[Senate Prints 111-49]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
111th Congress S. Prt.
2d Session COMMITTEE PRINT 111-49
_______________________________________________________________________
U.S. INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING:
--IS ANYBODY LISTENING?--
KEEPING THE U.S. CONNECTED
__________
A REPORT
TO THE MEMBERS
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS
UNITED STATES SENATE
One Hundred Eleventh Congress
Second Session
JUNE 9, 2010
U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
56-883 PDF WASHINGTON : 2010
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COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS
JOHN F. KERRY, Massachusetts, Chairman
CHRISTOPHER J. DODD, Connecticut RICHARD G. LUGAR, Indiana
RUSSELL D. FEINGOLD, Wisconsin BOB CORKER, Tennessee
BARBARA BOXER, California JOHNNY ISAKSON, Georgia
ROBERT MENENDEZ, New Jersey JAMES E. RISCH, Idaho
BENJAMIN L. CARDIN, Maryland JIM DeMINT, South Carolina
ROBERT P. CASEY, Jr., Pennsylvania JOHN BARRASSO, Wyoming
JIM WEBB, Virginia ROGER F. WICKER, Mississippi
JEANNE SHAHEEN, New Hampshire JAMES M. INHOFE, Oklahoma
EDWARD E. KAUFMAN, Delaware
KIRSTEN E. GILLIBRAND, New York
Frank G. Lowenstein, Staff Director
Kenneth A. Myers, Jr., Republican Staff Director
(ii)
C O N T E N T S
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Page
Letter of Transmittal............................................ v
Executive Summary................................................ 1
Findings and Recommendations..................................... 2
Introduction..................................................... 4
The Broadcasting Board of Governors: The ``Firewall'' Has Become
the ``Football''............................................... 8
Russia--Slowly Strangling the Media.............................. 10
Iran--Tough on Journalists and Technology........................ 15
China--Ever Expanding, and Now in the USA........................ 20
Alhurra TV/Radio Sawa--Finding and Keeping an Audience........... 23
Marketing--A Necessary Component and Cost to Reach New Audiences. 31
The Competition--Broadcasting Throughout the USA................. 35
Short Wave--Last Gasp or the Final Frontier...................... 36
Appendixes
Appendix A.--Country-by-Country Analysis of the BBG Products..... 43
Appendix B.--BBG Broadcast Languages............................. 75
Appendix C.--Broadcasting Board of Governors Entity Heads........ 77
Appendix D.--VOA Persian News Network Schedule (as of 3/30/10)... 81
Appendix E.--Editorials Relating to BBG.......................... 83
Appendix F.--Recent State Department Office of the Inspector
General (OIG) and Government Accountability Office (GAO)
Reports on the BBG............................................. 87
Appendix G.--Chinese Media Outlets Working in the United States.. 91
Appendix H.--Alhurra Schedule.................................... 93
Appendix I.--BBG/IBB Satellite Coverage (Affiliate/Direct ot
Home).......................................................... 97
(iii)
LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL
----------
United States Senate,
Committee on Foreign Relations,
Washington, DC, June 9, 2010.
Dear Colleagues: A key component of any nation's public
diplomacy effort is its ability to communicate with the rest of
the world--either through people-to-people initiatives or
through communications such as press briefings and
broadcasting. Modern-day U.S. broadcasting began with the
advent of the Voice of America during World War II, beamed
around the world via Short Wave radio to dissidents,
underground operatives as well as our allies. The intervening
years have resulted in a plethora of new forms of connecting
not only with those living in authoritarian regimes but with
the rest of the world as well--from FM radio to the latest uses
of social media tools available on the Internet.
In addition to multiple commercial and other foreign
government broadcasters competing with U.S. efforts, with
different forms of media have also come different methods of
repressing it. Some nations completely block American
broadcasting efforts by jamming our radio broadcasts, satellite
TV or Internet programming, while others imprison, torture, or
kill both local and international journalists.
Tasked with ensuring the U.S. message gets through is the
Broadcasting Board of Governors. The Board oversees the
operations of the Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio
Liberty, Radio Free Asia, Middle East Broadcasting Network and
the Office of Cuba Broadcasting, which together broadcast in
some 60 languages through radio, TV and the Internet. The Board
consists of eight members nominated by the President (four
Republicans and four Democrats) with the Secretary of State as
the ninth member.
Congress originally established the Board in the mid-1990s
to ensure our broadcasting operations were free from political
pressures from either end of Pennsylvania Avenue. After 15
years, however, it has become clear that the BBG, rather than
functioning as a political ``firewall,'' has become a political
``football'' as Board membership nominations have become
enmeshed and blocked due to partisan politics. The Board has
not been fully staffed since 2004, and the chairmanship has
been vacant since 2008. A consequence of this uncertainty in
leadership and direction, not surprisingly, is that the BBG has
consistently ranked at the very bottom in surveys of federal
employees' workplace satisfaction. Yet the need for robust
leadership has never been greater.
(v)
Thus, it is my hope that, by the time this report is
printed, the new Chairman and the other seven members of the
Board, nominated some 7 months ago in November 2009, will have
been confirmed by the Senate. Broadcasting issues related to
Russia, Iran, China, Zimbabwe, North Korea, Cuba and Venezuela,
where regimes do all they can to prevent our broadcasts from
getting through, all demand immediate attention, as does a
critical look at our Middle East broadcasting, where we are
struggling for market share in a media market that only grows
more crowded by the day.
With this in mind, I asked the Foreign Relations Committee
staff under the leadership of Senior Professional Staff Member
Paul Foldi to prepare the following report based on travels and
study of these vital matters. The report addresses both the
Board's staffing difficulties, as well as the key issues and
countries of concern that will confront the new Board when they
are in place. Staff have consulted widely with experts inside
and outside the government, former officials, public diplomacy
experts in Washington and around the globe, as well as
bloggers, journalists and academicians. As the title of the
report suggests, we must not only work harder at gaining
broader audiences for our programs, we also face fierce
competition to keep our listeners, viewers and readers engaged.
This is the first of several reports I have asked Mr. Foldi to
initiate this year addressing major Public Diplomacy issues,
and I hope you will find it valuable as we address these
concerns.
Sincerely,
Richard G. Lugar,
Ranking Member.
U.S. INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING
--IS ANYBODY LISTENING?--
KEEPING THE U.S. CONNECTED
----------
Executive Summary
American Public Diplomacy has always addressed two
audiences. One audience views the United States positively, as
a democracy based on the free flow of information, the freedom
of expression, civic discourse and active citizen participation
in government. This group will more often than not be
supportive of U.S. actions and initiatives, or at least give us
the benefit of the doubt. Members of the second group believe
that these strengths are, instead, weaknesses and are
predisposed to assume the worst about America; they reject--or
worse, attack--us as a result. Successful Public Diplomacy (PD)
keeps the first group engaged and increases its numbers while
reducing the size and impact of the second. Impacting both
groups are not only the actions, images and words of our own
Nation, but fierce competition from other nations whose own
interests may or may not agree with our own. One of our major
tools for connecting with these audiences is through people-to-
people exchanges; another is international broadcasting.
Once thought of only in terms of short-wave radio
broadcasts to dissidents huddled late-night over their radios,
recent technological advancements and improving standards of
living have seen a virtual explosion of other communication
outlets, from the greater use of FM radio to television, the
Internet, social media and cell phone technology. All this has,
on the one hand, greatly expanded the potential audience, but
on the other greatly strained our broadcasters' ability and
budgets to reach them.
The Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) was created by
Congress in 1994 to oversee the operations of the Voice of
America and the so-called surrogate stations: Radio Free
Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia, Radio/TV Marti, Radio
Sawa and Alhurra TV.\1\ The first Board was sworn in on August
11, 1995, with four Republican and four Democratic Governors
and the Secretary of State as the ninth member. However, since
1995, the Board has only been fully staffed for 6 of the
subsequent 15 years of operations, and has not been so since
2004. The current Board has only four members (two Republicans
and two Democrats), each of whom has been serving since 2002.
While this is well beyond the official 3-year term of office,
Board members are, by law, able to serve until replaced.\2\
Since then partisan politics on both sides have blocked almost
all further nominations.
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\1\ ``Surrogates'' is the name given to Radio Free Europe/Radio
Liberty (founded in 1949), the Office of Cuba Broadcasting (1985),
Radio Free Asia (1996) and Middle East Broadcasting Network (2004) that
the BBG oversees. The Voice of America was tasked by Congress in Public
Law 94-350 to ``represent America, not any single segment of American
society, and [VOA] will therefore present a balanced and comprehensive
projection of significant American thought and institutions (and) will
present the policies of the United States clearly and effectively.''
Surrogates are designed to provide the listeners in countries that have
limited press freedoms with the news from inside their own countries
and regions. Governments of the nations receiving these transmissions
are thus very often hostile to this information and often spend
millions of dollars trying to block or jam surrogate radio/TV and
Internet.
\2\ See Title III, Sec 304 (c) of PL 103-236; http://
frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?db
name=103_cong_bills&docid=f:h2333enr.txt.pdf.
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The Board has not had a formal chairman since June 2008
when the incumbent left to become the Under Secretary of State
for Public Diplomacy for the remainder of the Bush
administration. The Obama administration did not formally
submit candidates for a new Board until November 2009, but
action on them is still pending as this report was going to
print. This is especially unfortunate because the changing
circumstances that have confronted the BBG since the current
Board members were emplaced in 2002, both technical and
geopolitical in nature, require immediate attention; attention
the current Board is understandably reluctant to address given
the nominations waiting in the wings.
One of these issues is the growing concern over the ability
of U.S. broadcasters to reach their desired audiences.
Sometimes this is due to crowded media markets, such as in the
Middle East, where our voice is one among many. Other times,
our voice is silenced or suppressed, including in China, Iran,
and Russia, which use intimidation to prevent local affiliates
from carrying U.S. programming or use sophisticated
technologies to shut down satellites, jam radio transmissions
or block Internet sites. Each of these issues requires its own
response, but without a new Board in place providing
appropriate direction and guidance, these difficulties will
only grow more pronounced. This report seeks to expand upon
these issues for consideration by Congress and by the Board.
Findings and Recommendations
The Broadcasting Board of Governors sets the
policies and provides necessary oversight of U.S.
broadcasting operations. The average vacancy rate for a
seat on the Board is more than 470 days (one seat has
been vacant for more than 4 years). The Senate needs to
confirm the current slate of nominees for the
Broadcasting Board of Governors to provide needed
leadership and guidance. Going forward, Presidents
should move with dispatch to fill vacancies and should
prioritize nominees with substantial international
broadcasting experience. In the medium term, Congress
must decide whether it is time to consider another
management structure if Board staffing difficulties
persist.
Alhurra--the U.S. 24-hour Arabic television news
channel--is expensive, and with the exception of Iraq,
little watched elsewhere in this vital region.
Alhurra's budget of some $90 million surpasses the
combined budgets of Radio Free Asia ($37 million),
Radio/TV Marti ($30 million) and VOA's Persian News
Network Television ($17 million). Given the crowded
media environment of the Middle East, either greater
resources must be devoted to marketing and promotion or
additional programming changes must be enacted in
pursuit of increasing the channel's market share.
Should these efforts fail to improve the overall
viewership levels, policy makers will have to decide if
continuing Alhurra's operations is worth the costs.
The Chinese Government has issued only two work
visas for Voice of America Beijing-based correspondents
since 2009 and, for over a year, has blocked VOA from
opening a bureau in Shanghai. By contrast, China's
state-run media organization--Xinhua News--has some 75
correspondents based in the United States. Since 2007,
the U.S. Government has issued some 2,900 press visas
to Chinese journalists and media personnel.
Journalists in Russia are routinely abducted,
tortured, and murdered with virtual impunity. The
number of Russian radio stations carrying Radio Free
Europe's Russian service broadcasting has declined
precipitously from over 30 stations in 2001 to
currently 5; VOA's dropped from 85 in 2003 to just one
by 2009 as the Russian Government successfully silenced
most BBG broadcasts by simply refusing to renew Russian
radio station licenses unless U.S. programming was
dropped. The State Department should raise this issue
at the highest levels in its meetings and should
monitor closely rising attempts to block BBG Internet
sites.
In Asia, according to the human rights NGO Freedom
House, the six countries served by Radio Free Asia are
experiencing steadily dwindling levels of press
freedom, with none currently ranked higher than 132 out
of 195 countries. RFA, set up in 1994 with the hope
that the post-cold-war tide of democracy and
liberalization would soon sweep Asia, was authorized
only on a temporary basis. Congress should permanently
authorize Radio Free Asia to recognize the unfortunate
reality of press freedom in Asia, and put RFA on a
legislative par with Radio Free Europe, Cuba
Broadcasting, and Middle East Broadcasting.
The BBG's Arabic-language Radio Sawa has an hourly
format of 45 minutes of music with 15 minutes of news.
As a result, Sawa was deemed heretical by many ``news-
only'' advocates within the BBG when it appeared in
2002, yet Sawa quickly became popular with the ``under
30'' youth-bulge deemed critical in that region,
virtually none of whom had listened to VOA's Arabic
radio programming. Over time though, as its format has
been copied by local stations, Sawa's listenership has
declined by 25 percent. Greater funding for marketing
or a change in formats may be needed.
While Radio Free Asia is tasked with reaching a
population of over 1 billion people, its marketing
budget for fiscal year 2009 was less than $2,000. The
Middle East Broadcasting Network, which oversees
Alhurra TV and Radio Sawa, has seen its marketing
budget fluctuate wildly from a few thousand dollars in
2005 and 2006 to $100,000 in 2007, back to $5,000 in
2008 to over $1 million in 2009. Such inconsistencies
wreak havoc with any long-term attempts to capture
market share and must be addressed.\3\
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\3\ This report was released June 9, 2010; on July 7, 2010,
following unanimous passage by both the Senate and House, President
Obama signed S. 3104, sponsored by Senator Lugar, that permanently
authorized Radio Free Asia.
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The Government of Iran continues to attempt to jam
both VOA's Persian News Network TV (which uses multiple
satellite systems to prevent a total shutdown) and
Radio Free Europe's Persian-language ``Radio Farda.''
In February 2010, the Iranian Government arrested seven
journalists who had merely held job interviews with
Farda. Efforts to ensure that our programming gets
through should remain a high priority.
Critics note that some BBG entities have allowed
individuals opposed to U.S. policy to air their views
without any rebuttal or balanced context. While
allowing such vitriol to go uncontested is clearly poor
journalism, such occurrences have been the rare
exception, not the norm. Nonetheless, in order for the
BBG to be credible to its audience and draw in not just
those who already agree with U.S. policy, its networks
must be permitted to present both sides of an argument.
Congress should revisit the Smith-Mundt legislation,
which was passed originally in 1948 and later amended,
which bans U.S. Government broadcasting within the U.S.
for fear the government would unduly influence its own
citizens. Today, however, Russia and China and other
entities currently broadcast in English in the United
States. Additionally, recent Arabic-speaking immigrants
to the United States are able to watch Al Jazeera but
prevented by Smith-Mundt from viewing Alhurra. These
realities, coupled with the rise of the Internet, which
enables computer users in the U.S. to receive video and
audio streams of BBG broadcasts and readily access BBG
Web sites, demonstrate that aspects of the legislation
are both anachronistic and potentially harmful.
As part of its FY 2011 budget submission, the BBG
has proposed closing its last U.S.-based short wave
broadcasting facility, located in Greenville, North
Carolina. The Board estimates a $3.2 million dollar
savings as a result of this closure. While there is no
question that audience for short-wave is decreasing in
some countries, policymakers need to decide if
shuttering the only remaining SW facility on American
soil makes strategic sense. Additionally, while the
U.S. has been jettisoning its shortwave frequencies,
cutting some 60 stations in the last 10 years, China
has been doing the exact opposite, almost doubling its
number to 284 in the same period.
