USAGM WATCH COMMENTARY
The official Trump White House newsletter 1600 Daily has accused U.S. government-funded Voice of America (VOA) in the $800 million U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) of spending taxpayers’ money “to speak for authoritarian regimes.” The White House noted that VOA’s annual budget is about $200 million. The White House said that “Today,… VOA too often speaks for America’s adversaries—not its citizens.”
In recent weeks, the Voice of America has posted under a VOA logo a number of one-sided propaganda videos, some of them originated by foreign governments.
The origin of the first video, which was specifically mentioned in the White House newsletter, is not clear, but it was shot in Wuhan, China and tweeted by the Voice of America.
In recent weeks, USAGM Watch noted several other Voice of America videos which can be described as one-sided foreign government propaganda.
The Voice of America also posted previously under its logo other one-sided propaganda videos, including some showing the burning of American and Israeli flags. The Voice of America also employed until recently a TV contractor who prior to working for VOA produced anti-U.S. Russian propaganda videos with conspiracy theories and anti-Semitic overtones.
SEE: Six raw videos of burning U.S. and Israeli flags got 3,500,000 views on Voice of America, BBG Watch, December 19, 2017
WHITE HOUSE CONTENT
Here is the full text of the 1600 Daily as copied from the White House website on April 9, 2020 at 8:00PM EDT.
Voice of America is a global news network funded by American taxpayers. It spends about $200 million each year on its mission to “tell America’s story” and “present the policies of the United States clearly and effectively” to people around the globe.
Today, however, VOA too often speaks for America’s adversaries—not its citizens.
The Coronavirus pandemic is no exception. Secrecy from the Communist Party of China allowed the deadly virus to spread across the world.
Journalists should report the facts, but VOA has instead amplified Beijing’s propaganda. This week, VOA called China’s Wuhan lockdown a successful “model” copied by much of the world—and then tweeted out video of the Communist government’s celebratory light show marking the quarantine’s alleged end.
Even worse, while much of the U.S. media takes its lead from China, VOA went one step further: It created graphics with Communist government statistics to compare China’s Coronavirus death toll to America’s. As intelligence experts point out, there is simply no way to verify the accuracy of China’s numbers.
The Coronavirus story is just one example of this pattern. Last year, VOA helped highlight the Twitter feed of Iran Foreign Minister Javad Zarif while he was issuing threats against the U.S. and sharing Russian anti-U.S. propaganda videos.
“VOA will represent America,” its guiding Charter reads. And for years after its founding during World War II, VOA served that mission by promoting freedom and democracy across the world for audiences who longed for both.
Today, VOA is promoting propaganda instead—and your tax dollars are paying for it.
END OF WHITE HOUSE CONTENT
USAGM Watch, published by volunteers most of whom are former Voice of America journalists, has been commenting on frequent use by some of the Voice of America services of propaganda and disinformation from various countries, particularly China, Russia, and Iran, often without any challenge or balance.
USAGM CEO Michael Pack, His Critics, Analyses by Former and Current VOA Journalists
USAGM Watch Commentary Michael Pack, Trump-appointed and U.S. Senate confirmed CEO of the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), is being criticized right and left, but his explanations are rarely mentioned in mainstream media reports, which generously repeat accusations and claims of his critics but omit to mention alleged conflicts of interest and accusations made […]
‘Voice of One America’ on Voice of America is against US law
USAGM Watch Commentary Former Voice of America (VOA) acting associate director Ted Lipien, who is a co-founder and supporter of BBG – USAGM Watch, argues in an new Washington Examiner op-ed that most of U.S. mainstream media have mislead Americans about what is going on at the $800 million U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) […]
USAGM & Transition Team Work Plan and Requests EXCLUSIVE
USAGM Watch Commentary USAGM Watch has received a copy of “USAGM & Transition Work Plans and Request,” which was reportedly sent to the senior management of the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) by the Biden USAGM transition team headed by Richard Stengel, former Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs during […]
Voice of America Between A Firewall and Accountability
USAGM Watch OPINION and COMMENTARY By Ted Lipien What is more important: protecting Voice of America (VOA) U.S. federal government employees and contractors working as journalists from policy influence of administration officials, or protecting U.S. citizens and foreign audiences from foreign propaganda and U.S. domestic partisan bias when VOA directors, managers editors and reporters help […]
Biden’s USAGM Transition Member Bruce Sherman Claimed Crimeans Wanted Annexation by Russia
USAGM Watch Commentary Bruce Sherman, one of the members of the advisory transition team selected by President-elect Joe Biden for the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), commissioned and promoted in 2014 a public opinion poll in Russian-occupied Crimea which was criticized for helping disinformation by Russian officials and the Kremlin’s state media propagandists. As […]
Native Americans, 2020 Elections, and Voice of America
USAGM Watch Commentary Many U.S. news media outlets have reported that President Trump may have lost at least some states in the 2020 presidential election and Democratic Party candidates may have won some congressional and state races because Native Americans voted overwhelmingly against Trump and against Republicans. In politics, politicians usually get what they deserve, […]
