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) which oversees and loosely manages VOA’s international and increasingly U.S. domestic news reporting and commentary. Domestic media outreach is not part of the congressionally-mandated Voice of America mission, but it happens thanks to the internet and social media and is open for abuse. According to Lipien, who also worked at VOA and for the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), which was USAGM’s former name, as VOA Polish Service chief, VOA Eurasia Division director and BBG regional marketing director, there have been massive violations of the VOA Charter in the last several years which may have affected outcomes of some U.S. elections. VOA’s Charter, which is U.S. law, requires the Voice of America to represent all of America, not any single segment of American society.
There are two Americas, one left-leaning liberal America and one right-leaning conservative America. But the taxpayer-funded Voice of America, VOA, in the $800 million U.S. Agency for Global Media not only reflects but also represents just one of them — illegally.
VOA’s domestic impact needs to be studied and measured because any intentional interference in U.S. elections by VOA officials and journalists is illegal. I do not want a pro-Biden VOA Urdu Service 2020 campaign ad costing Trump and Republicans support among U.S. ethnic voters in Michigan and elsewhere, just as I do not want VOA to help Trump and Republicans win in any elections. As an immigrant, a refugee from communism, and a former VOA journalist and manager during the Cold War, I know very well how much good VOA can do if it can focus on its essential mission abroad and not waste energy and money on electioneering in the United States — an illegal activity which both Democratic and Republican lawmakers and all honest journalists should strongly condemn.
Americans whose information comes only from the Voice of America itself, the Washington Post, the New York Times, CNN, MSNBC, or NPR have no idea what really goes on in the VOA newsroom. They may have been convinced by now that VOA is VOT (Voice of Trump) because his appointee, Michael Pack, has been in charge of USAGM for several months. The truth is that VOA has been consistently VOB (Voice of Biden), but liberal media outlets failed to notice and report these violations of U.S. law.
‘Voice of One America’ is against US lawThere are two Americas, one left-leaning liberal America and one right-leaning conservative America. But the taxpayer-funded Voice of America, VOA, in the $800 million U.S. Agency for Global Media not only reflects but also represents just one of them — illegally.READ MORE: ‘Voice of One America’ is against US law. By Ted Lipien, Washington Examiner, November 30, 2020
Link: https://bbgwatch.com/bbgwatch/voice-of-one-america-on-voice-of-america-is-against-us-law/
Voice of America Not Posting Story on Senator Bob Menendez’s Criticism of USAGM CEO’s Choice for OCB Director
USAGM Watch Commentary UPDATE: Five days after Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) issued his statement on Wednesday April 7, which was critical of U.S. Agency of Global Media (USAGM) CEO Kelu Chao’s appointment of new Office of Cuba Broadcasting (OCB) Radio and Television Martí Director, three days after a VOA report on it was written on […]
Senator Bob Menendez questions USAGM acting CEO’s decision to appoint Sylvia Rosabal as Director of the Office of Cuba Broadcasting
New Announcement from USAGM Watch Citizen Journalists Citizen journalists working as unpaid volunteers for non-partisan and independent USAGM Watch have decided to resume on an experimental, occasional basis their commentaries and reports on the publicly-funded activities of the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM). We see the continuing need for providing an independent oversight and […]
U.S. State Department condemns Russia’s fines against Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
USAGM Watch Video Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) has received support in a statement from U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price at the press briefing in Washington on March 3, 2021 in response to fines imposed on RFE/RL under Russia’s foreign agent registration laws. Reporters attending the briefing did not ask any questions about restriction […]
USAGM Watch Citizen Journalists
USAGM Watch Video USAGM Watch (USAGMWatch.com) citizen journalists bring transparency and accountability to U.S. government-funded operations managed by the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) in charge of the Voice of America (VOA) and other media entities.
