Voice of America Cancels Call-In Show

[dampier]

I had a hard time trying to figure out where this one should go, but since it relates to a talk show/phone-in, I figured this was as good as it was going to get.

The Voice of America has once again gotten in the middle of a political spat between its staff, in this case one Dr. Kim Andrew Elliot who has hosted radio and media-oriented programming on VOA for more than a decade, and the management appointed by the Bush Administration to run the service.

Kim had prepared a feature about Hurricane Katrina response and WWL Radio acting as a lifeline to the residents down there. His program included excerpts of callers complaining about the response to the disaster monitored over the air. The subject of the call in show was to be about how hurricanes affect life in America.

VOA Director David Jackson was having none of it though, and ordered Elliot's feature off the air because of the image his piece would project about America abroad (and the government). Further, Elliot's appearances on Talk to America have now been canceled, and VOA staffers were told that the show would be terminated as a call-in/freeform opinion show and replaced with a news program.

The VOA has been under pressure by the Administration not to report on negative news about the situation in Iraq or on government in general. This has created more animosity than at anytime since the McCarthy era. The question - should the VOA resemble the BBC as an independent news voice free from government intrusion, or should it resemble the Voice of Russia - an official government radio service programmed to reflect the views of the Putin Administration in Moscow.

Here are some articles about the situation from all sides:

http://www.foreignaffairs.org/20050501facomment84302/sanford-j-ungar/pitch-imperfect.html

http://www.foreignaffairs.org/20050701faresponse84416/david-s-jackson/his-master-s-voice.html

http://www.cjrdaily.org/archives/001569.asp

Dr. Elliot's Blog: http://kimandrewelliott.com/

VOA Outsources News Programming to China: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4603928

 

[KeithE]

VOA is the Voice Of the President

> The VOA has been under pressure by the Administration not to
> report on negative news about the situation in Iraq or on
> government in general. This has created more animosity than
> at anytime since the McCarthy era. The question - should
> the VOA resemble the BBC as an independent news voice free
> from government intrusion, or should it resemble the Voice
> of Russia - an official government radio service programmed
> to reflect the views of the Putin Administration in Moscow.

Despite what the VOA Charter says about objectivity, it is, by definition, the voice of the Government of the United States. They should be considered a propaganda outlet since that's been their reason for existence probably since Day One in 1942. If not against the Nazis, then the Communists, and now the Islamic world. Check the list of languages they use (other than English & Spanish) and you can guess who their main focus is at any given time.

Clause #3 of the VOA Charter says "VOA will present the policies of the United States clearly and effectively, and will also present responsible discussions and opinion on these policies." The last part of that clause has been subject to interpretation by various administrations.

Being a part of the Executive Branch, the VOA is effectvely the voice of the President, not the US Gummint as a whole (something that is impossible given its structure). Some Presidents have excersized more control than others. Nixon and Dubya have had the most control, probably Carter had the least. One can probably add LBJ to the "most control" list as well, but I don't remember that far back. From what I remember from that era, the VOA under Nixon was a pure propaganda outlet. Bush runs his White House like the CEO of a major corporation, meaning he has as much dictatorial power over all his agencies/departments as the law will allow. The VOA is no exception.

The VOA Charter was first drafted in 1960, at the end of the Eisenhower administration. It wasn't signed into law until 1976, by Gerald Ford.

<a target="_blank" href=http://www.voanews.com/english/about/VOACharter.cfm>Link: VOA Charter</a>

 

[kdavies5]

Re: VOA is the Voice Of the President

Isn't it illegal for them to print/broadcast in america/to americans?

 

[JohnnyMorganWXJX]

Re: VOA is the Voice Of the President

> Isn't it illegal for them to print/broadcast in america/to
> americans?
>

Yes. It is illegal for them to DIRECT any thing to Americans--including signals, pamphlets, even QSL cards and freebies.

But, as we know, we can get VOA radio waves in the US because the government can't regulate its physical characteristics.

 

[KeithE]

Re: VOA is the Voice Of the President

> > Isn't it illegal for them to print/broadcast in america/to americans?

Techincally, it is illegal for any US shortwave station, government, commercial, or religious, to direct their broadcasts toward US soil or US listeners. Shortwave broadcasting and its frequency bands aren't protected in the US per FCC policy for the last 50 years or so. It's not illegal to listen to them of course, but they won't get protection from, for example, BPL services. BPL might be forced to notch out public service, military, aircraft, and even ham bands, but not shortwave broadcasting.

Not that this policy has ever been enforced. Many US religious broadcasters even operate outside of "legal" international broadcast bands with the FCC's approval, while at the same time beaming their signals so they can be heard in the US (directed *wink wink* toward Canada or Mexico). But there has been no "official" domestic shortwave broadcasting service since the VOA commandeered the SW relays of some AM stations during World War II.

> Yes. It is illegal for them to DIRECT any thing to
> Americans--including signals, pamphlets, even QSL cards and
> freebies.