Introduction
Greater official U.S. interest in Public Diplomacy began in
the wake of 9/11 with the rise of the ``Why do they hate us?''
introspection. The imperative was to ``move the needle'' as
quickly as possible from ``Hate the United States'' to, if not
exactly ``Love'' at least, ``Like'' the U.S. The main vehicle
was to be Public Diplomacy (PD), defined here as a government's
attempt to engage the local population of a country directly,
rather than through official interactions with a host
government. PD has many facets: from government sponsored
educational exchanges, cultural events, sports and science
envoys, to public statements and official actions.
International broadcasting is an integral part of U.S. PD.
As the Government Accountability Office charts below show,
American PD funding is divided between various offices between
the State Department and the Broadcasting Board of Governors.
In Fiscal Year 2008, Broadcasting received 43 percent of the PD
budget, but in FY2010 this figure had fallen to 40 percent,
though funding for almost all of the individual accounts was
increased.\4\
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\4\ FY 2008 chart from Government Accountability Office Report
http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d09679sp.pdf FY 2010 was prepared for this
report by the GAO.
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In the BBG, there are five main broadcasting entities: the
Voice of America (VOA) which was established in 1942,\5\ Radio
Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) in 1949,\6\ the Office of
Cuba Broadcasting (OCB) in 1983,\7\ Radio Free Asia (RFA) in
1996\8\ and the Middle East Broadcasting Network (MBN) in
2004.\9\ VOA is intended to provide its listeners with news and
information about the United States, the world and the
particular region to which it is broadcasting. The surrogates
are intended to focus their reporting on the news from inside
the countries they are broadcasting to. In reality, each does a
little of both to the point that some are questioning whether
one or the other is necessary.\10\
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\5\ VOA was first under the Office of War Information, moved to the
State Department from 1945-53, and then located in the U.S. Information
Agency. In 1999 when USIA was absorbed by the State Department, VOA and
the surrogate stations were kept out of the State Department and left
under the control of the Broadcasting Board of Governors (which had
been overseeing U.S. broadcasting from within USIA since 1995) which
then became an independent entity. BBG and VOA headquarters are in
Washington, DC, with transmission facilities around the world.
\6\ RFE/RL, based in Prague, Czech Republic currently broadcasts to
21 countries in 28 languages, though it is now far afield, with
broadcasts now also to Iraq and Iran (since 1998), Afghanistan (2002)
and the Pakistan border area (2010).
\7\ PL 98-111 The Radio Broadcasting to Cuba Act created ``Radio
Marti'' in 1983 as a surrogate station, distinct from any VOA
transmissions to Cuba. Radio Marti went on the air in 1985, ``TV
Marti'' began operations in 1990. Both services are currently located
in Miami, Florida.
\8\ RFA, located in Washington, was created in 1994 by PL103-236
and began broadcasting in 1997. It currently broadcasts to Burma,
Cambodia, China, Laos, North Korea, Tibet and Vietnam in major and
local dialects.
\9\ The Middle East Broadcast Networks includes Alhurra TV and
Radio Sawa. Radio Sawa began broadcasting 24 hours a day on March 23,
2002. Alhurra began transmission on February 14, 2004. MBN is located
in Springfield, VA a suburb of Washington, DC.
\10\ Typically, it is the surrogates complaining that VOA's
language services are focusing more and more on local content.
Nonetheless, VOA's Afghan service (Radio Ashna) and RFE/RL's Radio
Azadi work well in tandem, with Ashna broadcasting American and
international news for 12 hours in the evening, followed by Azadi
covering 12 hours of local news. See Appendix A for a country-by-
country analysis of the BBG products for each country including the
number of hours, method of transmission and languages. Interestingly,
the VOA's main webpage contains links to RFE/RL and RFA, but not Radio/
TV Marti or MBN; RFE/RL links only to the BBG's main page; RFA links to
VOA and BBG; Marti links to none; MBN's Alhurra links only to Sawa (and
vice versa). Appendix B lists all the languages BBG broadcasts in.
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FY 2008 Diplomacy Spending
Source: State Department and BBG.
As the chart above suggests, funding for U.S. broadcasting
has seen steady, and in some cases significant, increases.\11\
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\11\ Since 2001, the BBG has been the beneficiary of increases in
funding, with its annual budget rising from roughly $425 million to
over $750 million. This has come, in large part at the direction of
Congress, as a result of launching a host of new channels. During this
same time, BBG believes its global audiences has climbed some 70
percent from 100 million weekly to over 170 million. The one recent
exception to these increases is the Office of Cuba Broadcasting's
Radio/TV Marti as Congressional critics and the General Accountability
Office have questioned its effectiveness. See: http://www.gao.gov/
new.items/d09127.pdf and http://foreign.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/
56157.pdf
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Recent years have also seen a much more harmonious
relationship between civilian and military Public Diplomacy
efforts. This willingness to share, rather than stovepipe,
resources was perhaps best displayed during the aftermath of
the January 2010 earthquake in Haiti when the military loaned
one of its Lockheed EC-130 ``Commando Solo'' communications
planes to the relief operation for four weeks. The plane
enabled the Voice of America's Creole service to transmit for
10 hours on 4 FM and 1 AM frequency during the day as virtually
all of Haiti's radio towers or stations had been severely
damaged or destroyed.\12\
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\12\ See http://edition.cnn.com/2010/TECH/01/26/haiti.flying.radio/
index.html#cnnSTCText. At night, powerful AM transmitters from Florida
were able to carry VOA throughout Haiti, obviating the need for
nighttime flights as, due to atmospheric conditions, AM has a much
longer range after sunset.
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This report will examine what tools the BBG is using to
accomplish its mission, what the challenges are and what have
been the latest innovations. At the same time it will examine
how other countries are approaching these issues in hopes of
providing policy makers with a better understanding of how our
efforts compare and compete in the global marketplace of
information and public diplomacy.\13\
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\13\ Appendix C provides a list of current and previous BBG entity
directors.
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The Broadcasting Board of Governors:
The ``Firewall'' Has Become the ``Football''
The Broadcasting Board of Governors was created by Congress
in 1994 as an independent agency to be a bi-partisan buffer to
potential political interference and to ensure its products
were objective and balanced. To that end, Congress created an
eight-member board evenly split along party lines, with the
Secretary of State as the ninth member and one of the eight
(from the party in the White House) nominated as Chairman.\14\
As then-BBG Chairman Marc Nathanson said in 2001:
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\14\ Board members receive no salary, and are only paid for travel
and per diem expenses while they are on Board business.
It is our responsibility to serve as a firewall between the
international broadcasters and the policy-making institutions
in the foreign affairs community, both in here in Washington
and overseas. This is a responsibility we take very seriously.
Because at the end of the day, it is precisely by providing
accurate news and information--sought and trusted by people
around the world--that we earn and keep our credibility.\15\
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\15\ http://ibb7-2.ibb.gov/bbg/board.html#nathanson
However vacancies have plagued the Board, and as the chart
below demonstrates, it has not been at full strength since
2004. Much of this has been due to both parties in the Senate
playing politics with Board nominations. Currently, the four
Board members, each of whom was confirmed in 2002, are serving
well beyond their three-year term of office; should any one of
them resign, the Board would no longer have a quorum. In spite
of this, it was not until November 19, 2009, that the Obama
administration nominated a full slate of eight candidates to
form a new Board.\16\ To date, none has been confirmed by the
Senate.\17\
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\16\ The nominees submitted by the White House are listed below,
confusingly, the party affiliations of each nominee do not always
correspond with the incumbent; additionally, terms have been staggered
for terms of one, two or three years in order to maintain continuity:
Victor H. Ashe (R) (term expiring 8/13/2010) vice James K.
Glassman (R);
Walter Isaacson (D) (term expiring 8/13/2012) vice Steven J.
Simmons (R) (Isaacson also replacing Glassman as Chair);
Michael Lynton (D) (term expiring 8/13/2012) vice Mark McKinnon
(R);
Susan McCue (D) (term expiring 8/13/2011) vice Joaquin F. Blaya
(D);
Michael P. Meehan (D) (term expiring 8/13/2010) vice Jeffrey
Hirschberg (D);
Dennis Mulhaupt (R) (term expiring 8/13/2011) vice Blanquita
Walsh Cullum (R);
Dana M. Perino (R) (term expiring 8/13/2012) vice Edward E.
Kaufman (D); and
S. Enders Wimbush (R) (term expiring 8/13/2010) vice Norman J.
Pattiz (D).
\17\ This report was initially released on June 9, 2010. The
nominees were finally confirmed by the full Senate on June 30, 2010.
As the chart on page 11 shows, as of June 9, 2010, the
average vacancy for a Board position is over 470 days, with one
position vacant for over four years. We must acknowledge that a
structure that was created to be a political ``firewall'' has
in fact become a political ``football.'' Unless the situation
changes rapidly, it is time to consider a replacement structure
to the Board to carry out its vital functions.
This chronic dysfunction of the confirmation process has
had a profound impact on our broadcasting efforts. The current
Board clearly knows that its time is limited and is therefore
understandably hesitant to make changes that the incoming
nominees may or may not agree with. Similarly, this lack of
direction or certainty of leadership has greatly eroded the
morale of BBG employees.
A 2008 survey of federal workers in 37 agencies found the
BBG ranked last in indexes for Leadership and Knowledge
Management, Results-Oriented Performance Culture, Talent
Management, and second to last on Job Satisfaction. Perhaps
even more telling, these results were exactly the same from the
2006 version of the survey.\18\
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\18\ Survey results can be found here: http://
www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/documents/
leadership_and_knowledge_index.pdf (Note: RFE/RL, RFA or MBN employees
were not part of the survey.)
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As detailed below, the plethora of challenges confronting
U.S. broadcasting are daunting and deserve immediate attention,
and cannot be allowed to fester. If the Senate truly believes
that such bi-partisan boards provide an effective management
and oversight tool, the new Board should be confirmed. If the
Senate feels otherwise, then perhaps the time has come to
abolish the Board and create a different entity that will have
greater Congressional confidence.
Russia--Slowly Strangling the Media
The ever tightening censorship of the Russian media by the
state has been well documented.\19\ Starting in 1993 under
Russian President Yeltsin, through Vladimir Putin to Dmitry
Medvedev, some 200 journalists have been killed, with most
murders remaining unsolved (including the most infamous cases
to date, the 2004 murder of American Paul Klebnikov and the
2006 murder of Anna Politkovskaya), and with many mysteriously
falling from their windows in alleged suicides or in police
custody.\20\ Freedom House's Freedom of the Press Index
downgraded Russia's rank from 147 in its 2004 Index to 174 out
of 195 in 2009.\21\
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\19\ See the recent ``Russia Fears Crackdown on Freedom'' from May,
6, 2010 http://rbth.ru/articles/2010/05/06/russia--fears--crackdown--
freedom.html; the 2002 International Federation of Journalists
Condemnation on Russian Crackdown on Media Reporting of Chechen
Militants http://www.ifj.org/en/articles/ifj-condemns-russian-
crackdown-on-media-reporting-of-chechen-mil
itants- ;
\20\ ``Russian Journalist Dies After Beating in Police Custody''
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/jan/21/journalist-safety-russia;
``Investigative Journalist Killed'' http://www.usatoday.
com/news/world/2006-10-07-russia-journalist--x.htm; ``Forbes' Russian
Editor Shot Dead'' http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/
news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aBbb15QXw0cE&refer=top_world_news-
redirectoldpage; a comprehensive list can be found here: http://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_
journalists_killed_in_Russia
\21\ http://www.freedomhouse.org/uploads/fop09/FoP2009--World--
Rankings.pdf While some criticize Freedom House as simply an arm of the
U.S. government and therefore biased, it is worth noting that the 2009
Index ranked the U.S. #24 on its Press Freedom Index (tied with
Lithuanian and the Czech Republic) and below such countries as
Portugal, Jamaica and Germany.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty was founded in 1949 largely
to broadcast to the Soviet Union and its East European
satellites the news and events going on inside their own
borders. With the fall of the Berlin Wall, the onset of
democratic elections and democratic practices--combined with
mounting budgetary pressures and demands for individual
language services for many of the former Soviet Republics--much
of RFE/RL's service in Eastern Europe (with the exception of
the Balkan nations, Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova) has ended.
Free press issues in the Caucuses (Georgia, Armenia and
Azerbaijan) as well as the former Central Asian Republics of
the Soviet Union (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan,
Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan) also kept RFE/RL busy and relevant
throughout the 1990s, as of course, did Russia.\22\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\22\ See http://www.rferl.org/ for further breakdowns on all of
RFE/RL's language services.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Because of changing Russian consumer tastes, and a brief
window of press freedoms, RFE/RLwas able to arrange for
affiliate agreements with a variety of Russian FM channels to
carry the Russian-language station Radio ``Svoboda''
(``Freedom/Liberty''). By 2002, over 30 radio stations
throughout Russia's nine time zones carried Svoboda, but as the
chart below demonstrates, the situation rapidly deteriorated.
Russian officials never banned Svoboda outright. Rather, radio
stations seeking a renewal of their licenses were simply told
that the process would transpire much more smoothly if the RFE/
RL's programming agreements were not renewed. Currently, only
four stations carry Svoboda and most are in marginalized areas.
Its lone Moscow AM station is hampered by low voltage and the
prevalence of overhead electric tram lines which create
significant signal distortions at street level.
Radio Free Europe's Central Newsroom in Prague
RFE was not alone in broadcasting to Russia, as VOA's
Russian service was, for a while, even more successful in its
number of affiliates than RFE. However, effective efforts by
Moscow authorities to similarly silence VOA affiliates led to
VOA canceling its radio service in frustration, relying instead
only on the Internet.\23\ The fact that the Board did not even
issue a press release announcing the cancelation galled many.
The fact that the decision was effected on July 26, 2008, by
chance less than two weeks before the August 7 Russian invasion
of Georgia, only made the situation worse.\24\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\23\ The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), too, was forced
off FM, though a year earlier, in August 2007, see: http://
www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2007/08--august/17/
moscow.shtml which tells the tale of BBC's Moscow FM station ``Bolshoye
Radio'' being forced off the air ``The owners of Bolshoye Radio . . .
have told representatives of the BBC Russian Service that they are
required to remove BBC programming at the request of Russian licensing
authorities, or risk the station being taken off-air.''
\24\ Following the invasion of Georgia, the BBG surged its Georgian
language broadcasting. Currently, VOA broadcasts 14 hours in SW/week to
Georgia, while RFE/RL offers four hours of radio/day via satellite,
with both offering constant Internet updates.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Perhaps the Board decided to let VOA Russian go silently
into the night in order not to allow the Russians to ``declare
victory,'' but it was a missed opportunity to call the world's
attention to a growing threat to a vital component of real
democracies--a press that is able to tell the truth without
fear of harassment, suppression or worse.
Currently, as the chart above shows, VOA is totally
Internet based. As the chart below from May 2010 of Russian-
language websites indicates, this may not be such a bad
investment as viewing of VOA's Russian stories on YouTube have
been strong, and VOA also just launched in March 2010 a website
for mobile phone users: http://ru.voa.mobi/.\25\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\25\ http://blogs.rnw.nl/medianetwork/voa-launches-website-for-
russian-mobile-phone-users.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Russian Language Sites
Iran--Tough on Journalists and Technology
The U.S. relationship with the Iranian people is a
complicated one. Personal and professional links and positive
memories of the United States in the older generations, many of
whom were educated in American universities, have trickled down
to Iranian youth, even as official media routinely denounces
America as ``The Great Satan.''\26\ Nonetheless, with almost
half of Iran's population having been born since the 1979
revolution, greater engagement with this segment of the
population is essential for American Public Diplomacy.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\26\ See ``Iran's Love Affair With America'' http://
www.csmonitor.com/2007/0119/p09s02-coop.html; 77 percent of Iranians
favor normal relations with the U.S. in June 2009 poll of 1,000
Iranians in: http://www.terrorfreetomorrow.org/upimagestft/TFT
percent20Iran percent20Survey percent20Report percent200609.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Without any formal diplomatic relations with Iran, the U.S.
has nonetheless been engaging in people-to-people diplomacy.