BBG – USAGM Watch Ends Its Publication
USAGM Watch After nearly ten years of publishing commentaries on U.S. taxpayer-funded media issues, BBG Watch (bbgwatch.com) is ending its publication to avoid possible conflicts of interest due to any past association with its co-funders, including Ted Lipien who has accepted recently a job in U.S. international broadcasting. We want to thank our readers for […]
Former Voice of America Reporter Makes Accusations
USAGM Watch Commentary In a Letter to the Editor of The Washington Post, a former Voice of America journalist made various accusations against Trump-appointed management of the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) and the Voice of America (VOA). But like the Post, NPR and most of liberal U.S. media, former VOA journalist David McAlary […]
New Voice of America Director Robert Reilly Promises to Resist Political Pressure
USAGM Watch Commentary In a message today to Voice of America (VOA) staff, new VOA director Robert Reilly, recently appointed by U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) CEO Michael Pack, promised that he will follow the VOA Charter and “will resist any political pressure from above that would compromise our mission and the integrity of […]
VOA – ‘The voice of which America?’ by Juliana Geran Pilon
USAGM Watch Commentary By Ted Lipien I would like to wish BBG – USAGM Watch readers who celebrate these holidays, Happy Hanukkah and Merry Christmas. TED LIPIEN USAGM Watch readers may have seen former Voice of America (VOA) director Amanda Bennett’s Washington Post op-ed in which she attacks new Voice of America VOA diector Robert […]
Former Voice of America Head Robert Reilly Was Chosen By USAGM CEO Michael Pack To Return As VOA Director
USAGM Watch Commentary USAGM Watch has learned that former Voice of America (VOA) director Robert Reilly was chosen by Michael Pack, Trump-appointed and Senate-confirmed CEO of U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), to again assume the position of the VOA director which was left vacant after the resignation last June of Amanda Bennett. She was […]
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 […]
2016 Report Confirmed Problem of Political Bias At Voice of America
OPINION Trump USAGM CEO Michael Pack Was Attacked For Attempts to Focus on Problem by Dan Robinson It was May of 2016 and Amanda Bennett was only a few weeks into what would become a nearly four year stint as director of the Voice of America, among the “plum” jobs in Washington, D.C. Bennett was […]
SIDEBAR: Where 2016 Consultant Report Recommendations Missed The Mark
USAGM Watch Commentary EDITOR’S NOTE: A USAGM staffer reacts to key aspects of the Executive Summary of the 2016 consultant report solicited by and submitted to former VOA director Amanda Bennett. The full report, paid for by U.S. taxpayers, has not been found and produced by the agency despite repeated requests by journalists. Bias in […]
Different Names of the Voice of America
Cold War Radio Museum Originally posted on December 5, 2020 and last edited for formatting changes on February 18, 2021. By Ted Lipien The U.S. taxpayer-funded and U.S. government-operated international radio broadcaster established in 1942 had several official and unofficial names before it became widely known as the Voice of America (VOA) shortly after […]
‘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 […]
USAGM – US Agency for Global Mayhem – Don’t Get Fooled – Again
OPINION – GUEST COMMENTARY US Agency for Global Mayhem Don’t Get Fooled – Again By The Federalist Originally posted on November 21, 2020 and last edited for formatting changes on February 18, 2021. To all appearances, Joe Biden has successfully defeated Donald Trump and will be the next president of the United States. The […]
ROBINSON and ELLIOTT on Reforming USAGM in Charge of Voice of America, Other USG Media
USAGM Watch Media Commentary The Biden Choice on USAGM: Business as Usual, or Major Change. By Dan Robinson, CPD, November 13, 2020 Whatever President-elect Biden ends up doing, he should understand that despite the cheer leading in recent years by USAGM and BBG officials, this is one sick puppy of an agency, beset just in […]
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 […]
Lauded Adviser of Biden’s USAGM Transition Leader Richard Stengel Was Also Chief Aide of Ex BBG CEO Before Conviction for Theft
USAGM Watch Commentary President Obama’s Under a Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Richard Stengel heaped praise in his 2019 book, Information Wars: How We Lost the Global Battle Against Disinformation and What We Can Do About It, on his former special advisor Haroon Ullah who was later caught by an […]
