BBG Gone Pravda

  • February 23, 2012
BBG Watch Commentary An old Soviet-era joke went something like this: “This is Armenian Radio; our listeners asked…

Beware of Tibetan Buddhist Monks

  • February 15, 2012
BBG Watch is wondering whether the same Broadcasting Board of Governors executives who tried to reduce Radio Free Asia broadcasts to Tibet in 2007 and convinced the current BBG members to propose ending Voice of America radio to Tibet told the Board about what happened in 2007 and what might happen again now. This is what Politico reported in May, 2007, “Monks plead with Hill for Tibetan radio airtime” Their flowing red robes stood out in the sea of gray, navy and brown suits assembled for a recent hearing before the House Appropriations subcommittee on foreign operations

IBB/BBG executives cut and reduce Voice of America English and foreign language programs and positions

  • February 14, 2012
Voice of America (VOA) radio to Tibet and radio and TV in Cantonese to China to be completely eliminated under the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) proposal. As predicted by BBG Watch, in their FY2013 budget proposal, International Broadcasting Bureau (IBB) and Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) executives continue their plan to eliminate or greatly reduce numerous Voice of America (VOA) English and foreign language programs and associated jobs serving many critical countries, including China and Tibet. In what could be described as nothing less than an attempt to eliminate Voice of America as the primary source for news about America on radio and television and to reduce VOA brand name presence in many countries, IBB/BBG executives have proposed complete elimination of VOA radio broadcasts to Tibet, both radio and TV broadcasts in Cantonese to China, VOA radio to Georgia, VOA radio to Albania, and all VOA programs to Greece.

Broadcasting Board of Governors: The Good, The Bad, The Nonsensical

  • February 11, 2012
by The Federalist Ted Lipien’s recent op-ed piece in The Washington Times, “LIPIEN: VOA harms Putin opposition in Russia Faked interviews, lax Web security are signs a shakeup is needed,” took the Voice of America’s (VOA) Russian Service to the woodshed for its recent fiasco of posting a fake interview with a leading Russian opposition leader and dissident blogger.
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  • 1 minute read

Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen on 70 years of VOA broadcasting to China

  • December 22, 2011
BBG Watch is releasing a full transcript of Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen’s special video statement on the 70th anniversary of Voice of America (VOA) broadcasting to China. While her statement did appear on the VOA Chinese website, the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) Public Affairs Office refused employee requests to issue a press release on the 70th anniversary reception hosted on Capitol Hill by Congressman Dana Rohrabaher on December 6, 2011 and on the statement by the Chairwoman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
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  • 1 minute read

Capitol Hill Reception brings together supporters of Voice of America broadcasts to China – BBG Watch

  • December 9, 2011
The video from the Capitol Hill reception to mark the 70th anniversary of Voice of America broadcasts to China includes statements from the Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, who hosted the reception and introduced an amendment to save these broadcasts from being cut by the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), Congressman Chris Smith, and others. Link to video.
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  • 3 minute read

Chairman of House Committee on Foreign Affairs says Chinese people need Voice of America broadcasts – BBG Watch

  • December 9, 2011
In a special video message, the Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, congratulated the Voice of America (VOA) on the 70th anniversary of VOA broadcasting to China. The Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), a federal agency which manages VOA, tried to end all VOA radio and television broadcasts in Mandarin and Cantonese on Oct.
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  • 9 minute read

US International Broadcasting and the BBG: The Numbers Game

  • November 18, 2011
The Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) has announced that its own surveys (These are not completely independent surveys. They are produced by a contractor, InterMedia, for whom the BBG has been for years the only major client.
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  • 6 minute read

The “New” BBG Strategic Plan — The Federalist — BBG Watch

  • October 18, 2011
by The Federalist     On Friday, October 14, the Broadcasting Board of Governors put out a press release heralding its “new” alleged “strategic plan.”   Well, really, this isn’t something “new.”  It’s more a case of something being recycled and repackaged.  The goals are the same: the destruction of effective US international broadcasting.  Someone inside the Cohen Building must think they are being clever.
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  • 2 minute read

BBG’s Victor Ashe raises employee morale issues

  • October 15, 2011
In a rare move for a member of the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), a struggling federal agency which oversees U.S. government-funded news and information broadcasts for foreign audiences, BBG Governor Ambassador Victor Ashe raised the issue of employee morale at the Voice of America (VOA), one of the broadcasting entities managed by the BBG. Speaking at an open BBG meeting on October 13, 2011, Ambassador Ashe acknowledged that despite a minor improvement in the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) annual Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey results for the Broadcasting Board of Governors, BBG remains near the very bottom among all federal agencies in terms of employee morale.