From 2006-8, using sports such as basketball, ping-pong and
wrestling, American and Iranian teams have quietly been
competing internationally but also participating in tournaments
in each other's country.\27\ (However, since 2009 four similar
sports exchanges were planned, only to be quashed by the
Iranian Foreign Ministry.) Similarly, American universities
have begun to initiate small-scale efforts to try to bring
Iranian students to the U.S. for long-term studies.
Additionally, from 2006-8, 18 Iranian university students were
part of a U.S. government program that brought them to American
universities to study English, and they served as Persian
language teaching assistants in U.S. classrooms (more recent
programs were likewise canceled by Iran). In spite of the fact
that Iranian youth face prolonged visa processing times, they
have been eager to re-engage with Americans via such routes.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\27\ http://www.america.gov/st/sports-english/2008/July/
200807241441550pnativel0.19125.html; http://www.payvand.com/news/08/
jul/1240.html;http://www.america.gov/st/washfile-english/2007/January/
20070125154816attocnich0.453747.html.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Iran's complex culture is often overly-simplified in
attempts to isolate a government that bent on acquiring nuclear
capabilities regardless of the economic and diplomatic costs.
Iranian love of technology ensured that even software issues
with Apple's iPhone were quickly resolved when the phone was
first released, and smuggled phones were fetching upwards of
$1,400 each.\28\ VOA has recognized this love of technology and
created an ``app'' for Apple's iPhone as well as the latest
Android/Google phone that allows Iranians to upload videos from
their phones directly to VOA's Persian News Network (PNN)--thus
making anyone with such a device a roving journalist.\29\ This
is particularly useful for PNN, for it--unlike most of VOA's
other stations--focuses heavily on TV broadcasts, given that in
Iran, some 94 percent of the population say they get their news
from television, while only 35 percent report they use radio
for news.\30\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\28\ http://www.hadifarnoud.ir/unlock-iphone; http://asia.cnet.com/
blogs/cyberpersia/post.htm?id=
63000621.
\29\ VOA's PNN was established in 1979 as a radio service, PNN TV
began in 2007. See PPN's iPhone app here: http://itunes.apple.com/us/
app/voa-pnn/id348178315?mt=8.
\30\ PNN broadcasts 35 hours of radio a week--one hour original in
the morning, then four hours of audio stream of PNNTV in the evening--
vice a total of 168 hours of TV a week.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
PNN broadcasts to Iran are currently carried on 7
Frequencies on 6 different satellites in order to avoid
complete jamming by the Iranian authorities. Its 24-hour
coverage is entirely live from 6pm local time to midnight.
These programs are then repeated from midnight to 6pm the next
day, except for an additional live hour of morning news from 6-
7am (for a total of 49 hours a week of original
programming).\31\ The BBG claims that 2009 research shows that
PNN ``commands a weekly TV audience of 29.9 percent of adults
in Iran'' (some 13 million people); however a 2010 BBG survey
now has this number down to 20 percent.\32\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\31\ A complete PNN schedule can be found in Appendix D. To mark
the one-year anniversary of the June 2009 disputed presidential
elections, PNN, in conjunction with HBO, is showing the documentary
``For Neda'' about Neda Agha-Soltan, the young Iranian who became a
symbol of Iran's post-election protests when images of her dying
moments were captured on cell phones and shown around the world, as
well as making the film available on its website. Greater leveraging of
public-private cooperation would provide U.S. broadcasters with much
needed content.
\32\ See p. 16 of the BBG's FY2011 Budget Submission for the 2009
figure: http://www.bbg.gov/reports/documents/
BBGFY2011CONGBudgetSubmission-ForInternetPost.pdf. The BBG believes the
decline in 2010 was most likely due to increased jamming and greater
reluctance on the part of Iranians to admitting to watching foreign
broadcasts in an ever-increasingly repressive environment. The same
study, a May 5, 2010 poll conducted by Intermedia and shared with
Committee staff, shows BBC-Persian at only 10.2 percent. However, BBC
was the only service in the poll, which included Iranian news media as
well, that saw an increase from 2009, when BBC was at 2.5 percent. This
increase suggests that PNN may be facing some stiff competition in the
future.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
U.S. broadcasting has thus empowered and elevated average
Iranian citizens by enabling them to share with the world
Tehran's repression of their democratic efforts. As a result,
the Iranian regime has gone to great and repeated lengths to
block not only U.S., but many other western media outlets from
transmitting into Iran.\33\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\33\ See the BBC's June 2009 complaints: http://www.guardian.co.uk/
media/2009/jun/17/iran-bbc-jamming-bloggers-revolutionary-guard; the
Broadcasting Board of Governors' December 2009 condemnation of Iranian
jamming of PNN and Radio Farda: http://www.bbg.gov/pressroom/
pressreleases-article.cfm?articleID=443; the February 12, 2010 joint
VOA-BBC-Deutsche Welle joint release calling for an end to jamming:
http://en.irangreenvoice.com/article/2010/feb/12/1132; finally the
March 26, 2010 call by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU)
for Iran to stop jamming: http://www.unmultimedia.org/radio/english/
detail/92866.html.
In addition to PNN, which broadcasts from Washington, Radio
Free Europe/Radio Liberty's Persian-language Radio ``Farda''
(``Tomorrow'') broadcasts from RFE/RL's headquarters in Prague.
Farda's programming is a mix of news and entertainment with
over half the day devoted to news and information programs
including talk shows and features, with some 45 percent of the
time devoted to cultural programming and music. Farda reaches
Iran either through AM radio transmissions from the United Arab
Emirates (1575 AM) or through numerous shortwave stations, in
addition to the Internet.\34\ Tehran routinely blocks Farda's
radio and Internet, with Farda relying on proxy servers to get
around this where possible.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\34\ PNN is also heavily invested in the Internet, and according to
the BBG, during the election crisis in 2009, some 400,000 visitors
viewed their webpages on a daily basis; See page 70 of the FY2011 BBG
Budget Submission http://www.bbg.gov/reports/documents/BBGFY2011CONG
BudgetSubmission-ForInternetPost.pdf See http://flashvideo.rferl.org/
Flashmaps/en-US/coverageOneWin/default.htm for RFE/RL's excellent
interactive map which denotes its coverage in each country including
and from where it broadcasts.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
In spite of this clear animosity the Iranian regime feels
for American programming, critics of U.S. broadcasting have
expressed concerns that PNN is in fact the ``Voice of Mullahs''
for offering airtime to two commentators who were critical of
U.S. policies towards Iran and for PNN's failure to present
opposing views.\35\ Other critics of PNN and Radio Farda take
the exact opposite view, arguing that PNN/Farda, and many other
U.S. surrogate stations, are simply classic ``emigre media''
staffed by those forced out of their homeland, and therefore
incapable and unwilling to portray anything but the worst
aspects of their native lands--with the consequence, the
critics argue, that listeners will quickly turn them off for
being viewed as ``mouthpieces'' of the U.S. government.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\35\ The VOA responded by noting that they in fact offered equal
air time to opposing views to each commentator one of whom was an
opposition journalist and the other a U.S.-based expert who had
testified before Congress on the effectiveness of sanctions against
Iran. See Washington Times ``Mouthpiece of the Mullahs'' April 14,
2010: http: / / www.washingtontimes.com / news / 2010 / apr /14 /
voice-of-the-mullahs/ and VOA's rebuttal of April 19 http: / / www.wash
ingtontimes.com / news / 2010/apr/19/voas-persian-news-aims-for-
objectivity/ both of which are printed in full in Appendix E of this
report. U.S. government oversight of BBG services is extensive and
conducted by both the State Department's Office of the Inspector
General (OIG) and the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the
latter of which reports directly to Congress. Appendix F has lists and
links of OIG and GAO reports on the BBG and its services.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The first type of criticism of PNN underscores an issue
that has bedeviled U.S. broadcasting for years. Some feel that
our efforts should only be used to tell the U.S. side of a
story, due in part because most other media outlets in the
world are heavily biased against the U.S. and its foreign
policy. Others, most of whom do not dispute the anti-U.S. bias
charge, believe that in order for U.S. broadcasts to gain and
retain audiences, they must be true to the Broadcasting
Standards and Principles and Standards as codified in law \36\
including:
\36\ 22 U.S.C. 6202--The law is even more specific for VOA: ``To be
effective, the Voice of America must win the attention and respect of
listeners.These principles will therefore govern Voice of America (VOA)
broadcasts: (1) VOA will serve as a consistently reliable and
authoritative source of news. VOA news will be accurate, objective, and
comprehensive. (2) VOA will represent America, not any single segment
of American society, and will therefore present a balanced and
comprehensive projection of significant American thought and
institutions. (3) VOA will present the policies of the United States
clearly and effectively, and will also present responsible discussions
and opinion on these policies.'' http://vlex.com/vid/sec-standards-and-
principles-19202272.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
News which is consistently reliable and authoritative,
accurate, objective, and comprehensive.
A balanced and comprehensive projection of United States
thought and institutions, reflecting the diversity of
United States culture and society.
``Objective'' news must, by definition, offer both sides of
an issue, even if the other side runs contrary to U.S. policy.
BBG Governor Jeffrey Hirschberg responded in an October 15,
2009 hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee when
asked about the value of U.S. Broadcasting in terms of creating
positive trends towards the United States and its foreign
policies:
The BBG does not do messaging. Our broadcasters do not do
messaging. So if you are asking for a one-to-one correlation as
to whether or not for every dollar we spend we can change
hearts and minds, we cannot do that for you. We cannot give you
that. That research is not available to us. But what is
available to us is that we know we have an impact. We know that
people like our broadcasting. We know that people listen to our
broadcasting. We know that people call into our broadcasting.
We know that they participate. We know that we are engaging
their publics in a way and through targeted research that has
never been done before. So from that standpoint, we think that
indirectly we do have that kind of impact that you are looking
for.\37\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\37\ Full testimony and video of the hearing available here: http:/
/foreign.senate.gov/hearings/hearing/?id=673071c8-9c31-1adf-c848-
9eef0ff7ca92.
As President Kennedy's first director of the U.S. Information
Service, and noted journalist Edward R. Murrow stated, ``To be
persuasive, we must be believable, to be believable we must be
credible.'' Many would also argue to be credible we must be
willing to air the views of those who do not always agree with
us.
The other group of critics charges that, what they perceive
to be, the very one-sided nature of such services will limit
the ability of U.S. broadcasting to gain larger audiences as
only those already pre-disposed against a regime will tune in.
This is a classic issue faced by surrogate broadcasting
efforts. Such services are used when a government restricts
freedom of the media. Any government that does this most often
represses its citizens in other ways; thus, any such government
is unlikely to have many praiseworthy qualities. However, some
say, if U.S. broadcasting only focuses on the negative
audiences, often tire of this ``Johnny-one-note'' approach and
turn to other sources instead. Hence the conundrum, how to
inform listeners and ensure they will keep listening.
While Farda's almost-half music/entertainment format would
seem to suggest the opposite, when asked to provide examples of
stories that would refute this ``preaching to the choir''
format, Committee staff were provided with the example of
Farda's coverage of a recent Tehran film festival--where the
story's focus was not on the films being shown, but the films
that had been banned by the government.\38\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\38\ To broaden its audience appeal, Farda launched at the end of
May 2010 a satirical radio program ``Pas Farda'' (``The Day After
Tomorrow'') from Prague that will run Saturday-Wednesday (10pm-11pm)
and be hosted by a former Iranian radio personality who ran afoul of
the authorities some three years ago for a similar program. ``Pas
Farda'' has been likened to a ``radio version of the Daily Show.'' RFE/
RL hopes the popular host--Farshid Manafi--will pull in larger
audiences.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Working for a U.S. broadcasting entity is not without its
risks. In February 2010 Iran arrested 7 Iranian journalists on
suspicion of working for a ``counter-revolutionary Zionist
satellite station.'' \39\ In fact, of those arrested, most had
only interviewed with RFE/RL and had not even been offered a
job. However, because those interviews had been conducted
outside Iran in countries thought to be ``safe,'' the arrests
sent a chill down Radio Farda's collective spine as it became
clear that Iranian authorities had been able to access either
Farda's Internet or phone service. RFE/RL has taken steps to
address these issues, but no doubt the Tehran government will
not stop its efforts to infiltrate or hack into U.S.
broadcasters.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\39\ See ``Iran widens journalist crackdown before demonstrations''
in http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2010/0210/Iran-widens-
journalist-crackdown-before-demonstrations
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
As part of its FY 2011 budget submission, the BBG is
proposing, ``given shifting media consumption towards
television and the Internet'' ending radio simulcasts/
rebroadcasts of PNN television programming and one hour daily
of original VOA Persian radio, for a savings of some $1
million. As of May 2010, both PNN and Radio Farda seem to be
using social media more effectively than other Persian-language
sites.
Persian Language Sites
China--Ever Expanding, and Now in the USA
While the biggest news regarding China in 2010 was the
January attack on Google's China-based operations and Google's
eventual decision to relocate its operations to Hong Kong
rather than abide by Beijing's Internet restrictions,\40\ China
continued its PD outreach activities apace.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\40\ http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/19/technology/
19china.html?ref=world. Secretary of State Clinton's assertion that
China restricts the Internet access of its citizens and her call for a
full Chinese investigation into the attack on Google during her January
21, 2010 speech on Internet Freedom in Washington, DC (http://
www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2010/01/135519.htm) met with a harsh rebuke
from the Chinese Foreign Ministry which urged the United States to
``respect facts and stop attacking China under the excuse of the so-
called freedom of Internet.'' See: http://www.fmprc.gov.cn/eng/xwfw/
s2510/t653351.htm. A similar charge by the MFA was leveled at the U.S.
following the President's May 2, 2010 Statement on World Press Freedom
Day which stated `` . . . governments like China, Ethiopia, Iran and
Venezuela curtailed freedom of expression by limiting full access to
and use of'' the Internet; http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/
statement-president-world-press-freedom-day to which the Chinese MFA
retorted. ``We urge the U.S. to respect the facts, view China's press
freedom correctly and stop groundless accusations against China,''
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/china/2010-05/07/c_13282468.htm.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
China's ever-expanding PD efforts have deservedly garnered
increasing attention. Many point to the 2008 Summer Olympics as
the catalyst for Beijing's efforts. Having spent some $44
Billion for three weeks of worldwide coverage, China is now
spending over $50 Billion for six months worth of attention at
the 2010 Shanghai World Expo.\41\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\41\ The 2010 Shanghai Expo, and its implications and impact of
such expos on U.S. Public Diplomacy and how the United States
approaches them, will be the subject of a separate Committee report.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
China's push for greater engagement was also made clear by
its recent licensing of an AM radio station in Galveston,
Texas, to broadcast China Radio International. The United
States, on the other hand, has never been given a license to
broadcast from within China. As noted in the Washington Post
article which broke this story, the Chinese government-run news
agency Xinhua is also in the process of moving its American
headquarters to a massive office in Times Square in New
York.\42\ According to the State Department's Foreign Press
Center in Washington, there are over 160 Chinese journalists in
the United States with some 75 working for Xinhua.\43\ By
contrast, according the State Department, there are
approximately 120 American journalists currently in China, yet,
of those, the Voice of America has only been issued visas for
only two full-time correspondents in China, based in
Beijing.\44\ Recent attempts by VOA to open a bureau in
Shanghai have been blocked as the Chinese Foreign Ministry has
refused for over a year to issue any visas for this effort.
Xinhua has bureaus registered in Washington, DC, New York and
Los Angeles.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\42\ See ``From China's Mouth to Texans' Ears: Outreach Includes
Small Station in Galveston'' http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/
content/article/2010/04/24/AR2010042402492--pf.html
\43\ A list of all the Chinese media outlets registered at the
Foreign Press Center is located in Appendix G of this report; however,
because foreign journalists are not required to register at the FPC,
the 160 figure is likely lower than the total.
\44\ In contrast, the State Department has issued some 2,900 ``I''
visas in the past four years: Fiscal year 2010--389 (as of May 4,
2010); Fiscal year 2009--783; Fiscal year 2008--848; and Fiscal year
2007--845.
