An inside view from Judy.
Hey, does anyone remember TV series “WKRP in Cincinnati”? One of the star DJs was fired from his previous job for saying “booger” on the air. It is time for VOA to emulate that private “company,” but let the “buck stop here” at the top, Mr. Ensor.
VOA has been moving away from its Charter for years and it is time that the Congress pay some attention! The Charter is PUBLIC LAW. BBG, IBB, VOA and all their other bots freely ignore laws and regulations and only back down when they are threatened with termination or reductions of their personal travel budgets. (And so much travel really is “personal.”)
Overall, the agency has some of the most professional people anywhere and some of the worst examples of self important blowhard bureaucrats. Someone needs to clean house and it can’t be done by their chiefs or their inspectors or any of their good old boys. The disease may be too deep for even the Congress to fix.
Victor Ashe is the only glimmer of hope in many years and now they’re going to muzzle him? Ashe was a real Ambassador. Let’s ask him whether “boogers, zits and snot” fit with this:
“VOA will represent America, not any single segment of American society, and will therefore present a balanced and comprehensive projection of significant American thought and institutions.”
Many people around the world remember VOA when it was magnificent. We need an advisory board to present its views and findings to a Congressional oversight committee.