreeMediaOnline.org & Free Media Online Blog, January 23, 2009, San Francisco — In a move that may signal a return to a more serious approach to pubic diplomacy, the U.S. State Department website no longer prominently features an announcement for the  “Democracy Video Challenge” contest.  Such contests were promoted by a series of Bush Administration’s political appointees at State as a new and exciting way of influencing public…

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When A Federal Agency Goes Bad

 FreeMediaOnline.org & Free Media Online Blog  The Federalist Commentary, January 8, 2009, San Francisco — This commentary is by The Federalist, one of our regular contributors with inside knowledge of US government bureaucracy. When A Federal Agency Goes Bad by The Federalist “US international broadcasting is being led by people not interested in its mission or sustaining its programs.” The Office of…

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International Broadcasting, Public Diplomacy

Public Diplomacy 2.0 or Propaganda Museum Exhibits

 FreeMediaOnline.org & Free Media Online Blog Commentary by Ted Lipien, January 13, 2009, San Francisco —  State Department videos embarrass the U.S. among audiences abroad while the Department’s top promoter of Public Diplomacy 2.0 pushes to eliminate Voice of America radio journalism in favor of TV and Internet propaganda advertising and broadcasting based on Cold War models. While I was an elementary school…

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