The definition of an ``I'' visa recipient is fairly broad, and
includes foreign nationals working for U.S. media companies as well as
those engaged in news and documentary production staff, the vast
disparity in numbers is simply staggering; full details of ``I'' visas:
http://travel.state.gov/visa/temp/types/types--1276.html. A request for
similar information from the Chinese Embassy in Washington was not
answered.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Voice of America's 65 hours/week broadcasts in Mandarin
and 14 hours/week in Cantonese is supplemented with an hour/day
of TV in Mandarin and 30 minutes/day in Cantonese that is a
simulcast with radio. There is also a once-a-week, 30 minute TV
program titled Cultural Odyssey which highlights U.S. culture
and heritage.
Additionally, Radio Free Asia broadcasts 12 hours/day in
Mandarin over SW and satellite radio, 2 hours/day in Cantonese,
10 hours/day in Tibetan and 2 hours/day in Uyghur. Each
language has its own website as well as RSS feed, podcast,
YouTube channel, Facebook page, Twitter account, mobile site
and numerous in-country alias blog accounts.\45\ RFA has never
been allowed to have a bureau inside China, and visas for RFA
coverage of numerous news events in China are routinely denied.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\45\ http://www.rfa.org/english/.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
RFA, in particular, has been subjected to hostile Internet
attacks long pre-dating Google's public protest of Chinese
cyber-hacking tactics,\46\ whether having its sites blocked or
its servers hacked into.\47\ (As a result, the BBG has been one
of the leaders in the use and development of ``Internet
censorship circumvention'' technology that enables users to
access its sites through so-called ``proxy servers'' that
benefit not only RFA and VOA/Mandarin but RFE/RL and VOA's
Persian language services.) The Chinese government pays close
attention to these proxies as well, often blocking them on a
daily basis. The BBG's Engineering Office works equally hard to
ensure new proxies are created.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\46\ See New York Times article http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/29/
technology/29spy.html ``[Chinese] sleuthing opened a window into a
broader operation that, in less than two years has infiltrated at least
1,205 computers in 103 countries, including many belonging to
embassies, foreign ministries and other government offices . . . '';
see also Reuters: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE5AI5UZ20091120.
``The amount of `malicious'[computer] activities against the United
States increased in 2008 and is rising sharply this year,'' . . .
adding ``Much of this activity appears to originate in China.''
\47\ VOA's Mandarin service reports similar attacks, although not
on the same scale or scope as RFA.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
As such, RFA's websites clearly display a ``Getting Around
Internet Blockage'' button on the first page of each of its
language pages.\48\ RFA reports that China is not alone in its
attempt to keep its citizens from accessing RFA's sites, though
China is by far the most aggressive.\49\ According to RFA
officials, other nations with aggressive Internet blockage
include Vietnam and Burma.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\48\ The English version can be found here: http://www.rfa.org/
english/about/help/web--access.html which lists such proxies as
Freegate, Fire Phoenix, Freenet, Garden Networks, Ultrasurf and Garden
Networks as well as ``Green Tsunami'' developed expressly to get around
the Chinese government's Green Dam firewall.
\49\ See the April 22, 2010 RFA interview with Professor Sun
Wenguang on the virtual shutdown of Internet access to the Uyghur
homeland of Xinjiang province in western China: http://www.rfa.org/
english/news/uyghur/internet-04222010123829.html?searchterm=None
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
There are approximately 760 million mobile device users in
China, representing more than 80 percent market penetration
among Chinese adults. While this would suggest an enormous
potential audience to receive SMS/text messages, these devices
are operated by three major government-controlled or owned
Mobile phone network companies, China Mobile, China Unicom and
China Telecom. RFA is not actively pursuing SMS transmissions
in China in part because the content would easily be subject to
blocking, monitoring, recording and censoring. RFA has
considered having a self-selecting ``risk-taking'' group for
SMS messages, but determined that it would be cost-prohibitive
at this time. In contrast, the proliferation of 3G and 4G
capable mobile devices and mobile proxy capabilities, with the
capacity to have users share videos and MP3 files, represents a
major area of RFA expansion.
As shown below, both RFA's Mandarin and VOA's YouTube
outreach seem to be achieving considerable effect in spite of
routinely being blocked (albeit relative success, given a
country of one billion). Because of China's sophisticated
Internet filtering system, Radio Free Asia engages online
audiences inside the ``Great Firewall'' through proactive
blogging and online outreach, making use of a diverse range of
alias accounts on domestic microblogging platforms, and social
networking Web sites within the Great Firewall. For example,
according to RFA officials, on any given day, RFA's Mandarin
and Cantonese services can have over two dozen alias blogs
running with an average of 1,300 interactive followers, who
both use RFA content and provide source material.
Chinese Language Sites \50\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\50\ RFA Social media numbers were compiled by RFA staff who
accessed their numerous proxy sites to collate the final numbers.
Alhurra TV/Radio Sawa--Finding and Keeping an Audience
One of the key PD products coming out of the BBG following
9/11 was a determined focus on the Arabic-speaking world. VOA's
Arabic service was closed with that funding being used, plus
substantial new monies from Congress, to create distinct
Arabic-language radio and television surrogates for the region.
As the most recent BBG commissioned research below suggests,
there is both good news and bad news for U.S. government
broadcasting efforts in the Middle East. Alhurra TV--launched
in 2004--viewership seems to be on the rise, but it is
difficult to compare this viewership with total audience
viewership as the explosion of channels available in the Arabic
world.\51\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\51\ For a spirited defense of the creation of Alhurra, and the
need to curtail VOA's Short Wave English service, see former BBG
Chairman Ken Tomlinson's 2007 article in Arab Media and Society: http:/
/www.arabmediasociety.com/articles/downloads/
20070514205552_AMS2_Kenneth_Y
_Tomlinson.pdf; a lengthy analysis of Alhurra can be found here: http:/
/www.propublica.org/feature/alhurra-middle-east-hearts-and-minds-622,
and here: http://sites.maxwell.syr.edu/luce/snow.html for another
perspective.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
President Obama's decision to give his first interview on
an Arabic station was not to Alhurra, but to one of its rivals,
Al Arabiya, was brutally symbolic and not unnoticed in the
blogosphere.\52\ An outside study from 2009 suggests that
Alhurra is simply marginalized.\53\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\52\ http://lynch.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2009/01/27/obama--on--
al--arabiya; MBN officials note that in the first five months of 2010
alone Secretary of State Clinton has been on Alhurra as have a
multitude of State Department, Department of Defense and National
Security Council officials as well as four U.S. Senators and nine
Representatives.
\53\ From the 2009 University of Maryland and Zogby International
poll of some 4,000 respondents, the slides of which can be found here:
http://www.brookings.edu/ /media/Files/events/2009/0519--arab--opinion/
2009_arab_public_opinion_poll.pdf. The BBG disputes the Zogby poll
results and contends that viewer habits of watching multiple channels
negate Zogby's findings. The BBG contends that Alhurra places in the
top 20 in 14 major markets and is #21 in Saudi Arabia.
Total Audience of Alhurra TV and Radio Sawa
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
(BBG Global Broadcasting)
Daily and Weekly Viewership of Alhurra
(BBG Global Broadcasting)
Alhurra TV and Radio Sawa Weekly Audiences by Country
(BBG Global Broadcasting)
A 2008 study of Alhurra commissioned by the BBG and
conducted throughout the Middle East by the University of
Southern California's Annenberg Center on Public Diplomacy,
concluded the station's lack of popularity among Arab viewers
stemmed from a lack of credibility due to:
Lacked news and programming that distinguished it from
other state-funded broadcasts;
Had weak journalistic skills, particularly technical, but
also little balance in story reporting; and
A perception as biased towards Western slants, with six
times more likely to be critical of the Arab
perspective than of the Western viewpoint.\53\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\53\ http://uscpublicdiplomacy.org/media/AlHurraReport.pdf
This has lead to the perception of many in the region of
Alhurra as nothing more than a propaganda tool of the United
States rather than a go-to source for news and information.\55\
The fact that Alhurra is headquartered Springfield, VA, not in
the region it covers, reinforces this perception.\56\ The lone
Alhurra studio located outside the U.S., in Dubai, U.A.E., is
unmarked, even though it is located in a building filled with
other Arabic channels.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\55\ The BBG disputes many of these claims in its own evaluation of
Alhurra (http://www.bbg.gov/reports/others/Alhurra-
Sawa_Research_Data_June20-2.pdf ) which suggested that, based on,
``weekly audiences'' and ``Percent of adults viewing at least once in
seven days'' a much different picture. Another analysis commissioned by
the BBG conducted by the Missouri School of Journalism, based on
English translations of Alhurra broadcasts concluded, ``Alhurra TV does
most things right most of the time,'' but then proceeded to note that
``individual stories often lacked sufficient balance and thus could be
perceived as delivering a biased message.'' See: http://www.bbg.gov/
reports/others/missourireport.pdf
\56\ For a spirited defense of the creation of Alhurra, and the
need to curtail VOA's Short Wave English service, see former BBG
Chairman Ken Tomlinson's 2007 article in Arab Media and Society: http:/
/www.arabmediasociety.com/articles/downloads/
20070514205552_AMS2_Kenneth_Y_Tomlinson.pdf; a lengthy analysis of
Alhurra can be found here: http://www.propublica.org/feature/alhurra-
middle-east-hearts-and-minds-622
With a budget of some $90 million, many critics of Alhurra
say that continued funding will be wasted. They compare Al
Jazeera's Arabic budget of some $100 million (recently
increased to some $140 million with the advent of Al Jazeera
English) \57\ with Al Jazeera's market dominance.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\57\ Figures based on interviews with Arabic media experts. Al
Jazeera budget figures are not publicly available and requests from the
channel for such information were not responded to. BBG officials
believe the figure is closer to $400 million.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
To address some of these issues, in March 2009, Alhurra
began airing what it views as the first-of-its-kind show in the
region--Al Youm (Arabic for ``Today'').\58\ Al Youm is a daily,
live three-hour news show, Sunday through Thursday, modeled
very much on its American namesake, that seeks to present the
news in a more relaxed, conversational environment. Al Youm
broadcasts from a professional, modern studio in Dubai (photos
below). Al Youm is linked to MBN journalists based in studios
in Cairo, Beirut, Jerusalem, and MBN headquarters in the U.S.
from where they are projected onto a screen in the Dubai studio
to interact with the hosts.\59\ While such a program no doubt
has its merit in providing the station with a valuable product,
Al Youm's impact on Alhurra's viewership have not yet been
captured in polling. Additionally, in conversations with Al
Youm broadcasters concern was expressed regarding their
journalistic independence. Committee staff heard of incidents
in which some of the broadcasters were told to ``stay on
message'' when guests would go off-tangent with their comments,
``as if they didn't trust us to handle the situation as
professional journalists.''
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\58\ Alhurra's weekly schedule can be found in Appendix H.
\59\ The impact of Al Youm on Alhurra's viewership has, according
to the BBG, not yet been measured and is not reflected in the earlier
slides.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
As the 2009 BBG slide above on ``Audiences By Country''
noted, Iraq is the one bright spot for Alhurra. A May 2010 poll
of 3,000 individuals from 18 provinces commissioned by the BBG
suggests that Alhurra is indeed an important part of Iraqi
life, with Alhurra now number one in terms of Stations Most
Watched in the Last Week. The same poll also showed that Iraqis
do not trust any broadcaster in particular, with Alhurra number
three.
In addition to Alhurra's viewership, equally troubling is
the reduction in listenership of Radio Sawa's audience noted in
the BBG's earlier chart. Radio Sawa was revolutionary (and even
considered heretical by some) when it first came on the air in
March 2002. The Board of Broadcasting Governors decided that in
order to reach the largest demographic in the Arabic market,
the ``under 35'' group that comprises more than half the
population, a break in the traditional Voice of America format
was necessary. Thus, under the direction of then-BBG Board
Member Norman Pattiz--founder of Westwood One, the largest
radio network in the United States--Sawa focused on gaining
market share through American and Arabic pop music--at the
expense of VOA's Arabic service, which was terminated.\60\ News
is given in short 5-10 minute segments twice an hour (at 00:15
and 00:45) for a total of 7.5 hours of news a day, with the
rest of the time devoted to music, both local and international
hits.\61\ The creation of Sawa is a prime example of the value
and impact the Board plays in the formulation and development
of U.S. broadcasting policy.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\60\ Critics of Sawa claim it ``dumbs down'' the news and creates
more problems than it solves (http://arabmediasociety.sqgd.co.uk/
articles/downloads/20070514203154_AMS2_Laurie_Kassman.pdf); while
others point out that, prior to Sawa, 98% of listeners in the Middle
East had never heard of the Voice of America (http://www.afsa.org/fsj/
nov02/radio.pdf).
\61\ To see a full list of Sawa stations and to listen to it live
over the Internet visit: http://www.radiosawa.com/english.aspx.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sawa's website, Twitter feed, and Facebook, meanwhile, keep
its tech-savvy audience connected. Nonetheless, there is no
avoiding the fact that Sawa's audience numbers have declined
over time. This is in spite of the fact that Sawa's FM reach is
impressive: every major metropolitan area from Rabat and
Marrakech in Morocco to Khartoum, Sudan to Baghdad and Kirkuk
in Iraq.
(However, there is no FM coverage in Cairo, the most
populous city in the Arab world, as the Mubarak government
prohibits any foreign-owned radio, forcing Sawa to reach Egypt,
primarily Alexandria in the north, from Cyprus via an AM
signal.) Some argue the audience decline is due in part because
of its success, as other Arabic stations have also begun to
test and cater to listeners' musical tastes and offer the
latest Western and regional releases.
A May 2010 analysis of Arabic-language U.S., commercial and
other foreign, state-owned broadcast organizations suggests
that Sawa's use of Facebook far outpaces the other major
players.\62\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\62\ Recent research suggests Internet usage in the Arabic world is
17%, or some 56 million, see: http://www.khaleejtimes.com/
DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=/data/opinion/2010/May/
opinion_May132.xml§ion=opinion
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Arabic Language Sites
Marketing--a Necessary Component
and Cost to Reach New Audiences
The Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
are long established and their names well-recognized throughout
the world. However, the proliferation of new services and
stations, particularly in Iran, Afghanistan and the crowded
media markets of the Middle East requires spending on
advertising and promotion. For example, the following major
satellite services cover all or portions of the Middle East,
North Africa, and parts of South Asia, with many services
overlapping and many households accessing multiple systems:
Arabsat--430 channels (carries Alhurra TV) \63\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\63\ See Appendix I for a map of satellite systems used by the BBG.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nilesat--470 channels (carries Alhurra TV)
AtlanticBird--280 channels with 50 Subscription channels
DigitalSkys--50 channels with 180 Subscription channels
Hotbird 6--225 channels with 110 Subscription channels
Hotbird 9--87 channels with 260 Subscription channels
Many believe that appropriated funds for broadcasting
should go to just that--broadcasting--and not be spent on
advertising and promotion, but this is simply not realistic in
today's saturated media environment. While there was recently a
significant increase in spending, according to the BBG's FY2011
budget submission, Marketing and Program Placement will be cut
by some $314,000.\64\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\64\ See p. 86 http://www.bbg.gov/reports/documents/
BBGFY2011CONGBudgetSubmission-ForInternetPost.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
$5,078,000
Middle East Broadcasting has seen its marketing budget for
Alhurra TV and Radio Sawa fluctuate wildly:
FY2005
FY20060
FY20071
FY 2008
FY2009
FY2010
FY2011 (req.)
$6,000
$4,000
$104,000
$5,000
$1,250,000
$512,000
$521,000
In the meantime, Radio Free Asia's marketing budget has
never exceeded $7,000 in spite of the ``billion plus'' audience
it is tasked with trying to reach. Radio Free Europe's budget
topped $1 million for the first time in 2010, having averaged
some $850,000 for 2005-2009, providing far greater
consistency.\65\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\65\ MBN, RFA and RFE budget figures provided by BBG.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Regardless of their funding levels, each entity has
established creative methods of promotion and marketing. RFE's
Radio Azadi promotional efforts in Afghanistan have included
distribution of radios with their logo and station number,
billboards and the co-sponsorship of the Afghan Presidential
debates (along with RTA--Radio and Television Afghanistan).
