BBG Watch Media Commentary
Helle C. Dale, the Heritage Foundation’s senior fellow in public diplomacy, has a new op-ed in The Daily Signal with a strong defense of Voice of America (VOA) Mandarin Service journalists facing a hostile senior management of the taxpayer-funded entity and the dysfunctional leadership of its federal agency, the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), both still firmly in the hands of holdover officials from the previous administration.
HELLE DALE: The offense for which the Mandarin Service reporters are being punished—insubordination, in defense of a whistle-blowing program about the Chinese government—is of the kind that most journalists worth their salt would be proud of.
By contrast, the actions of management at Voice of America and the Broadcasting Board of Governors show deference to pressure from the autocratic government in Beijing, which was desperate to get the Voice of America broadcast stopped.
Unfortunately, they succeeded.
A Year Later, Still No Justice for Chinese Voice of America Journalists. By Helle Dale. The Daily Signal, May 18, 2018
Helle C. Dale is the Heritage Foundation’s senior fellow in public diplomacy. Her work focuses on the U.S. government’s institutions and programs for strategic outreach to the public of foreign countries, as well as more traditional diplomacy.