A Gallup employee repeatedly tried to silence a Tibetan woman who spoke up at a panel discussion at Gallup’s headquarters in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday against the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) plan to end Voice of America (VOA) radio broadcasts to Tibet.
The Broadcasting Board of Governors and Gallup held an event to discuss how the world’s populations perceive media freedom in their countries. It appears, however, that Gallup employees are not exactly big fans of free speech. The Tibetan woman is presumably a US taxpayer. The BBG plans to give Gallup millions of dollars of US taxpayers’ money to pay for audience research, which critics argue cannot be conducted reliably in countries like China and Tibet. The Tibetan woman made that point while stressing the critical importance of VOA radio broadcasts for the people in Tibet.
BBG member Michael Meehan, who was one of the panelists, had to intervene to allow the Tibetan woman to finish her statement as she was being repeatedly interrupted by a Gallup executive. Our sources suspect that International Broadcasting Bureau (IBB) officials may have instructed Gallup executives to try to silence any anti-BBG protesters at the event.
Gallup has received a $50 million contract from the BBG to provide it with audience research.
You can watch the video of the panel here or on the Gallup website: Gallup Event: Measuring Media Freedom Worldwide
The Tibetan woman can be heard in the last 15 minutes of the video.