BBG Watch Commentary
See: “Major reform of U.S. international broadcasting and public diplomacy to be proposed in Congress,” BBG Watch, April 28, 2014 for additional information about this proposed legislation.
BBG Watch has learned that the draft of a bill designed to reform U.S. international media outreach may soon be released.
According to sources, the bill has two goals:
1. Reforming the federal bureaucracy of the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), which includes the International Broadcasting Bureau (IBB). The BBG also includes Voice of America (VOA), and the Office of Cuba Broadcasting (OCB), which produce programs with diminishing resources due to budget cuts and diversion of funds to IBB.
2. Making grantee media outlets reporting to the BBG, such as Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), independent of the federal bureaucracy, which critics say has expanded beyond any reasonable needs and became dysfunctional.