Bill HR4490, which has passed the House Foreign Affairs Committee with bipartisan support, would make Voice of America (VOA) officially a designated “public diplomacy” service, as well make additional changes in US international news communications–as a reaction against the alleged media manipulations of “countries like Russia.”

VOA would be mandated to “provide a sharper focus on explaining the United States, US government policies, and international news that affects the United States. The VOA’s role would be “public diplomacy” as well as providing objective, comprehensive news coverage. There is also a new VOA director provision that sets out the responsibilities–as well as the qualification requirements–of that position, and sets the VOA director under the supervision of the USICA CEO.

Currently, the tax-funded VOA has a mission expressed in the VOA Charter, which was created in 1960 and signed into law by President Gerald Ford in 1976. The Charter, which states that “to be effective, [VOA] must win the attention and respect of listeners,” and sets out three principles: 1) serving as a consistently reliable and authoritative news source which is “accurate, objective and comprehensive;” 2) represent America in a balanced and comprehensive way;” and 3) will present US policies clearly and effectively, as well as responsible discussions and opinion on the policies. The VOA Charter is not included in the bill, but “elements are integrated into the bill’s new VOA principles,” according to the report. The bill alters the mission of VOA by explicitly stating that VOA has a role in supporting American “public diplomacy” and government policies.

VOA was created in 1942 as part of the Office of War Information and with a mission of countering Nazi and Japanese propaganda. VOA became part of the State Department during the Cold War, and then became part of the US Information Agency, countering Communist propaganda in East Germany and other Soviet-backed states. VOA has been overseen by the BBG since 1999.

Related:

Big Changes in US News Communications if Bill HR4490 Passes

New USICA Act Would Create a New US News Agency “Freedom News Agency,” Subsuming Other International News Agencies

Sources:

HR4490

Congressional Research Service report

Federation of American Scientists

US Foreign Affairs

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Bill HR4490, which has already passed the House Foreign Affairs Committee with bipartisan support, and is expected to be taken up by the full House as early as this summer, would create a new “federal news network,” called Freedom News Network, which would subsume other US international news agencies.

Under a section of the bill headed “Creation of the Federal News Network,” the bill is explained to provide for the creation of the Freedom News Network (FNN), consolidating the grantee broadcasters Radio Free Europe/Radio Libety (RFE/RL), Radio Free Asia (RFA) and Middle East Broadcasting Networks (MBN) into one “surrogate” grantee broadcaster. The brands would remain unchanged, thus maintaining “audience name recognition.”

The board for the FNN would be composed of new individuals appointed by the Chairmen and Ranking Members of the House of Foreign Affairs and Senate Foreign Relations Committees.

The FNN would also expand its programming “into regions where no current individual surrogate broadcaster currently operates,” such as sub-Saharan Africa.

The FNN’s mission is provided by the new bill: “[sharpening] the legislative vision of the proper focus for surrogate programming, directing the new grantee to promote democracy, civil society, free media, political freedom, and uncensored flows of information”

Related:

Big Changes in US News Communications if Bill HR4490 Passes

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Congressional Research Service report

Federation of American Scientists

US Foreign Affairs

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A new bill has passed the House Foreign Affairs Committee with bipartisan support. The USICA bill, if it passes into law–it is expected to be taken up by the full House as early as this summer and the Senate is working on a similar bill–will abolish the current USIB Act, and the current bipartisan board in charge of international communications for US media, as well as the IBB, will be replaced with a new CEO vested with the authorities currently entrusted to the groups.

The bill was explained for members and committees of Congress in a report published recently by the Congressional Research Service (CRS), which was written by Matthew Weed. Representative Ed Royce (R-CA), who is chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, said the legislation was essential in the face of negative and inaccurate information increasingly disseminated about the United States abroad, referring to “countries like Russia” and their information campaigns.

The United States International Communications Reform Act of 2014 (H.R. 4490) was introduced April 28 by House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Edward Royce with co-sponsors, and the Committee voted in favor of the bill April 30.

The bill states that the BBG “operates poorly under a flawed structure, that the BBG’s internal operations and personnel
decision making have deficiencies, and that U.S. international broadcasters lack clearly defined missions.” The flaw of the “international broadcasters” leads, the bill finds, to “duplicative services and a lack of focus on the ‘public diplomacy’ and ‘surrogate’ missions of the broadcasters.”

The bill has several central provisions. One provision is the creation of a US International Communications Agency (USICA). If the bill is enacted, the current USIB Act would be repealed in its entirety (although HR4490 includes several provisions similar to those in USIB), and effectively abolish the International Broadcasting Bureau (IBB). A new agency–USICA–would be established.

There would also be a new board, which would presumably mirror the BBG’s structure. But the USICA Board would only have an advisory role in the new agency. The authority over communications–which is now vested in the bipartisan BBG board of nine governors–would instead be vested in a new USICA Chief Executive Officer (CEO). The CEO would also have the authorities currently vested in the IBB. The board would retain the power to appoint and remove the CEO.

The current system under the BBG is a presidentially-appointed, Senate-confirmed board, with the Secretary of State serving as the ninth member ex officio. The BBG oversees the IBB, VOA, the Office of Cuba Broadcasting (OCB and Radio/TV Marti), Radio Free Europe/Radio Libety (RFE/RL), Radio Free Asia (RFA) and Middle East Broadcasting Networks (MBN).

The bill also provides that US international broadcasting “is alligned with ‘broad’ US foreign policy interests, and reduce overlap in broadcast services.” The bill will do this by requiring the USICA and a new grantee surrogate “Freedom News Network” (FNN) to meet regularly and “coordinate with the US Department of State to share relevant information.”

The USICA would answer and report to Congress, including on matters such as “the size of the workforce, the structure of the organization, contracting methods and practices, and language services performance.”

Modern US international broadcasting is said to have begun during World War II. Since 1994 (United States International Broadcasting Act; USIB Act), all US international communications have been handled by the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) within the United States Information Agency (USIA). Members of Congress have frequently expressed interest in oversight over the BBG and its individual broadcasters, according to the congressional report. In 1998, Congress passed legislation establishing the BBG as an independent entity within the executive branch at the same time that it incorporated USIA’s functions into the State Department.

Bill HR4490 and the wider issue of increased congressional power over US broadcasting is expected to receive increased congressional attention during the second session of the 114th Congress, which began January 3.

Related:

New USICA Act Would Create a New US News Agency “Freedom News Agency,” Subsuming Other International News Agencies

HR4490

Congressional Research Service report

Federation of American Scientists

US Foreign Affairs

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