Voice of America in Jeopardy
Jun. 17th, 2005 06:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lurkittyI promised myself I wouldn't get into this one because I don't have time to give it the traetment it needs -- but it's eating at me. The Chairman of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting is one Kenneth Tomlinson -- you know, the rightwing guy who hasn't helped NPR at all this year by making speeches comparing it to Amtrak as a waste of public money. Several past and current reporter from Voice of America have started talking about how Tomlinson has been exerting pressure on them to make the VOA reporting politically correct in favor of the Bush admin. He apparently asked reporters to stop reporting car and suicide bombings in Iraq, for instance, and planted stories that were more favorable. The stories were true, but pretty obscure stuff.
When I visited the Soviet Union in 1976, I met people there who took great risks to receive VOA on homemade shortwave radios. They didn't listen for catchy tunes -- they listened for the truth they couldn't get from Pravda. They respected the fact that we reported everything -- even the protest marches and government blunders. That taught them more about democracy than propaganda.
One last thing. Yay Ted! Governor Kulongoski's remarks today were right on! Give 'em Hell -- make them talk about the draft instead of pussyfooting around!
When I visited the Soviet Union in 1976, I met people there who took great risks to receive VOA on homemade shortwave radios. They didn't listen for catchy tunes -- they listened for the truth they couldn't get from Pravda. They respected the fact that we reported everything -- even the protest marches and government blunders. That taught them more about democracy than propaganda.
One last thing. Yay Ted! Governor Kulongoski's remarks today were right on! Give 'em Hell -- make them talk about the draft instead of pussyfooting around!
