CUSIB Advisory Board member Dr. John Lenczowski presented in an Wall Street Journal op-ed his proposal to reform U.S. international media (USIM) outreach.
Dr. Lenczowski, a public diplomacy expert, criticized numerous cuts in U.S. funded broadcasts in recent years. “Reaching modern audiences requires multiple media: Internet, cell phones, television and radio—using all frequencies: AM, FM and shortwave,” Dr. Lenczowski wrote. He strongly urged reforms at the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), responsible among others for Voice of America (VOA), Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), to better counter President Putin’s propaganda in Russia, Ukraine, and in the rest of the world
Dr. Lenczowski proposed that “a full-time director of U.S. International Broadcasting should be appointed by the president with Senate confirmation, and accountable to the National Security Council.” “Under that director should be two separate presidentially appointed directors: one for the VOA and another for the freedom broadcasters,” Dr. Lenczowski wrote in his Wall Street Journal op-ed.
The Voice of America Shouldn’t Be A Whisper: Putin’s propaganda machine is in high gear, while the U.S. scales back the VOA. Why? By John Lenczowski, The Wall Street Journal, April 17, 2014.
John Lenczowski is president of the Institute of World Politics, an independent graduate school of national security and international affairs in Washington, D.C. As President Reagan’s Soviet affairs adviser, John Lenczowski was instrumental in increasing funding for Voice of America and Radio Free Europe broadcasts to Poland during Solidarity’s struggle for democracy.
He is author of “Full Spectrum Diplomacy and Grand Strategy” (Lexington Books, 2011).
On Monday, April 21, 2014, John Lenczowski will be one of the speakers at the Heritage Foundation panel, “Propaganda, Disinformation, and Dirty Tricks: The Resurgence of Russian Political Warfare,” moderated by Senior Fellow for Public Diplomacy Helle C. Dale. The other panelists will be: Paul Goble, Former Special Advisor to the International Broadcasting Bureau, and Guest Lecturer, Institute of World Politics and Ariel Cohen, Senior Research Fellow for Russia and Eurasia Studies, The Heritage Foundation. For more information, see the Heritage Foundation announcement. The panel can also be watched online, Monday, April 21, from 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM EDT.
The Committee for U.S. International Broadcasting (CUSIB) is a nonpartisan, nongovernmental organization working to strengthen free flow of uncensored news from the United States to countries with restricted and developing media environments.