You are making a huge assumption in thinking that there area any but a few "people around the world" who "depend" on the VOA.
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Kari Lake previews her plans for Voice of America in the next Administration.
- Thread starter Bill Betten
- Start date
Anyone who thinks that the salaries paid for that one and similar positions are "big" in the expensive DC area is, well, wrong. Most temporary appointments have to rent as they are not going to necessarily be there for long. And even apartments are horribly expensive in any area you would consider a person of that level might want to reside in.
For example, "At the Watergate complex in Washington, DC, you can expect to pay a typical rent of around $2,856 for a 1-bedroom apartment, $4,124 for a 2-bedroom, $6,354 for a 3-bedroom, and $7,317 for a 4-bedroom"
Those who are in the public service business always make that assumption. Those who are looking to cut costs assume nobody cares.
The mission of VOA is to speak to the people of the world on behalf of the American people.
Mission, Firewall and Charter
This webpage includes general information about the Voice of America and a one-minute overview video of VOA.
www.insidevoa.com
You're assuming she lives in DC. She's based in Arizona. Her boss is looking to cut the size of the DC bureaucracy. So why would she move to DC?
As I have told this board on a number of occasions, during all my work in radio in Latin America and nations like Pakistan, I never saw any evidence of listening to the VOA. Even in the 60's (when I turned in a licence I had for a shortwave simulcast with a MW station I bought), I saw little shortwave listening and none to the VOA.
Examinations of the raw data (forms, questionnaires, etc.) for ratings never showed any VOA listening... even below the "made the book" cutoff.
But if nobody listens? I did the official evaluations of Radio Martí several times in its first two decades on the air, and there was no evidence that anyone actually listened due to the existence of local Cuban stations on the same frequency. And assuming that more than an infinitesimally small number of shortwave radios are still used by people around the world is a very incorrect assumption.
Every day I read posts on this board (and you do too) that say "Nobody listens to radio." So when you tell me nobody listens to VOA, my comment is: I don't care. The number of listeners is a sales metric, not a content creation metric. The job of the VOA is to spread the gospel. Not to count numbers. That's a bean counter job. So now the bean counters are shutting down the service. We'll see what the consequences are.
It's the job of the suits at VOA and USAGM to fix the infrastructure so those who want to listen can. It appears that for years, they haven't been doing their job. But that responsibility shouldn't be placed on the reporters and producers at VOA. They did their job to the best of their ability.
Since WW2, we've made the assumption that we're the richest nation on earth, and we should use that wealth for the good of the world. Now we're operating like we're the cut-rate house of crap. To me, the national anthem sounds a lot weaker when we sing it from that point of view. It doesn't speak well of who we are, or who we want to be. It certainly doesn't speak well of the people running the government, or of their dedication to quality of product or service. But we already knew that.
But, using the Radio Martí case as an example, we have a 100 kw station on 1180 on the Florida Keys. In Cuba, 800 miles wide, there are nearly 30 stations on 1180 ranging from 1 kw to 100 kw, all relaying one of Cuba's several national networks.
There is no way that Radio Martí can be heard under those conditions.
This is an example of how over the air international broadcasting on AM, FM or SW is a useless proposition. Wherever "the truth" ought to be heard, local governments can easily block it.
You say "the number of listeners is a sales metric, not a content creation metric" but what purpose is there in creating content nobody will hear?
A good example was the Canadian intent to introduce DAB. Because the government did not "mandate" it such as done in other places in the world, never caught on and was abandoned (simplified story as any Canadian broadcasting issue is complicated with government intervention in content and operations).
Using over the air radio, that is a fool's errand.
Again, if nobody listens, why produce programming. All of the historically well known short-wave international broadcasters have totally closed or almost-totally reduced their efforts because they know that the technology and the concept is dead and updated.
That is a political opinion, which is partisan and outside the scope of this board.
So if I work at a low rated radio station, I should do a crappy job because it doesn't matter? That's not a way to manage the hired help. The role of management is to create a sense of responsibility and ownership so the quality of the content improves the ratings. Not tell them what they do doesn't matter, and they should strive to do the least in order to get by. That's what this EO is telling the staff. This administration is awful at managing its employees. Treats them like they're the enemy. Corporate radio does a better job.
And if nobody's listening to broadcast radio, why do we talk about it so much???? Maybe the premise is faulty.
Some of us expected media-obsessed Trump to turn VOA into a more hardline authoritarian propaganda outlet with Kari Lake pulling the strings to make that happen. If that's so, then is the plan to replace the real journalists who have just been sidelined with Trump loyalists who will deliver his messaging to the world?
Waiting for the other shoe to drop...
Waiting for the other shoe to drop...
Broadcast radio in the US reaches nearly 90% of the population weekly. As long as it delivers such huge reach, it will be viable... even if a thinning of the herd is required.
Well, they may have a message they want to deliver to "the world" but there is no medium through which to deliver the message today.
Yet people here claim nobody listens. You say the same about VOA. There are no documented metrics about VOA. Just conjecture.
As you often point out, "reach" is not the same as "listening." VOA says they reach 354 million people.
I have no reason to believe this action is being taken because of the audience numbers. There's nothing in the EO that references that.
Been a mix of reports on shortwave forums about USAGM output today. Many services are just music fill, though a few still appear to be operating.
Things to watch out for: Are the TOH newscasts being updated? Or are they starting to sound stale? If they are recorded shortly before airtime we could be hearing whatever was last loaded to the playout automation many hours ago.
Also keep in mind this is the weekend, and many programs would have been loaded into the automation before the lockout began. We could see more music fill as the various playlists run out of content and go to default mode.
Some non-USAGM services use USAGM transmitters. Checking an online SDR near Perth, Australia a short time ago, I am hearing BBC World Service transmitted via the USAGM Tinang, Philippines facility as normal.
Things to watch out for: Are the TOH newscasts being updated? Or are they starting to sound stale? If they are recorded shortly before airtime we could be hearing whatever was last loaded to the playout automation many hours ago.
Also keep in mind this is the weekend, and many programs would have been loaded into the automation before the lockout began. We could see more music fill as the various playlists run out of content and go to default mode.
Some non-USAGM services use USAGM transmitters. Checking an online SDR near Perth, Australia a short time ago, I am hearing BBC World Service transmitted via the USAGM Tinang, Philippines facility as normal.
I have seen "tons of" raw ratings data from many, many nations... as I have said, from Argentina to Pakistan to the Dominican Republic... and never ever saw VOA mentioned. In the 60's and 70's in Latin America I saw a few mentions of Radio Habana, but even those were "one in a million" projected responses.
In any case, the U.S. government should follow the example of all the other major shortwave broadcasters and pull the plug.
Oh, but there is...we're using it now.
That's also a problem with diary Nielsen. It's based on recall. So I question the metric.
And the web is the easiest thing to block in totalitarian nations. And it requires a "smart" device or a computer and that is not always accessible in the lesser developed nations to the degree that we see elsewhere.
And it is still worth mentioning that the stage is crowded with "acts" on the internet so it is very difficult to stand out with superior and engaging content without extensive promotion and advertising. As a person well familiar with the VOA, I can say that it sounds stale and dated.
Today's world requires a Seacrest, Bobby Bones or Charlemagne, not Walter Winchell.
They are paying attention in Miami: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/cuba/article302141299.html
David, do you have any contacts in Miami who might have a better idea of what is going on with Radio Marti right now?
Steve Herman, W7VOA, writes a requiem on his Substack. Requiem for the voice that carried a nation’s conscience
Marti specifically comes off as a big FU to the Miami Cuban community, which are staunch Republican backers, and even to Marco Rubio.