Kari Lake previews her plans for Voice of America in the next Administration.

[TheBigA]

BTW back on topic, Musk claims VOA and RFE "torch $1 billion of taxpayer money."

"Yes, shut them down. Europe is free now (not counting stifling bureaucracy). Nobody listens to them anymore. It’s just radical left crazy people talking to themselves while torching $1B/year of US taxpayer money."

That's not true. The budget for VOA is $260 million, while RFE/RL is $142 million. Together that's $400 million, less than half of what he claims. Good thing he's not an accountant. If all of these so called "radical left" people actually existed, Kamala would have won the election. He's just lying.

 

[bigdonho]

We are going to keep this on broadcasting topics.

That's a fact, not an opinion.

Under the current administration, the politics are effecting so many things that it is very difficult to keep them out of any discussion, be it the price of eggs or Grand Ma's health care.

Yes, politics have always been there but a bit more organized and subtle. Not with the sledge hammer that's going on now. So, unless you are talking about a your garden or your favorite color, politics is part of the discussion.

Wish it weren't so!

 

[gr8oldies]

BTW back on topic, Musk claims VOA and RFE "torch $1 billion of taxpayer money."



That's not true. The budget for VOA is $260 million, while RFE/RL is $142 million. Together that's $400 million, less than half of what he claims. Good thing he's not an accountant. If all of these so called "radical left" people actually existed, Kamala would have won the election. He's just lying.

I follow Steve Herman (W7VOA) on Social Media. He's the Chief National Correspondent for the VOA. Nothing "radical left" about the stories he covers. I have no idea what his personal politics are.

 

[SomeRadioGuy]

I follow Steve Herman (W7VOA) on Social Media. He's the Chief National Correspondent for the VOA. Nothing "radical left" about the stories he covers. I have no idea what his personal politics are.

that doesnt matter... its what the other side thinks and they run with it, and that rumor takes off and cant be squashed.

 

[Delete My Account]

If all of these so called "radical left" people actually existed, Kamala would have won the election. He's just lying.

Plus, as I recall, a lot of the actual "radical left" were PO'd at Kamala about her stance regarding Palestine and her past as a prosecutor and chose to sit this one out. They're not the factor people think they are, in part because unlike the far right, they tend to sit out elections out of self-righteousness. Sure, there's a few "squad" members in congress but how much pull do they have over Schumer, etc.?

A unique feature of politics in America is that our center-left gets lumped in with the far right, while the far-right actually engages enough in GOP politics to completely transform their party. Most Democrats in America could with little adjustment run as a Conservative in Canada or the UK. Trump, Boebert, Gaetz, MTG? Could not do the same with as much success.

 

[kevtronics]

Most Democrats in America could with little adjustment run as a Conservative in Canada or the UK.

That's why I'd be glad if Trump actually made good on his promise to take over Canada. With 40 million new citizens joining the U.S. who aren't all white, don't all speak English, and are in favor of universal healthcare and strict gun control, Republicans would never win a national election again.

 

[101tm]

That's why I'd be glad if Trump actually made good on his promise to take over Canada. With 40 million new citizens joining the U.S. who aren't all white, don't all speak English, and are in favor of universal healthcare and strict gun control, Republicans would never win a national election again.

What does this have to do with broadcasting?

 

[AbrahamJSimpson]

What does this have to do with broadcasting?

The wouldn’t control the FCC. And the CBC infrastructure exists. Broadcasting.

 

[KeithE4]

What does this have to do with broadcasting?

The ITU would have to reassign the CF-CK callsign block, among others assigned to Canada, to the US, or all Canadian stations would have to change to W and K based call letters.

Broadcasting (and unlikely to happen anyway).

 

[Mediafrog+]

The ITU would have to reassign the CF-CK callsign block, among others assigned to Canada, to the US, or all Canadian stations would have to change to W and K based call letters.

Or stations simply keep their existing call letters, with CF through CK then added to the U.S. allotments. Wonder how many current U.S. stations might want a “C” call? (Standard disclaimer that calls are mostly irrelevant these days.)

None of this is going to happen.

When Newfoundland joined Canada in 1949 its radio stations were allowed to keep their existing calls: VOCM, VOAR, VOWR.

 

[davideduardo]

That's why I'd be glad if Trump actually made good on his promise to take over Canada. With 40 million new citizens joining the U.S. who aren't all white, don't all speak English,

Francophones are around 20% of the Canadian population, and the vast majority are bilingual. Canada is much more insistent on immigrants "assimilating" than the U.S. is.

If you want a picture of how an immigrant "becomes Canadian" try "Transplant" which is a Canadian TV show about "an ER doctor, who fled his native Syria to come to Canada, must overcome numerous obstacles to resume a career in the high stakes world of emergency medicine."

(See, I made this about radio or TV!)

