Several journalists employed by an outlet funded by the U.S. government have found themselves in President Donald Trump's crosshairs, according to a new report.In a Friday article, the New York Times reported that one longtime journalist at Voice of America (VOA) — which is funded by Congress throug...
As much as I hate Trump, there’s a logic in this. VOA has always been a publicly-funded propaganda mouthpiece. They are NOT an independent media. Independence entails not taking money from people you want to criticize.
If VOA refuses to spew out the latest flavor of propaganda, they’re not doing their job.
But what you don’t understand is that VOA is not a news organization. It was created during WW2 by the Office of the Coordinator of Information for the express purpose of spreading pro-American propaganda in Germany and in Japan. And it has kept doing exactly that ever since.
I remember it showering the USSR with pro-American high-power shortwave radio broadcasts in Russian and in English when I was a kid in the 70’s. Everybody knew VOA was America’s response to radio Moscow.
VOA is quite explicitely a propaganda thing. Really! You guys can downvote me all you want, it’s the plain truth. VOA journalists are quite literally paid to spread American propaganda.
His Orangeness has decided to turn the country around 180 degrees and make it a fascist pro-Russia state and I despise him with all my heart. But Trump is right: the VOA has no business not being 100% aligned with him.
That makes the VOA an enemy of freedom, democracy and common decency, just like Trump.
An essential guarantee of the journalistic credibility of Voice of America content is the “firewall” enshrined in the 1994 U.S. International Broadcasting Act. The firewall prohibits interference by any U.S. government official in the objective, independent reporting of news, thereby safeguarding the ability of our journalists to develop content that reflects the highest professional standards of journalism, free of political interference.
It would be better if it did, but you shouldn’t be surprised if it doesn’t, anymore than you should expect the Washington Post to criticize Bezos or Fox News Rupert Murdoch.
The number of people thinking the AID in USAID implies assistance is insane. The number of media outlets receiving propaganda money from USAID to spread US propaganda is insane.
As much as I hate Trump, there’s a logic in this. VOA has always been a publicly-funded propaganda mouthpiece. They are NOT an independent media. Independence entails not taking money from people you want to criticize.
If VOA refuses to spew out the latest flavor of propaganda, they’re not doing their job.
No it doesn’t. Criticizing those that fund you would literally be one of the more independent things a group could do.
The President has plenty of propaganda tools at his disposal without having a “news organization” make shit up.
But what you don’t understand is that VOA is not a news organization. It was created during WW2 by the Office of the Coordinator of Information for the express purpose of spreading pro-American propaganda in Germany and in Japan. And it has kept doing exactly that ever since.
I remember it showering the USSR with pro-American high-power shortwave radio broadcasts in Russian and in English when I was a kid in the 70’s. Everybody knew VOA was America’s response to radio Moscow.
VOA is quite explicitely a propaganda thing. Really! You guys can downvote me all you want, it’s the plain truth. VOA journalists are quite literally paid to spread American propaganda.
His Orangeness has decided to turn the country around 180 degrees and make it a fascist pro-Russia state and I despise him with all my heart. But Trump is right: the VOA has no business not being 100% aligned with him.
That makes the VOA an enemy of freedom, democracy and common decency, just like Trump.
From the VOA website:
Also: Elon Musk says he’s a genius.
Man of course VOA says they’re independent media. Now please find a truly independent analysis that says the same?
VOA, RFA, RFE, and a shitton of others are nothing but propaganda machines for the US
So you’re going with “freedom of speech doesn’t apply if you work for the government”?
It would be better if it did, but you shouldn’t be surprised if it doesn’t, anymore than you should expect the Washington Post to criticize Bezos or Fox News Rupert Murdoch.
Bootlicker.
What part of “As much as I hate Trump” don’t you understand?
The part where you then licked the boots, most likely.
“I’m a staunch vegetarian, but even I like a big ribeye once in a while”. You can see why people might disregard the first part.
It’s hard to focus on where you say you dislike trump when the following bit is where you justify calling criticism of him treason.
VOA takes money from US taxpayers, not the Trump administration. Criticizing Trump is about as pro-American as that news organization can get.
The number of people thinking the AID in USAID implies assistance is insane. The number of media outlets receiving propaganda money from USAID to spread US propaganda is insane.