BBG Watch Commentary

We have commented that some of “Voice of America [reporting on the] 2016 Vote” was characterized by “Unprecedented Bias, Partisanship, and Sloppiness.”

We have also commented on poor leadership and mismanagement of the Voice of America by senior staff and executives of the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG). Our commentary, “Message from Voice of America Director fails to acknowledge who won U.S. Presidency,” has more details.

We have also commented that poor leadership and mismanagement over many years made the Voice of America largely irrelevant on the world media scene with “Russia’s RT, BBC beat[ing] Voice of America hands down on Trump, Clinton and Obama speeches.”

We have pointed out that some of VOA’s senior leaders and some reporters have displayed unprecedented bias and partisanship during the 2016 election campaign when we noted that “Reviled in Voice of America hit pieces, Donald Trump appears projected winner and next U.S. president.”

But it must be pointed out that the Voice of America still has some outstanding journalists who are working hard and produce excellent content. They are not responsible for the fact that VOA has lost much of its international audience, reputation, and relevancy. It is the fault of the Broadcasting Board of Governors and some of VOA’s senior leaders and mid-level managers.

Here is an example of a good, timely, balanced and interesting Voice of America news report from yesterday that meets all the requirements of the VOA Charter. It is not the fault of the VOA reporter that his excellent report has no comments on the website after being posted online for one day, that international audiences no longer flock to the VOA website or that the website looks as if it were designed in the 1980s’ Soviet Union. The John F. Lansing, Amanda Bennett and Sandy Sugawara management team should have addressed these problems, but they didn’t. There is more chaos and bias than ever before. This report, however, is an example of what VOA reporters are capable of doing even in a very difficult and hostile environment.

We hope that the new Trump Administration will carry out a major restructuring of the agency and major management reforms to make the Voice of America what is used to be before the Broadcasting Board of Governors and its bureaucracy had appeared on the scene and presided over VOA’s decline.

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VOICE OF AMERICA

Trump to Make His First Visit to White House as President-elect

Last Updated: November 10, 2016 12:13 AM

Ken Schwartz

[AP Photo Used by VOA Not Reposted]

Republican President-elect Donald Trump along with his wife, Melania Trump, greet people in the crowd after delivering his acceptance speech at the New York Hilton Midtown in New York City, Nov. 9, 2016.

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump makes his first appearance at the White House on Thursday, after his stunning upset over Hillary Clinton in Tuesday’s presidential election.

The Republican victor will meet with President Barack Obama to begin the gradual transfer of power so that Trump is ready to be sworn in January 20.

Obama campaigned hard for Clinton’s election and acknowledged Wednesday that losing is tough.

“It is no secret that the president-elect and I have some pretty significant differences,” Obama said. “But remember, eight years ago, President Bush and I had some pretty significant differences. But President Bush’s team could not have been more professional or more gracious in making sure we had a smooth transition.”

WATCH: Obama confident of peaceful transition of power

Obama said he is rooting for Trump’s success and has ordered the White House team “to work as hard as we can to make sure that this is a successful transition for the president-elect.”

Obama called the peaceful transition of power one of the hallmarks of U.S. democracy.

Secretary of State John Kerry cited the tradition of peaceful changes in leadership as he congratulated Trump on Thursday and wished him well for the “enormous challenges that he will undertake.”

“With a transition like this the issues that we face don’t go away,” Kerry said during a visit to New Zealand. “The values with which we face them are the same values the day after the election that they were the day before.”

Clinton conceded the race to Trump in a phone call early Wednesday, but held off making public comments until later in the day.

Surrounded by her family and her running mate, Tim Kaine, in New York, the usually cool Clinton choked back tears as she bade farewell to her staff and said losing her chance to be president “is painful and it will be for a long time.”

WATCH: Hillary Clinton on ‘painful’ election loss

“This is not the outcome we wanted or we worked hard for … but I feel gratitude for this wonderful campaign that we built together,” Clinton told members of the crowd, many of whom were weeping. “I know how disappointed you feel because I feel it, too, and so do the tens of millions of Americans who invested their hopes and dreams in this effort.”

Clinton told her fellow Democrats that they owe Trump “an open mind and a chance to lead,” and she wished him a successful administration.

Clinton actually beat Trump in the popular vote by more than 206,000 votes. But under the U.S. system, it is the Electoral College that decides the presidency, and with 270 electoral votes needed to win, Trump won 279 votes to Clinton’s 228.

Pre-election day polls were giving Clinton a 2- to 3-point edge over Trump.

[AFP Photo Used by VOA Not Reposted]

Republican President-elect Donald Trump delivers his acceptance speech during his election night event at the New York Hilton Midtown in New York City, Nov. 9, 2016.

But Trump prided himself on being a non-politician and a Washington outsider. He painted Clinton as someone who is an expert at manipulating the political system for personal gain, while ordinary Americans watch their jobs disappear and economic opportunities dry up.

Obama has warned that a Trump presidency would undo his eight years of progress in bringing the country out of recession and two wars.

But Trump has said a Clinton administration would be nothing but a third Obama term, and promised to bring a change from the status quo that he said voters demanded.

In Photos: Republicans, Democrats React to Vote

END OF VOA REPORT