VOA cuts back foreign-language broadcasts
Posted by
Jeffrey Blyth
on 21 February 2006 at 12:04
Tags: Al Jazeera, BBC, Radio, United States
The Voice of America, which next to the BBC is probably the most prolific of English-language radio news services, is cutting back.
It plans to drop many of its English-language broadcasts. Also its news broadcasts in Croatian, Turkish, Thai, Greek and Georgian. Broadcasts in Albanian, Bosnian, Serbian, Russia and Hindi may also be cut back. In their place VOA will concentrate its efforts – and money – on broadcasts to the Middle East, especially to countries where the US is spending the most effort on combating terrorism.
Also scheduled to go is “News Now,�? the VOA’s flagship English-language programme, which broadcasts world-wide 14 hours a day and includes hourly news updates. The move has angered many journalists here, who say that the move will virtually eliminate English-language radio broadcasts to almost everywhere but Africa and potentially put many journalists out of work.
They also note the change comes at a time when Russia, China and the Qatar-based al-Jazeera network are all adding television or internet programming in English.
“It’s painful but necessary” claimed Kenneth Tomlinson, chairman of the VOA board of governors.
Tags: Al Jazeera, BBC, Radio, United States
