The recently published book Local Voices/Global Perspectives explores the realm of U.S. international broadcasting and the challenges that lie ahead.  It presents a number of recommendations on how best to organize U.S. overseas media that the new U.S. president and Congress may wish to consider as they take office early next year.

Discussing the anthology on this week's Press Conference USA were its editor, Alan L. Heil Jr., and Barry Zorthian.  The two retired VOA veterans are on the Board of Directors of the Public Diplomacy Council of Washington, D.C., a non-partisan advocacy group for America's overseas information and cultural programs and publisher of Local Voices/Global Perspectives. Heil is a former deputy director of the Voice of America and the author of The Voice of America: A History (published in 2003 by Columbia University Press).  Zorthian is a retired Foreign Service Officer and former vice president of Time, Inc.  He also served on the board of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) during the administration of George H. W. Bush.

Alan L. Heil Jr., editor of Local Voices/Global Perspectives. He is former deputy director of Voice of A merica

There are five U.S. taxpayer-funded international broadcast networks.  The Voice of America is the only global network.   Radio Marti and TV Marti, which broadcast in Spanish to Cuba, are also federal entities.  There are three other broadcasters: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, which beams programs to Europe and to Islamic countries; Radio Free Asia (RFA); and the Middle East Broadcasting Network, which consists of Radio Sawa and Alhurra Television in Arabic.  Often known as "grantee or surrogate" broadcasters, the last three are privately incorporated, but government-funded, entities.  The surrogate networks see themselves as "alternate media" in the regions to which they broadcast.  VOA broadcasts news about the world, the United States, and the countries it reaches, and is, therefore, what Mr. Heil calls "a full service network."

Left to right: Barry Zorthian, retired Foreign Service Officer and former VOA manager, Alan Heil, former VOA deputy director and author, and Paul Westpheling, VOA news anchor; seated: Judith Latham, host of Press Conference USA

The Voice of America's first overseas broadcast - in German, in February 1942, during the Second World War - made the following pledge to its listeners: "Daily at this time, we shall speak to you about America and the war.  The news may be good or bad.  We shall tell you the truth."  Alan Heil called it a covenant with the listener - that VOA would "tell it straight … in a context that reflected our society" as well as major events of the day around the globe.  And he says it led in 1976 to the enactment of VOA's long established Charter into law. The Charter requires Voice of America news to be "accurate, objective, and comprehensive."  During the Cold War years, VOA was a leading international broadcaster to Russia, and many believe its large audience was a reflection of the fact that it was seen as trustworthy.  Today, VOA claims to have a weekly audience of 115 million listeners and viewers around the world because of that credibility.

In 2002, VOA's Arabic Service was abolished and replaced with Radio Sawa in an effort to attract a younger audience.  Asked about the impact of that change, Mr. Heil calls the loss of VOA Arabic "one of the tremendous blows in the history of U.S. international broadcasting."   He says in the view of many of the authors of Local Voices/Global Perspectives, discarding the VOA "brand name" in the Arabic-speaking world, and replacing it with a new service, was a "serious mistake."   Barry Zorthian explains that "surrogate" broadcasting is the "presentation of a broadcast that the target audience would have had in its own territory - if it had a free press."

Talk 2 America, T2A, is the Voice of America's on-line chat discussion with prominant figures who are making our world better

Today the Voice of America disseminates its programming not only via radio but also through television and the Internet.  The VOA website, in fact, makes many kinds of delivery systems available - for example, "pod-casts," news feeds, mobile phone feeds, web-casts, an e-mail news letter, and even chat lines such as T2A, a new version of the earlier radio call-in show, Talk to America.   Mr. Zorthian says that a new U.S. administration and Congress expected to take office next year need to take a serious look at why America is losing its friends around the world and how U.S. publicly funded international broadcasts can be reorganized to meet the demands of a new generation of multi-media users.

In its attempt to prepare U.S. international broadcasting for the future and to do so within policy and fiscal constraints, the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) has decided to strengthen its capabilities in television and the Internet, while sharply reducing its efforts in radio - especially shortwave radio.  While boosting funding for media to target Islamic audiences as a part of the Administration's Global War on Terror, the Board has decided to eliminate or reduce broadcasts in a number of languages, including English, Russian, Ukrainian, Georgian, Uzbek, Serbian, Albanian, Croatian, Cantonese, Greek, and Hindi.

Alan Heil contends that these "core" services nonetheless remain "absolutely essential" in any global broadcast strategy.  He says they are also indispensable in times of crisis, noting that VOA increased its shortwave broadcasts during recent unrest in Burma and Tibet.  These programs on shortwave and medium wave magnified the impact of cell phones, e-mails. and eyewitness accounts within these tightly controlled areas in turmoil.  And in future crises, Mr. Heil says, shortwave will continue to be the "backup emergency delivery system because it is difficult and expensive to jam."  While Barry Zorthian agrees that the BBG goal of having a large audience is desirable, he says it is also important to reach those people who form opinion in their societies and who make decisions.  To be an effective international communicator, he adds, those who produce the programs must understand other cultures.  Furthermore, the two Press Conference USA guests conclude, when the new administration and new Congress begin look at what they want from U.S. international broadcasting, they will have to consider that credibility is crucial as the networks combine reflections of American news and culture with the informational needs of the local audiences they are trying to reach.

The book, Local Voices/Global Perspectives: Challenges Ahead for U.S. International Media, which explores these issues from the viewpoint of more than 20 contributors, is now available on the Web through PDI410@GWU.edu or on amazon.com.  

For full audio of the program Press Conference USA click here.