BBG Watch

USAGM CEO John Lansing ignored early warnings of ads targeting Americans

BBG Watch Commentary U.S. Agency for Global Media CEO John Lansing, who had been appointed in 2015 during the Obama administration, had ignored early warnings of taxpayer-funded USAGM media entities such as the Voice of America (VOA) targeting Americans in violation of the Smith-Mundt Act. Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Rep. Ed […]
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Voice of America Russian Service's illegal targeting of Americans with Facebook ads exposed by Rep. Royce

BBG Watch Commentary The review by Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA) the Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and his committee staff found that insufficient management and devolved operating structures for digital advertising at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) and Voice of America (VOA) in the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), previously called the […]
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Congress exposes repeated violations of Smith-Mundt Act in USAGM agency's Facebook ads targeting Americans

BBG Watch Commentary The review by Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA) the Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and his committee staff found that insufficient management and devolved operating structures for digital advertising at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) and Voice of America (VOA) in the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), previously called the […]
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From defunct to ridiculous - how IBB officials are ruining good name of U.S. international broadcasting

BBG Watch Commentary It did not occur to International Broadcasting Bureau (IBB) bureacrats that Americans might not like the removal of the 1948 Smith-Mundt Act restrictions on domestic distribution of U.S. government-funded news for audiences abroad. They were not prepared for Voice of America (VOA) programs being inaccurately described in media reports as propaganda. They […]
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Voice of America management burdens its own broadcasters with getting programs ready for domestic distribution

BBG Watch Commentary The Voice of America (VOA), U.S. taxpayer-funded international broadcaster can barely adequately cover news for foreign audiences it is required by law to serve, but top VOA managers are now burdening overworked reporters to get their programs ready for distribution in the United States. Questions are being asked whether assigning such work […]
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