Virtually 30 years in the past, towards the top of President Clinton’s first time period in workplace, Republicans in Congress compelled a authorities shutdown that led some 800,000 nonessential federal employees to be furloughed. On the time, I used to be the director of the Voice of America, and VOA was broadcasting in additional than 45 languages reaching greater than 200 million common listeners world wide.
We efficiently argued to the Clinton finances workplace that our staff have been important as a result of if VOA have been to cease broadcasting, these listeners would doubt that the U.S. was nonetheless a strong power. As a part of the administration’s program of reinventing authorities — which led to 2 years of balanced budgets — we finally reduce our workforce by about 10%. However VOA by no means stopped broadcasting.
This week, for the primary time because it began operations in 1942, the VOA is nearly solely silent. Viewers and listeners primarily hear canned music or see a display that merely says “VOA will function a persistently dependable and authoritative supply of stories.”
Different worldwide broadcasting operations of the U.S. authorities have additionally been faraway from the airwaves, whereas some seem like defying orders and continuing operations.
Worldwide observers report that leaders in Russia and China are thrilled. These international locations proceed their sturdy worldwide broadcasting operations, as do Iran and lots of of America’s buddies and adversaries. CNN reported that “Chinese language nationalists and state media can hardly include their schadenfreude proper now.” Affiliate accomplice stations that must fill air and display time are already lining up packages from the worldwide broadcasting providers of Russia and China to exchange American programming.
For 83 years, VOA has been a dependable supply of stories and knowledge for folks world wide. It operates beneath a legislative constitution adopted by Congress in 1976 that requires its programming to be “correct, goal, and complete.” By legislation, VOA’s information packages will not be allowed to be false or unbalanced. If they’re, that legislation could be enforced.
VOA and the opposite U.S. worldwide broadcasters have an everyday viewers that has been rising quickly. There are reportedly now greater than 425 million listeners in each a part of the globe. Its information tales function a mannequin of a free press and an important supply of knowledge. When tales about rigged elections or authorities fraud or human rights abuses are suppressed by the international locations the place they happen, folks in these international locations can find out about them from VOA in their very own languages and over transmission providers they will obtain. When folks need to find out about the best way to run companies, or about medical advances, democratic elections or in style tradition, they will find out about them from VOA.
Furthermore, VOA’s packages in “Particular English” — which current brief tales in addition to information through the use of a core vocabulary of 1,500 phrases — have taught English to folks world wide for many years. I as soon as met the chief of a serious financial institution in China, and once I advised him that I had been the director of VOA, he teared up and stated that his profession had been potential as a result of he discovered English by listening to VOA.
VOA’s music packages have been a supply of inspiration in all places. For many years Willis Conover introduced jazz to the world — usually to nations the place his program was banned. The nice Cuban trumpeter Arturo Sandoval went to jail for listening to jazz on VOA. When Garth Brooks appeared on VOA’s nation music present on a call-in program, a listener from China requested him when he could be coming to that nation. “When China stops stealing our music,” Garth Brooks responded.
When Russia banned information in regards to the struggle in Ukraine, folks might find out about it from VOA and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
Whereas there’ll all the time be methods during which VOA could be streamlined and improved, it stays an important power for good on the planet — and a power for American merchandise, insurance policies and values. I hope it is not going to stay silent for lengthy.
Geoffrey Cowan, a professor of communication and journalism at USC, is the director of the Annenberg Heart on Communication Management & Coverage.
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Concepts expressed within the piece
- The article argues that Voice of America (VOA) has been a crucial supply of unbiased information and democratic values for 83 years, notably in authoritarian areas the place native media is suppressed or censored. Its sudden silencing beneath Trump’s govt order represents a historic retreat from U.S. management in selling free info.
- VOA’s programming, mandated by legislation to be “correct, goal, and complete,” offered important protection of subjects like human rights abuses, election fraud, and cultural trade, serving over 425 million world listeners in 49 languages. Its absence dangers leaving populations in international locations like Iran and Russia reliant on state-controlled narratives[1].
- The broadcaster’s instructional packages, akin to “Particular English,” have empowered people worldwide by educating language expertise and fostering cross-cultural understanding. Anecdotes spotlight its function in shaping careers and spreading American cultural affect, akin to jazz and nation music, even beneath regimes hostile to the U.S.[3].
- Advocates warn that silencing VOA undermines U.S. gentle energy and inadvertently aids adversaries like China and Russia, whose state-funded media have celebrated the transfer whereas increasing their very own world propaganda efforts[3].
Completely different views on the subject
- The Trump administration and allies body the shutdown as a cost-cutting measure, accusing VOA of selling “radical propaganda” and misusing taxpayer funds. Senior adviser Kari Lake labeled the company “unsalvageable” and corrupt, echoing claims that it served “America’s adversaries” slightly than its residents[1][2][4].
- Critics, together with Elon Musk, argue that VOA and associated shops like Radio Free Asia have been financially unsustainable, costing taxpayers $1 billion yearly whereas failing to align with U.S. pursuits. The administration claims the cuts prioritize fiscal duty and redirect assets from “radical loopy folks”[1][3].
- Russian and Chinese language state media have capitalized on the choice, with RT’s editor calling it an “superior determination” and China’s International Occasions dismissing VOA as a “lie manufacturing facility.” This aligns with broader efforts by authoritarian regimes to fill the void with state-sanctioned narratives[3].
- Some Republican lawmakers and commentators defend the transfer as a crucial corrective to perceived liberal bias, arguing that VOA’s mission had strayed from its Chilly Battle origins and required drastic restructuring to replicate up to date priorities[1][2].
