By Ted Lipien Published November 30, 2015 by Digital Journal U.S. overseas broadcasting in support of freedom has a long and distinguished history. People who know it well, including Kevin Klose, a former Washington Post foreign correspondent, former National Public Radio (NPR) president and, most importantly, someone who successfully ran Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) and worked briefly for the…
By Ted Lipien Published August 12, 2015 in Digital Journal The Voice of America, one of America’s taxpayer-funded weapons against Russian propaganda, had something in common with Russia’s propaganda weapon RT last week. RT (formerly Russia Today), a multimedia English-language website, still looked vastly more polished, more frequently updated and far more visually appealing than VOA’s late 20th century GI (Government…
By Ted Lipien Published July 31, 2015 in Digital Journal Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is one of America’s best investments in peaceful backing of freedom abroad, which brings security at home. Funded by U.S. taxpayers through the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), RFE/RL “serves as a ‘surrogate’ free press in 21 countries where the free flow of information is either…
By Ted Lipien Published May 5, 2015 by Digital Journal U.S. international media outreach is in a deep crisis in the period of intensifying anti-American propaganda, particularly on foreign pseudo-news websites and social media. It’s a matter of concern for a lot of Americans, including, among others, former U.S. Secretaries of State George Shultz and Hillary Clinton. The federal agency…
By Ted Lipien Published April 3, 2015 by Digital Journal The U.S. State Department is not a news or journalistic organization. It never was and never will be. But State Department public diplomacy specialists could teach Voice of America a few technical things about journalism in the digital age. VOA aspires to be a news organization engaging audiences abroad with the help…
By Ted Lipien Published March 22, 2015 in Digital Journal In an exclusive interview with the Voice of America (VOA) Mandarin Service, blind Chinese exiled human rights activist Chen Guangcheng blamed President Obama and the White House staff, but not former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, for allegedly trying to force him out from the U.S. Embassy in Beijing. A more prompt…
By Ted Lipien Published January 21, 2015 by Digital Journal Roberta Jacobson, U.S. assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs, will lead the U.S. delegation to Cuba this week, but Voice of America (VOA) and Radio and TV Marti reporters are not likely to be given visas by the Castro regime to travel to Cuba with Ms. Jacobson. They were not there for…
By Ted Lipien Published December 11, 2014 by Digital Journal Tahoe Vista – Community campaign to protect iconic Lake Tahoe skyline from development needs state, national and international support.As one of the signs of the times of declining appreciation for public good, Lake Tahoe and other natural landmarks are being targeted for development that threatens to destroy their environmental health and…
By Ted Lipien Published October 20, 2014 by Digital Journal Western media both expose, but often just report, Putin’s Russian victimhood propaganda claims, while poor management at Voice of America and insufficient funding from Congress prevent U.S. broadcaster from effectively countering Kremlin’s disinformation. Two recent Washington Post op-eds did more to expose both the duplicity and the success of Putin’s disinformation and…
By Ted Lipien Published September 9, 2014 by Digital Journal Because of gullibility of officials in charge of U.S. taxpayer-funded Voice of America (VOA), the Obama Administration helps President Putin win disinformation and propaganda war over Ukraine with some of VOA’s reports and programs. U.S. taxpayers are helping Russia’s President Putin win his propaganda and disinformation war over Ukraine by…