Tuesday, June 16, 2015

VOA Chief threatens to 'kill' other broadcast stations if .....



By Al Kamen,
The infighting among the U.S. broadcasting units overseen by the chronically troubled (some say dysfunctional) Broadcasting Board of Governors seems to have gotten worse as Congress debates a bill that could alter the units’ mandates.

The  broadcasters include the venerable Voice of America and the various “Frees,” such as Radio Free Europe, Radio Free Asia and Middle East Broadcasting.

At a farewell editorial meeting last week, VOA director David Ensor, a longtime CNN national security reporter who’s leaving in a few weeks after four years running the agency, accused unidentified folks at the “Frees” of teaming up with members of Congress against the VOA.

There are apparently some at the “Frees” trying to get Congress to make them stand alone under their own umbrella and change the VOA’s mandate from reporting news worldwide to a much narrower mandate of only reporting events in this country. That’s a move Ensor said would be a “death sentence” for the VOA.

Additional story at:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/in-the-loop/wp/2015/06/04/voa-chief-threatens-to-kill-other-u-s-broadcast-stations-if/