Transplant (TV Series 2020–2024) ⭐ 7.9 | Drama

1h | TV-14

www.imdb.com

and are in favor of universal healthcare

Every Canadian I know (and my neighborhood is about half Canadian) hates the healthcare system. The keyword is "wait".

and strict gun control,

"Stricter" but not prohibitive.

Republicans would never win a national election again.

While this whole "Canada can become a state" think is posturing as part of trade negotiating, I think you vastly underestimate the percentage of conservatives in Canada.

 

[TheBigA]

Francophones are around 20% of the Canadian population, and the vast majority are bilingual. Canada is much more insistent on immigrants "assimilating" than the U.S. is.

I did some business in Montreal for a time, and was very surprised how intolerant the habitants were of those who spoke English. My favorite experience was riding the bus out to the suburbs and overhearing some schoolgirls speaking loudly in French. The only time they used English was when they cursed. At the time, the west side of the city was still more English, but I suspect that has changed.

 

[secondchoice]

The real scary part of the "annexation" negotiation (if it is that), Canada has one card to play that will put the US at an undefendable military position. They could sign a mutual defense treaty with China, Russia, or any rogue nation that hates the US and allow bases within walking distance of the US Border.

 

[Jean Luc]

In very general terms, news on the VOA is not about internal politics of the U.S. They focus on the "world scene" (everything from wars and conflicts to international treaties and commerce) and things like education, trade, science.

The logic behind that is that very few people in, let's say Gambia, care about individual politicians or political campaigns in any country other than their own. The same philosophy applied historically to all the shortwave national voices, from Radio Moscow to the Beeb.

But a lot of people who have never listened to the VOA think it is "just like NPR, but on shortwave".

It has been a while since I listened to the VOA but I do listen to the CBC, especially The National and programs on Radio One, and occasionally to the BBC and the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Commission). Once in a while I check out RTE (Ireland), Radio Nederland, Deutsche Welle and RNZ. They all seem to devote a good deal of time and attention to US politics - even before the latest election - certainly more than US news media devote to anybody else's politics.

It seems that people elsewhere do care about US politics because US politics is likely to affect them. Another possible explanation why the VOA stays away from US politics is the VOA is especially effected by it. Every few years the bosses and the policies imposed on it are subject to change.

 

[TheBigA]

It seems that people elsewhere do care about US politics because US politics is likely to affect them. Another possible explanation why the VOA stays away from US politics is the VOA is especially effected by it. Every few years the bosses and the policies imposed on it are subject to change.

What may have been established policy is very likely to change once Brent Bozell is in charge.

 

[davideduardo]

What may have been established policy is very likely to change once Brent Bozell is in charge.

The point continues to be why an international service would want to focus of domestic politics in the originating nation.

Beyond that, the fact that shortwave is totally dead means that the traditional VOA distribution is also dead. VOA "worked" in the limited fashion that all international shortwave operations did only when there was a shortage of news sources. The internet changed all that.

And if the VOA wants to compete on the web, they have to produce a product that is vastly more interesting than the sources of news and information people use now.

 

[davideduardo]

I did some business in Montreal for a time, and was very surprised how intolerant the habitants were of those who spoke English. My favorite experience was riding the bus out to the suburbs and overhearing some schoolgirls speaking loudly in French. The only time they used English was when they cursed. At the time, the west side of the city was still more English, but I suspect that has changed.

In my many visits to Montreal (one of my favorite cities in the world), I did have occasion to note the francophones looking down on English speaking people. I get by in French, and always spoke Spanish to my partner so I never felt discrimination myself.

Interestingly, I saw the same thing in Paris (but not as much au provence) where I also always spoke Spanish if unless mangling my way through French. I even noticed the same thing in both Guadalupe and Martinique, both full French overseas departments.

 

[TheBigA]

The point continues to be why an international service would want to focus of domestic politics in the originating nation.

Beyond that, the fact that shortwave is totally dead means that the traditional VOA distribution is also dead. VOA "worked" in the limited fashion that all international shortwave operations did only when there was a shortage of news sources. The internet changed all that.

I think if this administration wanted the VOA to continue what it had been doing, they would not have nominated Brent Bozell to run it. Because he's not going to continue the policies of the past.

 

[Mediafrog+]

Back to Kari Lake: 'Shut them down': What happens to Kari Lake if Elon Musk gets rid of Voice of America?

 

[TheBigA]

Back to Kari Lake: 'Shut them down': What happens to Kari Lake if Elon Musk gets rid of Voice of America?

It's a good article.

What we're seeing is there's a battle going on for the attention of the boss. So Musk has made his case. That doesn't mean what he says goes. It next goes to the ideologues in the white house. They hear competing arguments. One is to save money. The other is to use the resources to push the administration's agenda, led by Kari Lake. Musk's opinion is based on what the VOA was, not on what it can be. If the ideologues can show value based on what the agency could be, then Musk loses.