RFE's Azerbaijan service has, in essence, gone back to the
future by publishing a weekly newspaper that is distributed for
free at subway stations; while its Belarus service publishes
books and CDs of authors and poets who have been banned by the
government. RFA has used its limited marketing resources to
target the impoverished and information-starved northwestern
Cambodia with school notebooks, raincoats, hats and radios with
their logo, listening times and frequencies.\66\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\66\ RFA has reported anecdotally that the regimes themselves,
through government officials or state-controlled media attacks, drive
audiences to its content.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
VOA's Zimbabwe service had perhaps one of the most creative
marketing tools in that repressive society--times and
frequencies were printed on tooth brushes and handed out, thus
providing both a much needed commodity in that improvised
country as well as needed broadcast information in a form
easily concealed from President Mugabe's repressive regime.
Presidential Debate in Afghanistan moderated by Akbar Ayazi, Director
of RFE/RL's Radio Azadi (with RFE/RL's Torch logo interspersed between
RTA's in background
BBG Marketing and Promotion: VOA's Zimbabwe toothbrush, RFE/RL's
Belarusian poetry publications, RFE/RL's radio, Alhurra's billboard in
Jeddah
The Competition--Broadcasting Throughout the USA
American consumers have also seen an explosion in the
number of television and satellite and terrestrial radio
stations available to them, and foreign governments have not
hesitated to enter the market. British Broadcasting Corporation
(BBC) television is available in almost every major market, and
BBC radio recently crowed about its U.S. audience increasing by
600,000.\67\ Russia Today's English news is now available on
cable services in New York City, Los Angeles and Washington,
DC.\68\ China's largest media corporation, Xinhua announced at
the end of April 2010, that it is launching a 24-hour English
news channel, and its CCTV is already available in major
markets (and as noted earlier has begun to broadcast its radio
from inside the United States).\69\ France 24's 30 minute
newscasts are carried on U.S. affiliates in more than 15 states
from California to Virginia, and Germany's Deutsche Welle
English news is carried on Time Warner, Verizon FIOS and
Comcast services.\70\ Al Jazeera English is one of the few
having difficulty gaining access to U.S. markets, with only a
handful of cable companies carrying it.\71\ Nonetheless, as
noted in the May 2010 analysis below, while not all the Channel
Views and Video Uploads occur in the United States, it is clear
that Al Jazeera English is a major player in this area.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\67\ BBC May 24, 2010 press release http://www.bbc.co.uk/
pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2010/05_may/24/wsnews.shtml.
\68\ http://rt.com/USA.html ; New York on channel. 135 (Time
Warner), in Los Angeles on ch. 236 (Time Warner) and in the Washington,
DC area on ch. 274 (Comcast),ch. 34 (RCN), ch. 455 (Fios), ch. 474
(Cox).
\69\ http://www.usatoday.com/money/media/2010-04-30-china-english-
tv--N.htm
\70\ http://www.france24.com/en/how-to-watch-on-tv; http://www.dw-
world.de/dw/article/0,,1830857,00.html
\71\ Buckeye Cable (Toledo, OH), Burlington Cable (Burlington, VT),
GlobeCast World TV Link TV (Direct TV, Channel--375/Dish Network,
Channel - 9410), Washington Cable (Washington, DC), MHz Networks
(Washington, DC); see http://english.aljazeera.net/watchaje/
20091022172112636517.html for their locations world-wide.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
English Language Sites
Each of these same channels is available online and many
have live, streaming video. Additionally, Al Jazeera Arabic is
viewable in the U.S. on various U.S. based satellite
subscription providers that offer foreign language packages,
but Alhurra TV is on the two services that are not available
here--Arabsat and Nilesat (which are also the most popular in
the Middle East). The Smith-Mundt Act expressly prohibits U.S.
government programming from being accessed by American
citizens.
Originally written in the days before cable television, and
then amended in the days before the Internet, many argue the
law is even self-defeating if recent Arabic-speaking immigrants
to the U.S. have easy access to Al Jazeera but not Alhurra. A
similar Smith-Mundt objection was made by the BBG when a Somali
community in the Midwest wanted permission to re-broadcast VOA
Somali programming to recent immigrants.\72\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\72\ Smith-Mundt information and analysis can be found here: http:/
/mountainrunner.us/smith-mundt.html and http://www.washingtontimes.com/
news/2008/dec/19/persuasive-politics/
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Smith-Mundt issues were again raised following the 2010
earthquake in Haiti when Sirius/XM wanted to donate its radios
to Haiti and provide an unused frequency to the BBG and the
Defense Department for broadcasts to the country. Concerns were
raised that, even though the station would not be advertised in
the United States and only Creole-speakers would be able to
understand the information and public service announcements
should they encounter it, it would violate the law. It is time
to recognize the anachronistic nature of the legislation in
light of new technologies and how it hamstrings our own
government while foreign governments and broadcasters have no
similar impediments.
Short Wave--Last Gasp or the Final Frontier
Advancements in technologies, increased standards of living
along with higher Gross Domestic Products have all resulted in
an ever-increasing move away from radio, particularly
shortwave, and towards more visual mediums of television and
the Internet.\73\ As such, the BBG is proposing in its FY2011
budget closing the only remaining domestic, U.S. government-
operated shortwave facility (located in Greenville, NC) for a
proposed savings of more than $3 million.\74\ The United States
is not the only service seeing declining shortwave
listenership; the BBC noted in May 2010 that it ``.lost 20
million shortwave listeners during the year, reflecting the
increasing global decline in the medium.''\75\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\73\ Though, the BBG does offer instructions ``Improving Shortwave
Reception'' on its website http://www.bbg.gov/office/engineering/
reduce-interference.html.
\74\ See p. 74 http://www.bbg.gov/reports/documents/
BBGFY2011CONGBudgetSubmission-ForInternetPost.pdf; and http://mt-
shortwave.blogspot.com/2010/02/politicans-and-press-react-to-
proposed.html for local impact. The BBG notes that it will retain two
transmission sites in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
\75\ The BBC estimated it lost 7 million shortwave listeners in
Bangladesh and 8.2 million listeners in India, while noting the
aforementioned increased of 600,000, but also some 1.4 million in
Tanzania, both as a result of FM or AM broadcasts. http://
www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2010/05--may/24/
wsnews.shtml.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nonetheless, Radio Free Asia is almost completely dependent
on shortwave as most nations it seeks to reach have refused to
broadcast any RFA transmissions from within their borders.\76\
Additionally, in January 2010 RFE/RL launched Radio ``Mashaal''
(``Torch'')--which, in addition to AM, is a shortwave station
(beaming into the area on SW from Kuwait, Thailand and Sri
Lanka) reaching the Pashto-speaking tribes that straddle the
Afghanistan/Pakistan border. Mashaal currently broadcasts 6
original hours/day (which are then repeated).\77\ Mashaal also
shares the same AM frequency with VOA's Radio ``Deewa''
(``Light'') which broadcasts the rest of the day. Deewa and
Mashaal are transmitted from a station in Afghanistan located
near the border with Pakistan. Opening the station was a
contentious issue which took years to resolve. A similar
arrangement with the Pakistani government, to allow broadcasts
from Peshawar in order to ensure maximum border coverage, was
equally difficult and resulted in them broadcasting VOA's Deewa
in AM for only two months (Mashaal was not yet on the air).
Some say the closure was due to Taliban threats to the station,
others because the government rescinded the license.\78\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\76\ Cambodia is the one exception, which has allowed RFA an
internal, FM frequency.
\77\ Because of the heavily mountainous terrain Mashaal uses SW, AM
and FM to ensure maximum coverage.
\78\ http://kimelli.nfshost.com/index.php?id=7964; http://
kimelli.nfshost.com/index.php?id=8304.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Africa is still a major region for shortwave due to vast
distances and high cost of repeater towers. In 2009, the BBG
estimated that, in fact, Africa is its largest single audience
by region, based on the percentage of total unduplicated weekly
audience among adults.\79\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\79\ Percentages taken from a 2009 BBG Congressional presentation.
Weekly Audience Among Adults
(percent)
Africa -- 29
MidEast/N.Africa -- 21
West Asia -- 16
South Asia -- 10
Former Soviet -- 7
South East Asia -- 5
Balkans -- 4
East Asia -- 3
Caucuses -- 2
Central Asia -- 2
Latin America -- 1
These numbers are particularly staggering given that Africa
has no U.S. surrogate dedicated to it, and has virtually no BBG
TV programming, along with very low Internet penetration. The
power of VOA radio in Africa is therefore enormous.
As the broadcast charts located in the Index demonstrate,
the BBG is still heavily reliant on shortwave in various
regions throughout the globe. Africa in particular is a major
region for shortwave due to vast distances and high cost of
repeater towers. The BBG provided the following information
regarding its shortwave operations.
U.S. Shortwave Stations Closed in the Last 25 years
(Location/Year Closed)
Dixon, California -- 1988
Bethany, Ohio -- 1994
Delano, California -- 2007
Greenville, NC -- 2010 (proposed)
Current BBG Shortwave Transmission Stations
Tinang, Philippines
Saipan, Northern Marianas
Udorn, Thailand
Biblis, Germany
Iranawila, Sri Lanka
Lampertheim, Germany
Kuwait
Greenville, North Carolina
Tinian, Northern Marianas
Sao Tome
Botswana
Current BBG Leased Shortwave Transmission Services from These Countries
Germany
United Kingdom
Palau
Tajikistan
Madagascar
Russia
Lithuania
Ascension Island
Mongolia
United Arab Emirates
Vatican
Bonaire
South Africa
Lastly, while the U.S. has been jettisoning its shortwave
frequencies, with VOA cutting some 60 frequencies in the last
10 years, China has been doing the exact opposite, almost
doubling its stations in the same period as indicated in the
chart below.\80\ Supporters of U.S. shortwave programming
contend that we are ceding valuable assets to China while
others contend the frequencies are redundant due to the nature
of short wave broadcasting methods.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\80\ VOA/CRI data compiled from the World Radio Television Handbook
for these years http://www.wrth.com/. See also, the Heritage Foundation
``Don't Silence Voice of America:'' http://www.heritage.org/Research/
Reports/2010/05/Dont-Silence-Voice-of-America.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shortwave Frequencies 2000-2010
Voice of America and China Radio International
=======================================================================
A P P E N D I X E S
=======================================================================
Appendix A.--Country-by-Country
Analysis of the BBG Products
=======================================================================
Appendix A (Africa)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Freedom House Freedom House
Country Population Press Ranking Press Ranking Voices of America (VOA) Middle East Broadcasting Networks (MBN)
2004 2009
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Angola 12,799,293 142 132 (Portuguese; SW, satellite: 10.5 h/wk;
Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Benin 8,791,832 71 71 (French; SW, satellite: 24.5 h/wk;
Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Botswana 1,990,876 71 78 (English; SW: 9.5 h/wk; Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Burkina Faso 15,746,232 88 86 (French; SW, satellite: 24.5 h/wk;
Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Burundi 9,511,330 165 163 (Kinyarwanda/Kirundi, SW: 7 h/wk;
French, SW, satellite: 24.5 h/wk;
Swahili, SW: 7 h/wk; Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cameroon 18,879,301 147 140 (French; SW, satellite: 24.5 h/wk;
Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cape Verde 499,796 80 60 (Portuguese; SW: 10.5 h/wk; Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Central African 4,511,488 135 132 (French; SW, satellite: 24.5 h/wk;
Republic Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chad 10,329,208 161 165 (Kinyarwanda/Kirundi, SW: 7 h/wk;
French, SW, satellite: 24.5 h/wk;
Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Comoros 752,438 100 101 (French; SW, satellite: 24.5 h/wk;
Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Congo, 68,692,542 173 175 (Kinyarwanda/Kirundi, SW: 7 h/wk;
Democratic French, SW, satellite: 24.5 h/wk;
Rep. of the Swahili, SW: 7 h/wk; Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Congo, Republic 4,012,809 114 109 (French; SW, satellite: 24.5 h/wk;
of the Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cote d'Ivoire 20,617,068 140 148 (French; SW, satellite: 24.5 h/wk;
Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Djibouti 516,055 142 160 (Amharic/Tigrigna/Oromiffa; SW: 12 h/ Radio Sawa (Arabic; FM, MW, satellite:
wk; Internet) 24 h/day; Internet), Alhurra TV
(Arabic; satellite: 24 h/day;
Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Equatorial 633,441 186 187
Guinea
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Eritrea 5,647,168 186 190 (Amharic/Tigrigna/Oromiffa; SW: 12 h/
wk; Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ethiopia 85,237,338 142 165 (Amharic/Tigrigna/Oromiffa; SW: 12 h/
wk; Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gabon 1,514,993 125 153 (French; SW, satellite: 24.5 h/wk;
Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gambia, The 1,778,081 127 172 (English; SW: 9.5 h/wk; Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ghana 23,887,812 64 53 (English; SW: 9.5 h/wk; Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Guinea 10,057,975 156 147 (French; SW, satellite: 24.5 h/wk;
Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Guinea-Bissau 1,533,964 127 107 (Portuguese; SW: 10.5 h/wk; Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kenya 39,002,772 122 128 (Swahili, SW: 7 h/wk; English, SW: 9.5
h/wk; Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lesotho 2,130,819 91 99 (English; SW: 9.5 h/wk; Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Liberia 3,441,790 165 138 (English; SW: 9.5 h/wk; Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Madagascar 20,653,556 93 106 (French; SW, satellite: 24.5 h/wk;
Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Malawi 15,028,757 107 118 (English; SW: 9.5 h/wk; Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mali 13,443,225 62 53 (French; SW, satellite: 24.5 h/wk;
Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mauritania 3,129,486 135 124 (French; SW, satellite: 24.5 h/wk; Alhurra TV (Arabic; satellite: 24 h/
Internet) day; Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mauritius 1,284,264 60 53 (French; SW, satellite: 24.5 h/wk;
Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mozambique 21,669,278 100 86 (Portuguese; SW: 10.5 h/wk; Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Namibia 2,108,665 75 66 (English; SW: 9.5 h/wk; Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Niger 15,306,252 118 140 (Hausa, SW: 13 h/wk; French, SW,
satellite: 24.5 h/wk; Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nigeria 149,229,090 111 113 (Hausa, SW: 13 h/wk; English, SW: 9.5 h/
wk; Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rwanda 10,746,311 179 181 (Kinyarwanda/Kirundi, SW: 7 h/wk;
French, SW, satellite: 24.5 h/wk;
Swahili, SW: 7 h/wk; Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sao Tome and 212,679 64 60 (Portuguese; SW: 10.5 h/wk; Internet)
Principe
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Senegal 13,711,597 84 109 (French; SW, satellite: 24.5 h/wk;
Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seychelles 87,476 107 125 (French; SW, satellite: 24.5 h/wk;
Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sierra Leone 5,132,138 120 118 (English; SW: 9.5 h/wk; Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Somalia 9,832,017 173 180 (Somali; SW: 24.5 h/wk; Internet) Alhurra TV (Arabic; satellite: 24 h/
day; Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
South Africa 49,052,489 55 66 (French; SW, satellite: 24.5 h/wk;
Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sudan 41,087,825 184 168 (English; SW: 9.5 h/wk; Internet) Radio Sawa (Arabic; FM, MW, satellite:
24 h/day; Internet), Alhurra TV
(Arabic; satellite: 24 h/day;
Internet), Afia Darfur (Arabic; SW: 90
minutes a day; Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Swaziland 1,337,186 169 165 (English; SW: 9.5 h/wk; Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tanzania 41,048,532 106 101 (Swahili, SW: 7 h/wk; English, SW: 9.5
h/wk; Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Togo 6,031,808 170 158 (French; SW, satellite: 24.5 h/wk;
Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Uganda 32,369,558 98 109 (Swahili, SW: 7 h/wk; English, SW: 9.5
h/wk; Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zambia 11,862,740 127 143 (English; SW: 9.5 h/wk; Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zimbabwe 11,392,629 186 186 (Zimbabwe/Shona/Ndebele; English; SW:
