By Ted Lipien Published March 22, 2015 in Digital Journal In an exclusive interview with the Voice of America (VOA) Mandarin Service, blind Chinese exiled human rights activist Chen Guangcheng blamed President Obama and the White House staff, but not former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, for allegedly trying to force him out from the U.S. Embassy in Beijing. A more prompt…
By Ted Lipien Published March 3, 2015 by Digital Journal Authoritarian, corrupt or rogue regimes, their leaders, and their beneficiaries often behave in similar ways in different countries. They fear their democratic opponents and rely on the secret police to keep themselves in power through monitoring, intimidating, jailing and sometimes killing those who may challenge their repressive rule. Although Poland…
By Ted Lipien Published January 21, 2015 by Digital Journal Roberta Jacobson, U.S. assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs, will lead the U.S. delegation to Cuba this week, but Voice of America (VOA) and Radio and TV Marti reporters are not likely to be given visas by the Castro regime to travel to Cuba with Ms. Jacobson. They were not there for…
By Ted Lipien Published December 11, 2014 by Digital Journal Tahoe Vista – Community campaign to protect iconic Lake Tahoe skyline from development needs state, national and international support.As one of the signs of the times of declining appreciation for public good, Lake Tahoe and other natural landmarks are being targeted for development that threatens to destroy their environmental health and…
By Ted Lipien Published October 20, 2014 by Digital Journal Western media both expose, but often just report, Putin’s Russian victimhood propaganda claims, while poor management at Voice of America and insufficient funding from Congress prevent U.S. broadcaster from effectively countering Kremlin’s disinformation. Two recent Washington Post op-eds did more to expose both the duplicity and the success of Putin’s disinformation and…
By Ted Lipien Published September 9, 2014 by Digital Journal Because of gullibility of officials in charge of U.S. taxpayer-funded Voice of America (VOA), the Obama Administration helps President Putin win disinformation and propaganda war over Ukraine with some of VOA’s reports and programs. U.S. taxpayers are helping Russia’s President Putin win his propaganda and disinformation war over Ukraine by…
By Ted Lipien Published May 2, 2014 by Digital Journal Washington – Mismanagement by senior executives threatens journalistic independence of Voice of America (VOA) much more than the bipartisan bill in Congress designed to reform U.S. international media outreach. There will be no government propaganda from VOA. One advantage of being my age (60) is that I have a longer view…
By Ted Lipien Published January 29, 2014 by Digital Journal Washington – Mismanaged and underfunded Voice of America failed to highlight in English and most other languages Obama’s State of the Union remark on Ukraine. Its oversight board needs to reform the taxpayer-funded media outlet and get more money from Congress. As a former Voice of America (VOA) journalist and acting associate director,…
By Ted Lipien Published January 14, 2014 by Digital Journal David Satter, an American journalist and advisor at U.S. taxpayer-funded Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), has posted a statement on his website rejecting official Russian explanations for the denial of his journalist’s visa to work in Russia. Satter said that he had complied completely with all instructions from the…
By Ted Lipien Published January 14, 2014 by Digital Journal Unlike some Voice of America (VOA) executives in the U.S. who seem to think that cultural differences can be ignored, (everybody wants to be like Americans after all), Radio France Internationale (RFI) reporters generally do an excellent job of explaining France to international audiences. My congratulations today go to RFI’s Angela Diffley who gave…
By Ted Lipien Published November 7, 2013 by Digital Journal Murmansk – Wife of Polish Greenpeace activist was allowed a short visit with her husband in a Russian jail. Natalia Bajorek-Dziemianczuk told Polish TV that Tomasz Dziemianczuk does not regret having taken part in a peaceful pro-environmental protest. Natalia Bajorek-Dziemianczuk saw her husband Tomasz Dziemianczuk Wednesday in a Russian jail in…
By Ted Lipien Published November 5, 2013 by Digital Journal Washington – U.S. taxpayer-funded Voice of America (VOA) repeats Putin regime’s propaganda against Greenpeace, ignores American activists jailed in Russia, and misleads world on how U.S. legal system deals with peaceful protesters who trespass. BBG Watch volunteer-run watch dog website reported that U.S. taxpayers’ money was used by the Voice of America…
By Ted Lipien Published October 14, 2013 by Digital Journal Washington – Voice of America (VOA) and U.S. public diplomacy failed to take full advantage of President Obama’s meeting Friday with teenage Pakistani campaigner for girls’ education Malala Yousafzai. But Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) did a good job. If web users around the world went to the Voice of America…
by Ted Lipien Published April 7, 2013 by Digital Journal Truckee – Led by Peja of the Polish rap group Slums Attack, Europe’s rappers recorded a multilingual tribute to political and cultural freedom message of the American-funded station Radio Free Europe. Using historical film footage of Radio Free Europe broadcasters, rappers from several European countries make statements similar to dissident voices…
By Ted Lipien Published July 27, 2013 by Digital Journal Washington – Federal employees were told to identify U.S. stations but not to make offers of government-funded news to domestic media. With the controversy swirling over media reports that after a recent congressional modification in the 1948 Smith-Mundt Act, U.S. officials may try to target Americans with government propaganda, the federal agency…