VOA reform push sparks propaganda fears

The House is moving to overhaul the handful of taxpayer-funded media organizations, but critics say the changes would turn the Voice of America into a tool for pro-western propaganda.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee unanimously passed a bill to make “dramatic reforms” to the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), which oversees the government-backed outlets. One of the highest profile changes in the new bill is an explicit statement that news at the Voice of America, the US’s flagship foreign broadcaster, “is consistent with and promotes the broad foreign policies of the United States.” Lawmakers said that US organizations operate at a disadvantage and need leeway to promote and explain American policies, as other state-funded broadcasters do. But the legislation has raised concerns the outlet could turn into a propaganda machine.