The voice in America's head
On the VOA charter, Ontario's anti-tariff ad, and who speaks to the public
The US government has been in a battle with the independent agency running the Voice of America, announcing summary layoffs of effectively the whole staff in August, then being told in September that it cannot just fire everyone. The campaign to Save VOA argues that without the broadcaster’s efforts to report the news fairly and independently, people living in countries without freedom of the press are being deprived and cut off.
■ International broadcasting has always been a tool of public diplomacy, which is merely another way of saying that countries try to achieve some objectives by persuading people living in other countries. The VOA charter openly says, “VOA will represent America, not any single segment of American society, and will therefore present a balanced and comprehensive projection of significant American thought and institutions.”
■ The Canadian province of Ontario just engaged in some public diplomacy of its own, with a television ad using Ronald Reagan’s words to attack tariffs and trade barriers. The words came straight from a routine weekly radio address by Reagan in 1987, making the ad wildly compelling.
■ Americans should be alert to the fact that, whether or not our government participates in the world marketplace of public diplomacy, we’re still in it. Others will try to influence us, even if we have unilaterally surrendered on trying to influence others.
■ Some, like Russia, will do it through sinister propaganda. Others will engage like Ontario has -- even if the consequences aren’t always predictable. But the bottom line is that it’s going to happen, and withdrawal from the global information sphere is exceptionally self-defeating.