9.5 h/wk; Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Appendix A (East Asia/Pacific)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Freedom House Freedom House
Country Population Press Ranking Press Ranking Voices of America (VOA) Radio Free Asia
2004 2009
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Australia 21,262,641 18 38
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Brunei 388,190 161 163 (Indonesian; SW, satellite: 63.33 h/wk;
Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Burma 48,137,741 190 193 (Burmese; SW, satellite: 66.5 h/wk; (Burmese; SW, satellite: 4 h/day;
Internet) Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cambodia 14,494,293 127 132 (Khmer; SW, satellite: 11.5 h/wk; (Khmer; SW, FM, satellite: 2 h/day;
Internet) Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
China 1,338,612,968 173 181 (Mandarin, SW, satellite: 91 h/wk; (Cantonese, SW, satellite: 2 h/day;
Cantonese, SW, satellite: 14.57 h/wk; Mandarin, SW, MW, satellite: 12 h/day;
Internet) Tibetan, SW, satellite: 10 h/day;
Uyghur, SW, satellite: 2 h/day;
Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fiji 944,720 68 84
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hong Kong 7,055,071 -- 75 (Cantonese; SW, satellite: 14.57 h/wk;
Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Indonesia 240,271,522 117 113 (Indonesian; SW, satellite: 63.33 h/wk;
Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Japan 127,078,679 33 33
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kiribati 112,850 62 59
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Korea, North 22,665,345 193 195 (Korean; SW: 35 h/wk; Internet) (Korean; SW, MW, satellite: 5 h/day;
Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Korea, South 48,508,972 68 66 (Korean; SW: 35 h/wk; Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Laos 6,834,345 179 184 (Lao; SW: 3.5 h/wk; Internet) (Lao; SW, satellite: 2 h/day; Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Malaysia 25,715,819 154 143
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Marshall 64,522 11 21
Islands
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Micronesia 107,434 37 33
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mongolia 3,041,142 80 86
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nauru 14,019 57 60
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
New Zealand 4,213,418 8 11
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Palau 20,796 9 11
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Papua New 5,940,775 57 53
Guinea
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Philippines 97,976,603 75 96
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Samoa 219,998 55 63
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Singapore 4,657,542 135 151
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Solomon Islands 595,613 71 66
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Taiwan 22,974,347 50 43 (Mandarin, SW, satellite: 91 h/wk;
Cantonese, SW, satellite, 14.57 h/wk;
Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thailand 65,998,436 88 122 (Thai, SW, satellite: 9.4 h/wk;
Burmese, SW, satellite: 66.5 h/wk;
Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Timor-L'este 1,131,612 68 78
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tonga 120,898 98 73
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tuvalu 12,373 37 53
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Vanuatu 218,519 50 43
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Vietnam 88,576,758 179 178 (Vietnamese; SW: 10.5 h/wk; Internet) (Vietnamese; SW, MW, satellite: 2 h/
day; Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Appendix A (Europe)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Freedom House Freedom House
Country Population Press Ranking Press Ranking Voices of America (VOA) Middle East Broadcasting Radio Free Europe/Radio
2004 2009 Networks (MBN) Liberty
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Albania 3,639,453 104 101 (Albanian; SW, satellite: Alhurra Europe TV (Arabic;
14.48 h/wk; Internet) satellite: 24 h/day;
Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Andorra 83,888 15 8 .......................... Alhurra Europe TV (Arabic;
satellite: 24 h/day;
Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Armenia 2,967,004 135 151 (Armenian; satellite: 2.83 (Armenian; satellite: 5.5
h/wk; Internet) h/day; Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Austria 8,210,281 50 33 .......................... Alhurra Europe TV (Arabic;
satellite: 24 h/day;
Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Azerbaijan 8,238,672 156 168 (Azerbaijani; SW, (Azeri; SW, satellite: 10
satellite: 9.66 h/wk; h/day; Internet)
Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Belarus 9,648,533 182 188 Internet (Russian) Alhurra Europe TV (Arabic; (Belarusian; SW, MW,
satellite: 24 h/day; satellite: 8 h/day;
Internet) Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Belgium 10,414,336 4 6 Alhurra Europe TV (Arabic;
satellite: 24 h/day;
Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bosnia and 4,613,414 104 98 (Bosnian; satellite: 2.75 Alhurra Europe TV (Arabic; (Bosnian; satellite: 12 h/
Herzegovina h/wk; Internet) satellite: 24 h/day; week; Internet)
Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bulgaria 7,204,687 78 76 Alhurra Europe TV (Arabic;
satellite: 24 h/day;
Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Croatia 4,489,409 84 81 (Croatian; SW, satellite: Alhurra Europe TV (Arabic;
6.19 h/wk; Internet) satellite: 24 h/day;
Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cyprus 1,084,748 33 38 (Greek; SW, satellite: 3.3 Radio Sawa (Arabic; MW,
h/wk; Internet) satellite: 24 h/day;
Internet), Alhurra Europe
TV (Arabic; satellite: 24
h/day; Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Czech Republic 10,211,904 50 24 Alhurra Europe TV (Arabic;
satellite: 24 h/day;
Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Denmark 5,500,510 1 4 Alhurra Europe TV (Arabic;
satellite: 24 h/day;
Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Estonia 1,299,371 28 14 Alhurra Europe TV (Arabic;
satellite: 24 h/day;
Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Finland 5,250,275 4 2 Alhurra Europe TV (Arabic;
satellite: 24 h/day;
Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
France 64,057,792 37 38 Alhurra Europe TV (Arabic;
satellite: 24 h/day;
Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Georgia 4,615,807 114 128 (Georgian; SW: 14 h/wk; Radio Tavisupleba
Internet) (Georgian; satellite: 4
h/day; Georgian Public
TV: 1 h/week; Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Germany 82,329,758 25 18 Alhurra Europe TV (Arabic;
satellite: 24 h/day;
Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Greece 10,737,428 64 63 (Greek; SW, satellite: 3.3 Alhurra Europe TV (Arabic;
h/wk; Internet) satellite: 24 h/day;
Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Holy See 826 -- -- Alhurra Europe TV (Arabic;
satellite: 24 h/day;
Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hungary 9,905,596 45 33 Alhurra Europe TV (Arabic;
satellite: 24 h/day;
Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Iceland 306,694 1 1 Alhurra Europe TV (Arabic;
satellite: 24 h/day;
Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ireland 4,203,200 25 14 Alhurra Europe TV (Arabic;
satellite: 24 h/day;
Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Italy 58,126,212 74 73 Alhurra Europe TV (Arabic;
satellite: 24 h/day;
Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kosovo 1,804,838 -- -- (Albanian; SW, satellite: (Serbian, Albanian;
14.48 h/wk; Internet) satellite: 14 h/week;
Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Latvia 2,231,503 28 43 Alhurra Europe TV (Arabic;
satellite: 24 h/day;
Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Liechtenstein 34,761 11 11 Alhurra Europe TV (Arabic;
satellite: 24 h/day;
Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lithuania 3,555,179 33 24 Alhurra Europe TV (Arabic;
satellite: 24 h/day;
Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Luxembourg 491,775 11 6 Alhurra Europe TV (Arabic;
satellite: 24 h/day;
Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Macedonia 2,066,718 111 98 (Macedonian, satellite: Alhurra Europe TV (Arabic; (Macedonian; satellite:
0.75 h/wk; Albanian, SW, satellite: 24 h/day; radio 12 h/week, TV 10
satellite: 14.48 h/wk; Internet) min/week; Internet)
Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Malta 405,165 23 38 Alhurra Europe TV (Arabic;
satellite: 24 h/day;
Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Moldova 4,320,748 127 148 (Russian; satellite: 1.25 (Romanian; SW, satellite:
h/wk; Internet) 1 h/day; Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Monaco 32,965 15 18 Alhurra Europe TV (Arabic;
satellite: 24 h/day;
Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Montenegro 672,180 91 78 (Serbian, 7.3 h/wk; Alhurra Europe TV (Arabic; (Montenegrin; satellite:
Albanian, SW, satellite: satellite: 24 h/day; 3.5 h/week; Internet)
14.48 h/wk; Internet) Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Netherlands 16,715,999 11 8 Alhurra Europe TV (Arabic;
satellite: 24 h/day;
Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Norway 4,660,539 4 2 Alhurra Europe TV (Arabic;
satellite: 24 h/day;
Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Poland 38,482,919 37 49 Alhurra Europe TV (Arabic;
satellite: 24 h/day;
Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Portugal 10,707,924 18 18 Alhurra Europe TV
(Arabic; satellite: 24 h/
day; Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Romania 22,215,421 103 92 ..........................
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Russia 140,041,247 147 174 (Russian; satellite: 1.25 (Russian; SW, satellite:
h/wk; Internet) 24 h/day; Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
San Marino 30,167 18 21 Alhurra Europe TV (Arabic;
satellite: 24 h/day;
Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Serbia 7,379,339 91 83 Alhurra Europe TV (Arabic; (Serbian; satellite: 14 h/
satellite: 24 h/day; week; Internet)
Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Slovakia 5,463,046 47 43 Alhurra Europe TV
(Arabic; satellite: 24 h/
day; Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Slovenia 2,005,692 37 49 Alhurra Europe TV (Arabic;
satellite: 24 h/day;
Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Spain 40,525,002 37 49 Alhurra Europe TV (Arabic;
satellite: 24 h/day;
Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sweden 9,059,651 1 4 Alhurra Europe TV (Arabic;
satellite: 24 h/day;
Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Switzerland 7,604,467 4 8 Alhurra Europe TV (Arabic;
satellite: 24 h/day;
Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Turkey 76,805,524 107 101 (Turkish; SW, satellite: Alhurra Europe TV (Arabic;
6.25 h/wk; Internet) satellite: 24 h/day;
Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ukraine 45,700,395 150 115 (Ukranian; satellite: 3.14 Alhurra Europe TV (Arabic; Radio Svoboda (Ukranian;
h/wk; Internet) satellite: 24 h/day; satellite: 2.5 h/day;
Internet) Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
United Kingdom 61,113,205 37 27 Alhurra Europe TV (Arabic;
satellite: 24 h/day;
Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Appendix A (Near East Asia/Middle East)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Freedom House Freedom House
Country Population Press Ranking Press Ranking Voices of America (VOA) Middle East Broadcasting Radio Free Europe/Radio
2004 2009 Networks (MBN) Liberty
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Algeria 34,178,188 127 136 (French; SW, satellite: Alhurra TV (Arabic;
24.5 h/wk; Internet) satellite: 24 h/day;
Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bahrain 728,709 155 156 Radio Sawa (Arabic; FM,
MW, satellite: 24 h/day;
Internet), Alhurra TV
(Arabic; satellite: 24 h/
day; Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Egypt 78,866,635 168 128 Radio Sawa (Arabic; MW,
satellite: 24 h/day;
Internet), Alhurra TV
(Arabic; satellite: 24 h/
day; Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Iran 66,429,284 171 181 Persian News Network Alhurra TV (Arabic; Radio Farda (Farsi; SW,
(Farsi; SW, satellite: satellite: 24 h/day; MW, satellite: 24 h/day;
175 h/wk; Internet), Internet) Internet)
(Kurdish; SW: 28 h/wk;
Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Iraq 28,945,569 142 148 (Kurdish; SW: 28 h/wk; Radio Sawa (Arabic; FM, *Radio Free Iraq (Arabic;
Internet) MW, satellite: 24 h/day; MW, satellite: 17 h/day;
Internet), Alhurra TV Internet)
(Arabic; satellite: 24 h/
day; Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Israel 7,233,701 64 71 Radio Sawa (Arabic; MW,
satellite: 24 h/day;
Internet), Alhurra TV
(Arabic; satellite: 24 h/
day; Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jordan 6,269,285 127 140 Radio Sawa (Arabic; FM,
MW, satellite: 24 h/day;
Internet), Alhurra TV
(Arabic; satellite: 24 h/
day; Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kuwait 2,692,526 119 115 Radio Sawa (Arabic; FM,
MW, satellite: 24 h/day;
Internet), Alhurra TV
(Arabic; satellite: 24 h/
day; Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lebanon 4,017,095 142 118 Radio Sawa (Arabic; FM,
MW, satellite: 24 h/day;
Internet), Alhurra TV
(Arabic; satellite: 24 h/
day; Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Libya 6,324,357 189 190 Alhurra TV (Arabic;
satellite: 24 h/day;
Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morocco 31,285,174 123 140 Radio Sawa (Arabic; FM,
satellite: 24 h/day;
Internet), Alhurra TV
(Arabic; satellite: 24 h/
day; Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Oman 3,418,085 161 156 Radio Sawa (Arabic; MW,
satellite: 24 h/day;
Internet), Alhurra TV
(Arabic; satellite: 24 h/
day; Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Palestinian 4,013,126 185 184 Radio Sawa (Arabic; FM,
Territories MW, satellite: 24 h/day;
Internet), Alhurra TV
(Arabic; satellite: 24 h/
day; Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Qatar 833,285 123 143 Radio Sawa (Arabic; FM,
MW, satellite: 24 h/day;
Internet), Alhurra TV
(Arabic; satellite: 24 h/
day; Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Saudi Arabia 28,686,633 173 176 Radio Sawa (Arabic; MW,
satellite: 24 h/day;
Internet), Alhurra TV
(Arabic; satellite: 24 h/
day; Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Syria 21,762,978 173 178 (Kurdish; SW: 28 h/wk; Radio Sawa (Arabic; MW,
Internet) satellite: 24 h/day;
Internet), Alhurra TV
(Arabic; satellite: 24 h/
day; Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tunisia 10,486,339 173 176 Alhurra TV (Arabic;
satellite: 24 h/day;
Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
United Arab 4,798,491 165 153 Radio Sawa (Arabic; FM,
Emirates MW, satellite: 24 h/day;
Internet), Alhurra TV
(Arabic; satellite: 24 h/
day; Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yemen 22,858,238 147 172 Radio Sawa (Arabic; MW,
satellite: 24 h/day;
Internet), Alhurra TV
(Arabic; satellite: 24 h/
day; Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Appendix A (South Central Asia)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Freedom House Freedom House
Country Population Press Ranking Press Ranking Voices of America (VOA) Middle East Broadcasting Radio Free Europe/Radio
2004 2009 Networks (MBN) Liberty
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Afghanistan---------28,395,716---------------159---------------162---Radio Ashna (1 hour,--------Alhurra TV (Arabic;---------Radio Free Afghanistan/--
Pashto followed by 1 satellite: 24 h/day; Radio Azadi (Pashto,
hour, Dari for 12 total Internet) Dari; FM, SW, satellite:
hours/day; SW, AM, FM), 12 h/day; Internet)
TV Ashna (30 mins Pashto/
30 mins Dari; 1 hour/
day), Radio Deewa
(Pashto; SW, AM, FM: 168
h/wk; Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bangladesh 156,050,883 150 138 (Bangla; SW, satellite:
11.7 h/wk; Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bhutan 691,141 150 132 (Tibetan; SW, satellite:
70 h/wk; Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
India 1,156,897,766 93 76 TV (Hindi, 3 min/wk);
Internet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kazakhstan 15,399,437 161 168 Internet (Russian) Radio Azattyq (Kazakh,
Russian; SW, satellite:
2 h/day; Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kyrgyz 5,431,747 156 158 Internet (Russian) Radio Azattyq (Kyrgyz;
Republic SW, satellite: 6 h/day;
private cable TV: 2
weekly shows; Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Maldives 396,334 135 118
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nepal 28,563,377 140 122
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pakistan 174,578,558 121 136 Radio Aap Ki Dunyaa (Urdu; Alhurra TV (Arabic; Radio Mashaal (Pashto;
SW, satellite: 96 h/wk; satellite: 24 h/day; AM, FM, SW, satellite: 2
Internet), Radio Deewa Internet) h/day; Internet)
(Pashto; SW: 168 h/wk;
Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sri Lanka 21,324,791 111 155
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tajikistan 7,349,145 160 168 Internet (Russian) (Tajik; SW, satellite: 6
h/day; Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Turkmenistan 4,884,887 190 193 (Turkmen; SW, MW,
satellite: 6 h/day;
Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Uzbekistan 27,606,007 182 189 (Uzbek; SW, satellite: 4.5 .......................... Radio Ozodlik (Uzbek; MW,
h/wk; Internet) SW, satellite: 6 h/day;
Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Appendix A (Western Hemisphere/Latin America)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Freedom House Freedom House
Country Population Press Ranking Press Ranking Voices of America (VOA) Office of Cuba Broadcasting (OCB)
2004 2009
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Antigua and 85,632 97 81
Barbuda
