Any thoughts on the VOA apparently defunded and immediately being shut-down? I first hear this Sat/Sun 15th/16th.
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VOA
- Thread starter TomásEstefan
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Few will notice. Fewer will care. International shortwave broadcasting, except for China, North Korea, US religious stations, and very few others, has been a dead service walking for 30 years. The demise of the USSR and Cold War was the beginning of the end. The availability of worldwide streaming is the final nail in the coffin.
RIP, Voice of America (1942-2025).
RIP, Voice of America (1942-2025).
There are already two other threads on this subject. We've all been discussing for days.
The fact is it hasn't been defunded. There was an EO put out on Friday, and the staff was put on admin leave with full pay.
You can read the details in the other threads.
Most people who consume VOA media do so in video form, according to VOA's own press releases. This includes newscasts and news stories produced by VOA and aired on affiliated television networks and VOA's free-to-air satellite channels or video content VOA regularly posted to various social media platforms. Shortwave, in the present day, isn't a primary means of accessing VOA, and, as we've discussed in the "Kari Lake previews her plans" thread, there are about 20 countries in the world where VOA audio programming is broadcast 24/7 through FM stations.
Voice of America ending contracts with Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France Presse
With the Trump administration moving quickly to assert its authority, the Voice of America says it has moved to cancel contracts with The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse wire services.
apnews.com
Well we just had one where the VOA has cut off wire services like Associated Press and Reuters as an extension of their ban from the White House and AFP which is a competitor to AP and Reuters.
Executive Order Silences Voice Of America.
Voice of America (VOA), the U.S.-funded international broadcaster, has been thrust into turmoil following an executive order by President Donald Trump to dismantle the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM),
The shuttering of the VOA is a tragedy and is just another example of this nation falling into...well, most of you know the rest...
Why is turning off a system that is based principally on shortwave... with a few high power AM stations (even worse) a tragedy? The whole concept of the VOA has to be re-thought and either ended or folded into a new organization or part of an existing one with a broader purpose, such as what was done with USIS about 25 years ago: United States Information Agency - Wikipedia
When USIS was moved and modified, most people who spoke English called it "useless" because it had no real function today and the offices at US Embassies and Consulates were often used to mask CIA agents...
The VOA and related US Government networks played a critical role during the Cold War. Their contribution to information warfare should not be underestimated.
That being said, the Cold War is long over, and the world has changed very significantly since that time. SW/MW radio is not the global force in conveying information that it once was (if you don't believe me just review all of the posts here bemoaning station shutdowns). Can VOA still be relevant in the year 2525? Perhaps. But it is worth asking the question at this point.
One of the big problems with Washington, D.C. bureaucracy is that it's constantly clinging to the status quo, whether those ideas are still working or not, because so many people are invested in it with their jobs and access to funding. Clinging to it for the sake of job security or out of some sense of nostalgia may not be the most effective way for the US Government to spend it's information program dollars.
That being said, the Cold War is long over, and the world has changed very significantly since that time. SW/MW radio is not the global force in conveying information that it once was (if you don't believe me just review all of the posts here bemoaning station shutdowns). Can VOA still be relevant in the year 2525? Perhaps. But it is worth asking the question at this point.
One of the big problems with Washington, D.C. bureaucracy is that it's constantly clinging to the status quo, whether those ideas are still working or not, because so many people are invested in it with their jobs and access to funding. Clinging to it for the sake of job security or out of some sense of nostalgia may not be the most effective way for the US Government to spend it's information program dollars.
In the year 2525 I'm sure many of us will have been born and raised on Mars, or beyond. So I don't think the VOA...
The song says “In the year 2525, if man is still alive…”🤔
Cold Coffee
Banned
Many countries have moved from shortwave to live streaming internet TV. VOA didn't keep up with the times. But, I never thought of them as left or right wing.
In Mexico, various television and radio stations use VOA material as affiliates, and large and important media outlets such as TV Azteca and Grupo Radio Formula use its content.
I wasn't referencing Zager and Evans or whoever they were...
Unfortunately when people think of VOA they only think "shortwave." However, VOA produced a lot of video content, had a pretty significant on-line presence as well as a news service for affiliates. Who is going to do that now? As with so many things with the current administration, this is defiantly a case of throwing the baby out with the bath water. A carefully thought out restructuring would have been preferable to the "meat axe", no plan that is currently making the rounds in DC.
On the subject of the VOA, Folks might be interested in reading Julie Roginsky's article in "The Banter.
The question there is "who were the affiliates?" Were they top rated stations, or were they secondary ones looking to fill time that they could not afford to produce material for? Or were they larger stations filling those early Sunday morning hours with material that they did not have to pay for... just to be on the air?
There is a real case to be made for considering the VOA and all "international services" of state owned broadcasters to be a product of the Cold War. That is over, the internet is here and we have to question whether this kind of service is needed at all. This is the same reason that the USIS (United States Information Service) was folded into another agency decades ago; its time was up.
That's perfectly fine. If that's what the administration wants to do, there's a procedure for it. They could follow the USIA example. That's not what they did here. What really hurt their case on this subject were the press releases by the white house and Kari Lake. They were very angry. Both of them prove that this has nothing to do with ending the cold war, saving money, or shortwave radio. It's all ideological. It was aimed specifically at journalists. They want to shut down any criticism by anyone of the current president. It doesn't matter if it's at VOA, NPR, or even the court system. It's a very sad thing because it affects everyone who works in radio, TV, and the media. This is just the beginning.
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However the origins of international shortwave broadcasting go back much further, to the late 1920s and early 1930s. Soft power projection and connecting with the colonies drove the earliest broadcasts. As storm clouds gathered over much of the world with the expansion of fascism in the 1930s more countries jumped into the game, each with its own political message. The advent of World War II brought in the U.S. and a few more countries.
The shortwave broadcast structure was solidly in place by the time the Cold War became a thing.
In Mexico, with Radio Formula and TV Azteca, the material is used in the most important programs. In the case of TV Azteca, they even provide remote links with VOA reporters, and it's very common to see them on channels like ADN40 and important programs like hechos With Grupo Formula, the article capsules are used in most radio programs.
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