Which, of course, is the reason why I have about half a dozen QSL cards of theirs as acknowledgement of reception reports of VOA transmitters, both inside and outside the US, over the past 35 years. :-D

> But, as we know, we can get VOA radio waves in the US
> because the government can't regulate its physical
> characteristics.

We can also receive their internet streams. They don't block American IP addresses.

 

[JohnnyMorganWXJX]

Re: VOA is the Voice Of the President

> > Yes. It is illegal for them to DIRECT any thing to
> > Americans--including signals, pamphlets, even QSL cards
> and
> > freebies.
>
> Which, of course, is the reason why I have about half a
> dozen QSL cards of theirs as acknowledgement of reception
> reports of VOA transmitters, both inside and outside the US,
> over the past 35 years. :-D

Damn that Rdaio Shack magazine!

 

[CrankyYankee]

Re: VOA is the Voice Of the President

It is illegal for them to DIRECT any thing to Americans--including signals, pamphlets, even QSL cards and freebies.
========================================================================
Hmmm...that must be why I can't get one of their coffee mugs!

One can listen to VOA on the internet at

www.voanews.com

and go figure this one, they offer tours of the studios (but you have to make a reservation ahead of time).

http://www.voanews.com/english/About/VisitVOA.cfm

"Talk to America" still has an active link.

http://www.voanews.com/english/NewsAnalysis/talktoamerica.cfm
<P ID="signature">______________
"What's That?" "French Horns!"

</P>

 

[gr8oldies]

Re: VOA is the Voice Of the President

I toured their former Bethany, OH relay station several times before it closed. It's now "VOA Park", the building is still there with some of the equipment.<P ID="signature">______________
Greetings from Ohio-where the governor wants everyone to know he's sorry.</P>

 

[dampier]

Re: VOA is the Voice Of the President

> It is illegal for them to DIRECT any thing to
> Americans--including signals, pamphlets, even QSL cards and
> freebies.

It's not illegal to send program schedules and QSL cards to American listeners - I have received more than a dozen of each. They will not put you on a mailing list for VOA printed materials, and you cannot participate in any contests or write-ins. It is harder now for Americans to get them to cough up, but they will if persistant.

They are not permitted to broadcast -to- Americans, but it's not illegal for them to respond to us if we need something from them. Many Americans participated in VOA's Communications World than Dr. Elliot used to produce, for example.

There are some other things to note:

- VOA is not to simply be a government mouthpiece and the government is not supposed to influence the news content of the station. A firewall was erected to prevent this, but it has been eroded by various presidents, but not nearly as much as the current Administration has. The Reagan Administration insisted on airing government commentaries, but they were always labeled as such before and after they aired. Having your news department in full revolt because they are being ordered not to report negative details about Iraq or government responses to disasters is what is causing the major controversy.

- Kenneth Tomlinson, who is also causing controversy at CPB, is the same guy who is being pointed to as causing the issues at VOA. Tomlinson is loathed by the union/employees.

- The proposal to outsource of newsroom activities to a Hong Kong-based company that works under the laws of the People's Republic of China was the final outrage for a lot of folks working there, as well as some elected officials. That management would actually propose letting subcontractors research, write, and produce news segments for the Voice of AMERICA was a major shocker for a lot of folks there.

- The VOA's very existence continues to be challenged by surrogate station operations that some believe were created to get around the VOA charter. VOA must now compete for federal dollars with Radio Free Asia, RFE/RL, Radio Sawa (which used to be the VOA Arabic service), Radio Marti, and radio services for Pakistan and Iran. Proponents suggest surrogate radio operates under a different mission - to broadcast as if they were a domestic radio outlet in their target area. But VOA feels the services simply duplicate existing efforts (with the possible exception of RFE/RL which they have peacefully co-existed with for decades).

The primary problem with the VOA's trustworthiness being challenged is that once you lose your credibility for independence on-air, you can almost never get it back. BBC World Service remains far more trustworthy (except to Bill O'Reilly) for hundreds of millions of people around the world than the VOA, and that is a shame.

 

[JohnnyMorganWXJX]

Re: VOA is the Voice Of the President

> > It is illegal for them to DIRECT any thing to
> > Americans--including signals, pamphlets, even QSL cards
> and
> > freebies.
>
> It's not illegal to send program schedules and QSL cards to
> American listeners - I have received more than a dozen of
> each. They will not put you on a mailing list for VOA
> printed materials, and you cannot participate in any
> contests or write-ins. It is harder now for Americans to
> get them to cough up, but they will if persistant.
>
> They are not permitted to broadcast -to- Americans, but it's
> not illegal for them to respond to us if we need something
> from them. Many Americans participated in VOA's
> Communications World than Dr. Elliot used to produce, for
> example.

As I said, I got that bum info from an old copy of "Radio!" magazine, sold at Radio Shack.

No wonder Howie Long quit.