HISTORY First Voice of America Director of Halloween Fake Radio News Fame
USAGM Watch Halloween Commentary By Ted Lipien Happy Halloween! But don’t be fooled by fake radio news. Orson Welles’ partner in producing the infamous adaptation of H. G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds as a pre-Halloween fake radio news broadcast, which aired on October 30, 1938 over the CBS radio network and caused considerable […]
HISTORY WWII Voice of America Communist Propaganda to Yugoslavia
Ted Lipien for Cold War Radio Museum Thanks to several lawmakers, both Republicans and Democrats, the U.S. Congress became aware during World War II of Voice of America’s (VOA) communist propaganda in broadcasts to Yugoslavia. Most members of Congress opposed such U.S. government-produced support of communist groups at American taxpayers’ expense while a few progressive […]
USAGM CEO Blames Former Agency and Voice of America Heads for Massive Security Breaches
USAGM Watch Commentary Michael Pack, Trump-appointed CEO of the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), was interviewed by investigative reporter and Fox News Contributor Sara A Carter (@SaraCarterDC) about his concerns over security problems at the Voice of America (VOA), one of the several media organizations funded by U.S. taxpayers and overseen by his $800 […]
Domestic Propaganda By Voice of America Can Skew Election Results
OPINION By The Federalist Partisan domestic propaganda by the federally-funded and government-managed Voice of America (VOA) can skew U.S. election results. Congress should take action to defund all Voice of America programs which violate the VOA Charter ban on such domestic propaganda activities by federal employees and contractors. There was a time when VOA had […]
Voice of America Election News 1996 – 2020 Went From Balance to Bias
USAGM Watch Commentary The U.S. taxpayer-funded Voice of America (VOA) in the $800 million U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) used to follow its VOA Charter in reporting on U.S. presidential elections. The charter, which is U.S. law, mandates that “VOA will represent America, not any single segment of American society, and will therefore present […]
How Voice of America lost control of its website to obscene Russian trolls for eight years
OPINION “How Voice of America lost control of its website to obscene Russian trolls for eight years” by Ted Lipien, co-founder of BBG – USAGM Watch, in The Washington Examiner. For eight years a hacked and hijacked Voice of America (VOA) Russian Service website hosted in Russia showed a ritualistic and simulated torture, humiliation and […]
Media Expose Hidden Voice of America and USAGM Scandals
USAGM Watch Commentary Mainstream U.S. media, for now mostly conservative outlets, reporters and commentators, are beginning to focus on long-hidden scandals at the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), especially at the Voice of America (VOA). These scandals were not entirely hidden because many of them were first reported by BBG – USAGM Watch, but […]
Voice of America 2012 Fake Interview with Navalny Was A Security Threat
USAGM Watch Commentary Suspected poisoning in Russia of politician and anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny is yet another sign that his enemies are powerful and resourceful. As reported by National Public Radio (NPR), in 2012 they managed to dupe the U.S. taxpayer-funded Voice of America into posting a fake interview with Navalny. The interview was obtained […]
Voice of America Takes Down, Edits, Video With Pro-Biden Content
OPINION By Dan Robinson The Voice of America on Thursday took down and later reposted an edited version of video that had prematurely described the wife of presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden as “the future first lady.” The description of Jill Biden had remained online on the website of VOA’s French service for Africa […]
Voice Of America Managers Did Not Correct Pro-Biden Errors
OPINION By Dan Robinson [EDITOR’S NOTE: As this story was going to press, The New York Post and Politico reported that USAGM CEO Pack made a number of staff changes in response to both the VOA Urdu incident and ongoing investigations into potential national security threats from years of violations in how employee background investigations […]
Heritage scholar exposes VOA’s biased news
USAGM Watch Commentary Helle C. Dale, the Heritage Foundation’s senior fellow in public diplomacy, said in an article that “the violence of the riots, the vandalism against property and American history and culture, and the Marxist roots of Black Lives Matter are not covered” in taxpayer-funded Voice of America (VOA) news reports. “American taxpayers fund Voice of […]
Will Voice of America Biden Video Change How Muslim Americans Vote?
USAGM Watch Commentary This BBGWatch.com (USAGM – BBG Watch) video is about the Voice of America (VOA) Urdu Service one-sided social media presentation of a Joe Biden campaign video which violated the VOA Charter (U.S. law) and may influence how some Muslim Americans vote in the U.S. presidential election in November. The Voice of America […]
SARA CARTER Voice Of America Promoted A Pro-Biden Muslim Political Campaign Ad, Then Removed It
USAGM Watch Commentary Sara A. Carter , a national and international award-winning investigative reporter and Fox News contributor, broke the story on the Voice of America (VOA) enhancing and posting under the VOA logo a political campaign ad, “asking the Muslim community both in the United States and abroad to support Democratic Presidential candidate Joe […]
Former USAGM Management Ignored A Decade of Federal Security Agencies’ Warnings on Hiring Practices at VOA and Other USG Media Entities
USAGM Watch Commentary Originally published on July 26, 2020 and last edited for formatting changes on February 19, 2021. Speaking on background, U.S. federal government sources told USAGM Watch journalists that former senior officials in charge of the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), previously known as the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), ignored […]