Voice of America to Concentrate on Mideast

[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Christopher Lee]
The Voice of America plans to silence many of its radio broadcasts in English and several other languages as the agency concentrates more resources on the Middle East and countries central to the U.S. effort against terrorism. The Broadcasting Board of Governors, which oversees the government-owned broadcasting service, announced the moves last week, citing tight budgets and the need to focus on the most pressing national security threats. Its plans arose despite proposed budget increases of 13 percent for the U.S.-sponsored Middle East Broadcasting Networks and 5.3 percent for the VOA. The plans angered many employees and VOA advocates, who say the move would eliminate long-standing English-language radio broadcasts everywhere but Africa, abandon other language broadcasts in some unstable parts of the world, and potentially leave many specialized journalists out of work. The changes come as Russia, China and the Qatar-based al-Jazeera network are adding television or Internet programming in English. Most painful, advocates say, is the prospective loss of News Now, the VOA's flagship English-language service. It broadcasts worldwide 14 hours a day and includes hourly news updates, correspondent reports and longer programs on science and other topics. The VOA would continue with English content on the Web and special broadcasts for limited English speakers.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/13/AR2006021301896.html
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