The government-run Voice of America network reaches an international audience of 278 million in 100 countries with the goal of being "a consistently reliable source of news and information," where "accuracy and balance are paramount." But from the moment Donald Trump was inaugurated, many people have begun to fear the news outlet is being morphed into a propaganda machine that could also be broadcast within the U.S. (They can now broadcast within the U.S.)
Tara Palmeri writes: The arrival of the two aides – both political operatives from Trump’s campaign – comes after Voice of America received blowback over the weekend for sending out a series of tweets about White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer’s claims about inauguration crowd size that looked to some like an endorsement of his false statements. The news outlet later deleted one of the tweets.
The concern among some staffers is especially acute because Trump’s administration is getting control over the broadcasting agency just weeks after Congress moved to eliminate the board of directors that had served as an integrity check on the organization, instead consolidating power with a CEO position.
VOA had been exclusively broadcast outside the U.S., but legislative changes made in 2013 now enable it to be broadcast to an American audience. Given Trump’s executive control over leadership and the outlet's potential reach, VOA could provide him with the personalized TV station he has been craving for years.
Some senior staffers have already expressed reservations about the backgrounds of Trump’s political operatives. Schuck, a 2012 graduate from Montgomery College, was a staff writer for the right-wing website the Daily Surge until April 2015.
“There’s concern among the journalists about what these guys are going to be doing,” said the senior VOA staffer. “People are hanging tight, seeing what will happen.”
Trump’s ego is an abyss and now that he’s pr*sident, anything that might feed the beast is up for grabs. If he decides to turn Voice of America into a propaganda machine that inflates the size of his crowds or doesn’t run stories that might not reflect favorably on him, he certainly has the control at present to do it.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2017/1/24/1624466/-Is-Voice-of-America-about-to-become-our-nation-s-RT-under-Trump
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