Dr. Helle Dale of the Heritage Foundation observed that while the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) constantly eliminates Voice of America overseas broadcasts — the latest to be cut are VOA radio to Tibet and the VOA Cantonese Service — China state broadcaster expands its presence in the United States. Dr. Dale also points out that China enjoys free access to the American media market while the Chinese authorities block Voice of America and Radio Free Asia websites and jam their radio broadcasts.
Chinese TV has taken a page from Al Jazeera’s playbook. With sparkling new offices in Washington, D.C., on New York Avenue since February 6, and a staff of 75 soon to be 100, CCTV America is making a serious and well-financed bid to be a player in the U.S. media market. CCTV America is a subsidiary of China Central TV, the Chinese state broadcaster, whose global ambitions have been making headlines. Other headlines have been grabbed by Xinhua, the Chinese news agency that created a 24/7 global English-language news channel to compete with CNN International and Fox News.
Meanwhile, the Broadcasting Board of Governors plans to eliminate 71 positions used to prepare Voice of America English news and VOA English broadcasts in addition to laying off dozens of journalists in other VOA broadcasting services, including Tibetan, Chinese, Burmese, Lao, Vietnamese and Spanish.
According to a report released last week on VOA TV, the first to be allowed in to visit the New York Ave. offices, CCTV America has hired a number of high-profile Western journalists, offering salaries as much as 20 percent higher than competitors. How much editorial freedom these journalists will have, considering China’s policy of media censorship, is indeed questionable.
Read the original article by Dr. Helle Dale of the Heritage Foundation: Chinese News Makes Inroads in U.S.