Linked via ZOOM, two dozen veteran practitioners and scholars of the impact of the nation’s five overseas international broadcasters joined December 16th in discussion of the networks’ future under a Biden administration. Among the expert panelists as lead participants: Amanda Bennett and David Ensor. Former Voice of America Directors Martha Bayles and Peter Pomerantsev, scholars…
“Freedom of information is a fundamental human right, and the touchstone of all the freedoms, as well, to which the United States is consecrated. This is our touchstone as well. We seek a free flow of information with others, across Iron Curtains and stone walls.” — President John F. Kennedy, 1962 “To millions in closed…
President-elect Biden has taken a promising first step to ensure that the five networks uphold that reputation by naming former Under Secretary of State Richard Stengel and Time Magazine columnist as director of a Biden transition team for international broadcasting and other foreign policy assets. America’s five U.S. overseas government multimedia networks face a crucial…
For America’s publicly-funded overseas broadcasters, it has been the most perilous summer and fall in the 78 years since the Voice of America went on the air during World War II with the pledge: “The news may be good, the news may be bad for us (the U.S.), but we shall tell you the truth.”…
The House Foreign Affairs Committee summoned Michael Pack, the CEO of five publicly-funded overseas networks, to be the principal figure at a long-scheduled hearing September 24. The problem was: Mr. Pack, though under subpoena after resisting the invitation, never showed up. The main issue: Mr. Pack’s nearly four-month leadership of the Voice of America, Radio…
Hans N. (Tom) Tuch was a highly-respected deputy and for some months, acting director of the Voice of America in the late 1970s. I recall the first day of Tom’s tenure at the Voice as controversy swirled anew around whether or not VOA correspondents were U.S. officials, or journalists. It was a day of drama…
Hans N. (Tom) Tuch, an early and persistent advocate of public diplomacy as an indispensable element in the conduct of U.S. foreign affairs, died on September 7, 2020 at his residence in Bethesda,MD. He was 95. The cause of death were complications following a recent fall. His seminal book, “Communicating with the World: U.S. Public…
Three months ago, Michael Pack was named chief executive officer of the five U.S.-funded overseas multimedia networks. They are: Voice of America (VOA), Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), Radio Free Asia (RFA), the Middle East Broadcast Network in Arabic (MBN) and Radio-TV Marti in Spanish to Cuba. The five networks are supervised by the U.S.…
1.“TRACKING” CURRENT U.S. AMBASSADORS: With the constant turnover in U.S. heads of missions and challenges getting nominees speedy Senate confirmation, it is not always easy to keep track of who today’s ambassadors are. The American Foreign Service Association (AFSA), therefore, provides a terrific public service by posting a list of who presently is running each…
1. U.S. CRACKS DOWN ON CONFUCIUS INSTITUTES: The days when China could quite freely sponsor Confucius Institutes (CIs) to promote Chinese language and culture on U.S. campuses are over. The State Department has decided to designate the Confucius Institute U.S. Center (CIUS), which is the Washington, DC-based de facto headquarters of the CI network, as…