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Argentina 40,913,584 78 100 (Spanish; SW, satellite: 39.75 h/wk;
Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Aruba 103,065 -- --
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bahamas, The 307,552 18 32
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Barbados 284,589 28 27
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Belize 307,899 49 33
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bermuda 67,837 -- --
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bolivia 9,775,246 84 89 (Spanish; SW, satellite: 39.75 h/wk;
Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Brazil 198,739,269 80 89
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Canada 33,487,208 23 27
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cayman Islands 49,035 -- --
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chile 16,601,707 50 63 (Spanish; SW, satellite: 39.75 h/wk;
Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Colombia 43,677,372 127 125 (Spanish; SW, satellite: 39.75 h/wk;
Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Costa Rica 4,253,877 37 27 (Spanish; SW, satellite: 39.75 h/wk;
Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cuba 11,451,652 192 190 (Spanish; SW, satellite: 39.75 h/wk; Radio & TV Marti (Spanish; SW, MW: 24 h/
Internet) day; satellite TV: 8 h/day; Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dominica 72,660 28 38
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dominican 9,650,054 88 84 (Spanish; SW, satellite: 39.75 h/wk;
Republic Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ecuador 14,573,101 95 92 (Spanish; SW, satellite: 39.75 h/wk;
Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
El Salvador 7,185,218 95 89 (Spanish; SW, satellite: 39.75 h/wk;
Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Grenada 90,739 25 49
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Guatemala 13,276,517 125 128 (Spanish; SW, satellite: 39.75 h/wk;
Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Guyana 752,940 45 66
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Haiti 9,035,536 171 109 (Creole; SW: 10 h/wk; Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Honduras 7,833,696 107 107 (Spanish; SW, satellite: 39.75 h/wk;
Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jamaica 2,825,928 28 14
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mexico 111,211,789 80 115 (Spanish; SW, satellite: 39.75 h/wk;
Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Netherlands 227,049 -- -- (Spanish; SW, satellite: 39.75 h/wk;
Antilles Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nicaragua 5,891,199 84 96 (Spanish; SW, satellite: 39.75 h/wk;
Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Panama 3,360,474 100 92 (Spanish; SW, satellite: 39.75 h/wk;
Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Paraguay 6,995,655 114 125 (Spanish; SW, satellite: 39.75 h/wk;
Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Peru 29,546,963 75 92 (Spanish; SW, satellite: 39.75 h/wk;
Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
St. Kitts and 40,131 47 27
Nevis
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
St. Lucia 160,267 9 14
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
St. Vincent and 104,574 18 21
the Grenadines
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Suriname 481,267 33 43
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trinidad and 1,229,953 57 43
Tobago
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Uruguay 3,494,382 60 53 (Spanish; SW, satellite: 39.75 h/wk;
Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Venezuela 26,814,843 150 160 (Spanish; SW, satellite: 39.75 h/wk;
Internet)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Appendix B.--BBG Broadcast Languages
Global
English
Special English and English to Africa
Eastern & Central Europe
Albanian
Bosnian
Croatian
Greek
Macedonian
Montenegrin
Romanian
Serbian
Eurasia
Armenian
Avar
Azerbaijani
Bashkir
Belarusian
Chechen
Circassian
Crimean Tatar
Georgian
Russian
Tatar
Ukrainian
Central Asia
Kazakh
Kyrgyz
Tajik
Turkmen
Uzbek
East Asia
Burmese
Cantonese
Indonesian
Khmer
Korean
Lao
Mandarin
Thai
Tibetan
Uyghur
Vietnamese
South Asia
Bangla
Dari
Hindi
Pashto
Urdu
Africa
Afan Oromo
Amharic
French to Africa
Hausa
Kinyarwanda
Kirundi
Ndebele
Portuguese to Africa
Shona
Somali
Swahili
Tigrigna
Near East/North Africa
Arabic
Kurdish
Persian
Turkish
Latin America
Creole
Spanish
=======================================================================
Appendix C.--Broadcasting Board of Governors Entity Heads
=======================================================================
International Broadcasting Bureau (IBB) Directors
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
IBB Directors Dates of Service Successor (w/starting date) Time Served
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Austin, Danforth (Acting Deputy) Aug 2007 to Present............................... ................................................ 2 yrs 10 mos (as of 6/25/2010)
Moore, George (Deputy) Jun 2006 to Aug 2007.............................. Austin (Aug 2007)................................. 1 yr 2 mo
Cropsey, Seth Nov 2002 to Jan 2005.............................. Position Vacant since Jan 2005.................... 2 yrs 1 mo
Lieberman, Evelyn S. (Acting) Dec 1998 to May 1999.............................. Cropsey (Nov 2002)................................ 55 mos
Klose, Kevin Apr 1997 to Dec 1998.............................. Lieberman (Dec 1998).............................. 1 yr 8 mos
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Voice of America (VOA) Directors
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
VOA Directors Dates of Service Successor (w/starting date) Time Served
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Austin, Danforth Oct 2006 to Present............................... ................................................ 3 yrs 8 mos (as of 6/25/2010)
Jackson, David Sep 2002 to Oct 2006.............................. Austin (Oct 2006)................................. 4 yrs 1 mo
Reilly, Robert R. Oct 2001 to Aug 2002.............................. Jackson (Sep 2002)................................ 10 mos
Ungar, Sanford J. Jun 1999 to Jun 2001.............................. Reilly (Oct 2001)................................. 2 yrs
Lieberman, Evelyn S. Feb 1997 to May 1999.............................. Ungar (Jun 1999).................................. 2 yrs 3 mos
Cowan, Geoffrey Mar 1994 to Nov 1996.............................. Lieberman (Feb 1997).............................. 2 yrs 8 mos
Untermeyer, Chase Aug 1991 to Jan 1993.............................. Cowan (Mar 1994).................................. 1 yr 5 mos
Carlson, Richard W. Sep 1986 to Jul 1991.............................. Untermeyer (Aug 1991)............................. 4 yrs 10 mos
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Office of Cuba Broadcasting (OCB) Directors
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
OCB Directors Dates of Service Successor (w/starting date) Time Served
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Roig, Pedro Apr 2003 to Present............................... ................................................ 7 yrs 2 mos (as of 6/25/2010)
Lew, Salvador Jul 2001 to Mar 2003.............................. Roig (Apr 2003)................................... 1 yr 8 mos
San Roman, Hermino 1999 to Jul 2001.................................. Lew (Jul 2001).................................... 2 yrs
Bonachea, Rolando 1995 to Dec 1999................................. San Roman (1999).................................. 4 yrs
Lobo, Richard 1994 to May 1995.................................. Bonachea (1995)................................... 1 yr
Navarro, Antonio 1990 to Jan 1993.................................. Lobo (1994)....................................... 2 yrs
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) Presidents
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
RFE/RL Presidents Dates of Service Successor (w/starting date) Time Served
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gedmin, Jeffrey Feb 2007 to Present............................... ................................................ 3 yrs 4 mos (as of 6/25/2010)
Trimble, Jeffrey (Acting) Nov 2005 to Feb 2007.............................. Gedmin (Feb 2007)................................. 1 yr 3 mos
Dine, Thomas A. May 1997 to Oct 2005.............................. Trimble (Nov 2005)................................ 8 yrs 5 mos
Klose, Kevin Jun 1994 to Mar 1997.............................. Dine (May 1997)................................... 3 yrs 1 mo
Marsh, William Oct 1993 to Jan 1994............................. Klose (Jun 1994).................................. 3 mos
Pell, Eugene Nov 1985 to Sep 1993.............................. Marsh (Oct 1993).................................. 7 yrs 10 mos
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Radio Free Asia (RFA) Presidents
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
RFA Presidents Dates of Service Successor (w/starting date) Time Served
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Liu, Libby Sep 2005 to Present............................... ................................................ 4 yrs 9 mos (as of 6/25/2010)
Richter, Richard Mar 1996 to Jul 2005.............................. Liu (Sep 2005).................................... 9 yrs 4 mos
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Middle East Broadcasting (MBN) Presidents
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MBN Presidents Dates of Service Successor (w/starting date) Time Served
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Conniff, Brian Jun 2006 to Present............................... ................................................ 4 yrs (as of 6/25/2010)
Kleinman, Herbert (Acting) Aug 2003 to Aug 2005.............................. Conniff (Jun 2006)................................ 2 yrs
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As of 6/25/2010
Appendix D.--VOA Persian News Network Schedule (as of 3/30/10)
MONDAY--FRIDAY
Live Broadcasts (Time in Iran)
6:00p--Newsbrief/History Channel
7:00p--Newsbrief
7:10p--Today's Woman
8:00p--News & Views
9:00p--News Talk
10:00p--Straight Talk
11:00p--Late Edition
Repeats
12:00a--Newsbrief/History Channel
1:00a--Newsbrief
1:10a--Today's Woman
2:00a--News & Views
3:00a--Newstalk
4:00a--Straight Talk
5:00a--Late Edition
* 6:00a--Morning Edition (LIVE)
7:00a--Morning Edition
8:00a--Morning Edition
9:00a--Newstalk
10:00a--Morning Edition
11:00a--Straight Talk
12:00p--Late Edition
1:00p--Newsbrief
1:10p--Today's Woman
2:00p--Morning Edition
3:00p--Newstalk
4:00p--Straight Talk
5:00p--Late Edition
SATURDAY-SUNDAY
7:00a--C-Span
4:00p--Straight Talk/Special Program
5:00p--Late Edition
Live Broadcasts
6:00p--Newsbrief/History Channel
7:00p--Newsbrief
7:10p--Special Program
8:00p--News & Views
9:00p--Newstalk
10:00p--Special program
11:00p--Late Edition
Repeats
12:00a--Newsbrief/History Channel
1:00a--Newsbrief
1:10a--Special Program
2:00a--News & Views
3:00a--Newstalk
4:00a Special program
5:00a--Late Edition
* 6:00a--Morning Edition (LIVE)
Appendix E.--Editorials Relating to BBG
Editorial: ``Voice of the mullahs''
Washington Times, April 14, 2010
The Voice of America is becoming the Voice of the Islamic
Republic of Iran. Recent programming choices have revealed a
creeping bias toward opponents of the pro-democracy movement
and de facto supporters of the regime. This ill befits the VOA
mission and the purpose of U.S. public diplomacy.
On March 17, Rep. Trent Franks, Arizona Republican, sent a
letter to President Obama signed by 69 members of Congress
requesting that the White House ``investigate reported
mismanagement and bias at Voice of America's Persian News
Network (VOA-PNN).'' The lawmakers expressed concern over ``the
apparent lack of oversight regarding the management, staffing,
mission and content of VOA-PNN broadcasting.'' The letter notes
that the service ``may have harmed the plight of those seeking
human rights, rather than helping it.''
Cases in point are two recent VOA broadcasts that gave
preferred treatment to pro-regime messages. On March 29, VOA-
PNN interviewed Hooshang Amir-Ahmadi, an anti-sanctions
activist called ``Iran's pseudo U.S. lobbyist'' by Iranian
democracy groups. Mr. Amir-Ahmadi expressed the view that
Iran's belligerent posture and nuclear program are the natural
results of being surrounded by U.S. missiles and bombs; hence,
progress can come only through the United States softening its
policies toward Tehran.
On April 1, VOA gave airtime to Trita Parsi, head of the
National Iranian American Council (NIAC), which has received
millions of dollars in federal funds to promote democracy in
Iran. Mr. Parsi expressed various odd positions, such as that
Israel prefers to have hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
in power in Tehran, that members of the Obama administration
know sanctions won't work but pursue them only as a bargaining
position, and--most strangely--that even if Iran succeeded in
establishing a democracy, the United States would nevertheless
keep sanctions in place. VOA gave Mr. Parsi preferential
treatment by banning callers while he was on the air even
though he appeared on a call-in show; those who later took
issue with his views were quickly cut off.
Mr. Parsi was the subject of an investigation by the Senate
federal financial management subcommittee, which revealed that
most of the federal funds received by NIAC were not used for
their intended purpose and that he was working with a regime-
controlled front posing as an Iranian nongovernmental
organization. These and other developments have generated buzz
in the pro-democracy Iranian blogosphere that VOA has become a
pro-mullah outlet.
The rub is that the Iranian people may not even get to hear
these messages because Tehran routinely jams VOA broadcasts.
Voice of America recently drafted a strongly worded protest
against the jamming, but the National Security Council
intervened in an attempt to block the protest and, failing
that, to water down the language. Republican Sens. Jon Kyl of
Arizona, Tom Coburn of Oklahoma and Sam Brownback of Kansas
sent a letter to Broadcasting Board of Governors Executive
Director Jeffrey N. Trimble on March 9 noting that such White
House intervention constitutes ``serious violations of U.S.
law, policy and tradition related to the editorial independence
of the taxpayer-funded'' board of governors.
These events should be hot topics when the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee holds hearings on nominations for new
members of the broadcasting board. Meanwhile, if VOA is telling
Iranians struggling for freedom that resistance is futile, we
hope Tehran keeps jamming it.
----------
Letter to the Editor: ``VOA's Persian News Aims
for Objectivity''
Washington Times, April 19, 2010
Your allegation that Voice of America's Persian News
Network (VOA PNN) ``is becoming the Voice of the Islamic
Republic of Iran'' is simply not supported by the facts
(``Voice of the mullahs,'' Comment & Analysis, Wednesday).
You cite two recent ``cases in point,'' describing
broadcasts that, in your view, ``gave preferred treatment to
pro-regime messages.'' There is no preferred treatment of any
messages in VOA PNN programs. Allowing a wide range of voices
and opinions underscores VOA's commitment and adherence to a
congressionally approved charter that requires programming to
be accurate, objective and comprehensive.
The two guests you selectively cited represent only a small
part of what PNN offered its audience that particular week, and
each has appeared on or written articles for a wide variety of
media.
Hooshang Amir-Ahmadi is a prominent professor at Rutgers
University who also has appeared on CNN, Fox, BBC, ABC and PBS.
He recently returned to the United States from a trip to Iran,
where he met with influential contacts, including a member of
the Guardian Council. On March 29, the same day the professor
appeared on our broadcast, we also interviewed George Lopez, a
senior fellow at the U.S. Institute of Peace, who testified in
December before a House subcommittee on the effectiveness of
sanctions against Iran.
Trita Parsi, the head of a leading Iranian-American group,
has written articles for the Wall Street Journal, Financial
Times, the American Conservative and other publications. On
April 1, the same day he appeared on our air, we also
interviewed Taghi Rahmani, an opposition journalist. VOA did
not ``ban'' callers during the Parsi segment, as you claim.
Three points of view were offered, and the host took questions
about the segment during the last 30 minutes of the broadcast.
The representation of all voices is a critical component of
PNN's programming, which is driven by the news and events of
the day. This approach is succeeding--PNN programming draws
some of the biggest audiences of U.S. international
broadcasting and is seen weekly by almost 30 percent of Iranian
television viewers.
It is important to note that each day, VOA receives
compelling calls, e-mails and letters from inside Iran or from
members of the Iranian diaspora. They thank PNN for providing
information about the world and events in Iran that are not
covered by their local news media. PNN brought the street
demonstrations in Iran into homes throughout the country as
they were happening and provided Iranian citizen-journalists
and cell-phone videographers with an outlet for airing events
they witnessed firsthand but that were not publicized by
Iranian television.
In order to keep its people from seeing PNN content, the
Iranian government attempts to block our Web sites and jam our
broadcasts. And so we ask, would the government of Iran waste
time and money jamming VOA's PNN if it didn't find the content
objectionable?
Danforth W. Austin, Director,
Voice of America, Washington, DC.
