BBG Watch Commentary
U.S. taxpayer-funded Voice of America (VOA) is trying to find balance, sort of, for its earlier Americans say they are selfish story. The new VOA story is titled: “Americans Are Givers But Some States Are Downright Stingy.”
Is it working?
Americans are paying about $200 million annually for the Voice of America to operate and about $740 million altogether for U.S. international media outreach, VOA included, overseen by the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) federal agency. Independent research shows that Americans are some of the most generous individuals in the world when it comes to charitable contributions and volunteering their time to help others.
In December, BBG Watch posted a commentary: All About America or mostly What’s Wrong About America on VOA blog?, BBG Watch, December 22, 2015.
BBG Watch commented: “When someone in the Middle East discovers by reading the “All About America” Voice of America (VOA) blog that Americans view each other as mostly “selfish” and “lazy,” unlike most Americans that person is not likely to have a point of reference to question such an opinion.
The United States happens to be the second most generous country in the world when it comes to charitable giving, according to the U.K.-based CAF America, an international nonprofit organization.
BBG Watch commented: Someone in the Middle East, in Russia or in China who is reading on the VOA blog post that “More than two-thirds (68 percent) believe the term ‘selfish’ also applies to the typical American,” may very well assume that this statement represents a true reflection of how most Americans are. When they also read on the same VOA blog that “Half of the American public says their fellow countrymen and women can aptly be described as ‘lazy’,” they may assume that this is indeed true.
Our BBG Watch commentary was about a VOA blog post titled:
Americans View Each Other As Patriotic, Honest, Selfish and Lazy, Voice of America, All About America Blog, December 18, 2015.
It seems that the Voice of America is trying to balance this post with a new one titled:
Americans Are Givers But Some States Are Downright Stingy, Voice of America, All About America Blog, January 6, 2016.
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