Appendix F.--Recent State Department Office
of the Inspector General (OIG) and
Government Accountability Office (GAO)
Reports on the BBG
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Number Title Link
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FY 2010
ISP-IB-10-48 BBG Operations in Afghanistan http://oig.state.gov/documents/
organization/139264.pdf
AUD/IB-10-19 Independent Auditor's Report on the http://oig.state.gov/documents/
Broadcasting Board of Governor's 2009 organization/140388.pdf
and 2008 Financial Statements
ISP-IB-10-28 BBG's Middle East Broadcasting Networks, http://oig.state.gov/documents/
Inc. organization/140389.pdf
ISP-IB-10-27 Limited Scope Inspection of Radio Free http://oig.state.gov/documents/
Europe/Radio Liberty's New Headquarters organization/139263.pdf
in Prague, Czech Republic
AUD/IT-10-09 Review of the Information Security http://oig.state.gov/documents/
Program at the Broadcasting Board of organization/138085.pdf
Governors
================================================================================================================
FY 2009
ISP-IB-09-67 Review of the Voice of America's Radio http://oig.state.gov/documents/
(July 2009) Deewa's Journalistic Controls organization/126646.pdf
ISP-IB-09-46 Inspection of the Voice of America News http://oig.state.gov/documents/
(July 2009) Bureau London, United Kingdom organization/128844.pdf
ISP-IB-09-27 Inspection of the Voice of America's http://oig.state.gov/documents/
(March 2009) Persian News Network organization/126688.pdf
================================================================================================================
FY 2008
ISP-IB-08-45 Alhurra's Programming Policies and http://oig.state.gov/documents/
(May 08) Procedures organization/106057.pdf
ISP-IB-08-12 Inspection of the Broadcasting Board of http://oig.state.gov/documents/
(Jan. 08) Governors (Oversight Board) organization/104122.pdf
ISP-IB-08-07 BBG Operations in Kenya http://oig.state.gov/documents/
(Jan. 08) organization/128101.pdf
ISP-IB-08-06 Inspection of Voice of America's Central http://oig.state.gov/documents/
News organization/117823.pdf
ISP-IB-08-05 Inspection of IBB's Morocco Transmitting http://oig.state.gov/documents/
Station organization/128102.pdf
AUD/FM-08-07 Independent Auditor's Report on the http://oig.state.gov/documents/
Broadcasting Board of Governors' 2007 organization/124235.pdf
and 2006 Financial Statements
AUD/FM-08-06 Management Letter Related to the Audit of http://oig.state.gov/documents/
the Broadcasting Board of Governors' organization/117579.pdf
2007 and 2006 Financial Statements
================================================================================================================
FY 2007
ISP-IB-07-37A Inspection of IBB's Philippines http://oig.state.gov/documents/
Transmitting Station organization/104117.pdf
ISP-IB-07-35 Inspection of Office of Cuba Broadcasting http://oig.state.gov/documents/
(June 07) organization/89908.pdf
ISP-IB-07-32 BBG Operations in Russia http://oig.state.gov/documents/
(May 07) organization/104101.pdf
ISP-I-07-03 Inspection of the International http://oig.state.gov/documents/
(Oct. 06) Broadcasting Bureau's Office of organization/130709.pdf
Engineering and Technical Services
AUD/IB-07-26 Independent Auditor's Report on the http://oig.state.gov/documents/
Review of Middle East Broadcasting organization/124531.pdf
Networks, Inc., Awards to Three
Contractors
================================================================================================================
FY 2006
ISP-IB-06-37 Inspection of IBB's Office of Performance http://oig.state.gov/documents/
(May 06) Review organization/121797.pdf
ISP-IB-06-02 BBG's Operations in and Broadcasting to http://oig.state.gov/documents/
(Feb. 06) Afghanistan organization/104128.pdf
AUD/FM-06-06 Management Letter Related to the Audit of http://oig.state.gov/documents/
the Broadcasting Board of Governors' organization/110715.pdf
2005 Principal Financial Statements and
2004 Balance Sheet
AUD/SI-06-24 Audit of Emergency Preparedness at the http://oig.state.gov/documents/
Washington Metropolitan Facilities of organization/131170.pdf
the Broadcasting Board of Governors
================================================================================================================
FY 2005
ISP-IB-05-67 BBG's Operations in and Broadcasting to http://oig.state.gov/documents/
(Sept. 05) Pakistan organization/124640.pdf
ISP-IB-05-63 Inspection of IBB's Botswana Transmitting http://oig.state.gov/documents/
(Aug. 05) Station organization/124641.pdf
ISP-IB-05-66 Inspection of BBG's Operations in India http://oig.state.gov/documents/
(Aug. 05) organization/104084.pdf
ISP-IB-05-64 Inspection of BBG's Operations in Hong http://oig.state.gov/documents/
(Aug. 05) Kong organization/104048.pdf
ISP-IB-05-69 IBB's Greenville, NC Transmitting Station http://oig.state.gov/documents/
(Aug. 05) organization/104048.pdf
IBO-I-05-05 Inspection of IBB's Delano, CA http://oig.state.gov/documents/
(March 05) Transmitting Station organization/125791.pdf
ISP-IB-05-65 Review of VOA's Digital Upgrade Program http://oig.state.gov/documents/
(Aug. 05) organization/117824.pdf
IBO/IQO-A-05-02 Review of Radio Sawa Support to the http://oig.state.gov/documents/
(Dec. 2005) Transition in Post-Saddam Iraq organization/37864.pdf
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Government Accountability Office Reports on U.S. Broadcasting
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GAO Report Number Title Link
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GAO-09-127 Broadcasting to Cuba: Actions Are http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d09127.pdf
Needed to Improve Strategy and
Operations (January 2009)
GAO-08-764 Broadcasting to Cuba: Weaknesses in http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d08764.pdf
Contracting Practices Reduced
Visibility into Selected Award
Decisions (July 2008)
GAO-06-762 U.S. International Broadcasting: http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d06762.pdf
Management of Middle East Broadcasting
Services Could Be Improved (Aug. 2006)
GAO-06-535 U.S. Public Diplomacy: State Department http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d06535.pdf
Efforts to Engage Muslim Audiences
Lack Certain Communication Elements
and Face Significant Challenges (May
2006)
GAO-05-323 U.S. Public Diplomacy: Interagency http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d05323.pdf
Coordination Efforts Hampered by the
Lack of a National Communication
Strategy (April 2005)
GAO-04-1061T U.S Public Diplomacy: State Department http://www.gao.gov/new.items/
and Broadcasting Board of Governors d041061t.pdf
Expand Post-9/11 Efforts But
Challenges Remain (Aug. 2004)
GAO-04-711T U.S International Broadcasting: http://www.gao.gov/new.items/
Challenges Facing the Broadcasting d04711t.pdf
Board of Governors (April 29, 2004)
GAO-04-627T U.S International Broadcasting: http://www.gao.gov/new.items/
Challenges Facing the Broadcasting d04627t.pdf
Board of Governors (April 1, 2004)
GAO-04-374 U.S. International Broadcasting: http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d04374.pdf
Enhanced Measure of Local Media
Conditions Would Facilitate Decisions
to Terminate Language Services (Feb.
2004)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Appendix G.--Chinese Media Outlets
Working in the United States
21st Century Business Herald Beijing Daily
Beijing Review Beijing Youth Daily
Caijing Magazine Caixin Media
CCTV China Business News
China Central Television China Central TV America
CHINA DAILY China Economic Daily
China News Service China Radio International (CRI)
China Television Company (CTV) CHINA YOUTH DAILY
ECONOMIC DAILY Feature Story News (FSN)
Fortune Times Foshan Daily
Foshan TV Geo TV
Global Times GUANGMING DAILY
Jiefang Daily LEGAL DAILY
Liberation Daily Oriental Morning Post
PEOPLE S DAILY People's Daily
Radio Foshan Science & Technology Daily
Shanghai Evening Post Shanghai Morning Post
Shanghai Oriental Morning Post SHANGHAI WENHUI DAILY
SING TAO CHINESE RADIO/DAILY Southern Metropolis Daily
Southern Weekly The China Press
The Economic Observer Tsinghua University School of
Journalism
TTV - Taiwan Television TVBS
Wen Hui Daily Xin Min Evening News
Xinhua News Agency
Appendix H.--Alhurra Schedule
All times: Cairo, Egypt;
Program Premieres are Bold; Live Programs are Italicized
SUNDAY
12:00 am The World Now News Update 11:00 am The World Now Newscast
12:10 am Very Close (second half) 11:30 am Inside Washington
1:00 am The World Now Newscast 12:00 pm The World Now News Update
1:30 am Documentary 12:10 pm Documentary
2:00 am The World Now News Update 1:00 pm The World Now News Update
2:10 am Documentary 1:10 pm Eye on Democracy
3:00 am The World Now News Update 2:00 pm The World Now Newscast
3:10 am Eye on Democracy 2:30 pm Inside Washington
4:00 am Women's Views 3:00 pm Women's Views
5:00 am The World Now News Update 4:00 pm Seven Days
5:10 am Very Close (first half) 5:00 pm The World Now News Update
6:00 am The World Now News Update 5:10 pm Documentary
6:10 am Very Close (second half) 6:00 pm The World Today Newscast
7:00 am All Directions 7:00 pm Al Youm
8:00 am The World Now Newscast 10:00 pm The Global Newscast
8:30 am Inside Washington 11:00 pm Free Hour
9:00 am The World Now News Update
9:10 am Very Close (first half)
10:00 am The World Now News Update
10:10 am Very Close (second half)
Appendix H.--Alhurra Schedule--continued
All times: Cairo, Egypt;
Program Premieres are Bold; Live Programs are Italicized MONDAY 12:00 am The World Now News Update 11:30 am Cinemagazine
12:10 am Documentary 12:00 pm The World Now News Update
1:00 am The World Now Newscast 12:10 pm Documentary
1:30 am Cinemagazine 1:00 pm The World Now News Update
2:00 am The World Now News Update 1:10 pm Doors
2:10 am Documentary 2:00 pm The World Now Newscast
3:00 am Al Youm 2:30 pm High Speed
6:00 am Free Hour 3:00 pm Free Hour
7:00 am The World Now News Update 4:00 pm In Iraqi
7:10 am Documentary 5:00 pm The World Now News Update
8:00 am The World Now Newscast 5:10 pm Documentary
8:30 am Cinemagazine 6:00 pm The World Today Newscast
9:00 am Free Hour 7:00 pm Al Youm
10:00 am The World Now News Update 10:00 pm The Global Newscast
10:10 am Documentary 11:00 pm Free Hour
11:00 am The World Now Newscast
TUESDAY 12:00 am The World Now News Update 11:00 am The World Now Newscast
12:10 am Sports Weekly 11:30 am Inside Washington
12:30 am High Speed 12:00 pm The World Now News Update
1:00 am The World Now Newscast 12:10 pm Very Close (first half)
1:30 am Inside Washington 1:00 pm The World Now News Update
2:00 am The World Now News Update 1:10 pm Very Close (second half)
2:10 am Documentary 2:00 pm The World Now Newscast
3:00 am Al Youm 2:30 pm i-TECH
6:00 am Free Hour 3:00 pm Free Hour
7:00 am The World Now News Update 4:00 pm In Iraqi
7:10 am Doors 5:00 pm The World Now News Update
8:00 am The World Now Newscast 5:10 pm Documentary
8:30 am i-TECH 6:00 pm The World Today Newscast
9:00 am Free Hour 7:00 pm Al Youm
10:00 am The World Now News Update 10:00 pm The Global Newscast
10:10 am Gulf Talks 11:00 pm Free Hour
WEDNESDAY 12:00 am The World Now News Update 11:30 am Sports Weekly
12:10 am Alhurra Presents 12:00 pm The World Now News Update
1:00 am The World Now Newscast 12:10 pm Documentary
1:30 am i-TECH 1:00 pm The World Now News Update
2:00 am The World Now News Update 1:10 pm Gulf Talks
2:10 am Documentary 2:00 pm The World Now Newscast
3:00 am Al Youm 2:30 pm High Speed
6:00 am Free Hour 3:00 pm Free Hour
7:00 am The World Now News Update 4:00 pm In Iraqi
7:10 am Alhurra Presents 5:00 pm The World Now News Update
8:00 am The World Now Newscast 5:10 pm Documentary
8:30 am Sports Weekly 6:00 pm The World Today Newscast
9:00 am Free Hour 7:00 pm Al Youm
10:00 am The World Now News Update 10:00 pm The Global Newscast
10:10 am Alhurra Presents 11:00 pm Free Hour
11:00 am The World Now Newscast THURSDAY 12:00 am The World Now News Update 11:00 am The World Now Newscast
12:10 am Special Report 11:30 am High Speed
1:00 am The World Now Newscast 12:00 pm The World Now News Update
1:30 am Sports Weekly 12:10 pm Documentary
2:00 am The World Now News Update 1:00 pm The World Now News Update
2:10 am Documentary 1:10 pm Special Report
3:00 am Al Youm 2:00 pm The World Now Newscast
6:00 am Free Hour 2:30 pm Sports Weekly
7:00 am The World Now News Update 3:00 pm Free Hour
7:10 am Special Report 4:00 pm In Iraqi
8:00 am The World Now Newscast 5:00 pm The World Now News Update
8:30 am High Speed 5:10 pm Documentary
9:00 am Free Hour 6:00 pm The World Today Newscast
10:00 am The World Now News Update 7:00 pm Al Youm
10:10 am Final Edition 10:00 pm The Global Newscast
10:30 am Places 11:00 pm Free Hour
Appendix H.--Alhurra Schedule--continued
All times: Cairo, Egypt;
Program Premieres are Bold; Live Programs are Italicized FRIDAY 12:00 am The World Now News Update 1:00 pm The World Now News Update
12:10 am i-TECH 1:10 pm Sports Studio
12:30 am Documentary 2:00 pm The World Now Newscast
1:00 am The World Now Newscast 2:30 pm i-TECH
1:30 am High Speed 3:00 pm Free Hour
2:00 am The World Now News Update 4:00 pm In Iraqi
2:10 am Documentary 5:00 pm The World Now News Update
3:00 am Al Youm 5:10 pm Documentary
6:00 am Free Hour 6:00 pm The World Today Newscast
7:00 am The World Now News Update 7:00 pm The World Now Update
7:10 am Sports Studio 7:10 pm Cinemagazine
8:00 am The World Now Newscast 7:30 pm From Wall Street
8:30 am Documentary 8:00 pm The World Now News Update
9:00 am Free Hour 8:10 pm Equality
10:00 am The World Now News Update 9:00 pm All Directions
10:10 am Equality 10:00 pm The Global Newscast
11:00 am The World Now Newscast 11:00 am The World Now News Update
11:30 am Documentary 11:10 pm Gulf Talks
12:00 pm The World Now News Update
12:10 pm Documentary SATURDAY 12:00 am The World Now News Update 11:30 am From Wall Street
12:10 am Documentary 12:00 pm The World Now News Update
1:00 am The World Now Newscast 12:10 pm Documentary
1:30 am From Wall Street 1:00 pm The World Now News Update
2:00 am The World Now News Update 1:10 pm Gulf Talks
2:10 am Documentary 2:00 pm The World Now Newscast
3:00 am The World Now News Update 2:30 pm i-TECH
3:10 am Equality 3:00 pm All Directions
4:00 am All Directions 4:00 pm Talk of Two Rivers
5:00 am The World Now News Update 5:00 pm The World Now News Update
5:10 am Gulf Talks 5:10 pm Documentary
6:00 am The World Now News Update 6:00 pm The World Today Newscast
6:10 am Documentary 7:00 pm The World Now News Update
7:00 am The World Now News Update 7:10 pm Inside Washington
7:10 am Equality 7:30 pm 30 Minutes
8:00 am The World Now Newscast 8:00 pm The World Now News Update
8:30 am Cinemagazine 8:10 pm Eye on Democracy
9:00 am The World Now News Update 9:00 pm Women's Views
9:10 am Equality 10:00 pm The Global Newscast
10:00 am The World Now News Update 11:00 pm The World Now News Update
10:10 am Documentary 11:10 pm Very Close (first half)
11:00 am The World Now Newscast
Appendix I.--BBG/IBB Satellite Coverage (Affiliate/Direct to Home)