IV.I: Firewall
Maintain the Firewall Other Information:
Credibility is the key to success in broadcasting, and it is our greatest asset. In order to preserve our credibility as a
public diplomacy tool, Congress decided, in considering the Foreign Affairs Reform and Restructuring Act of 1998, not to merge
broadcasting functions into the Department of State. Instead, the Act establishes the Broadcasting Board of Governors as an
independent agency. The reason is simple: If our audiences do not find our broadcasts to be credible, they will tune us out.
If they tune us out, we sacrifice our mission of advancing U.S. foreign policy goals. This is why being credible is the first
requirement of marrying the mission to the market. Two things follow from this. First, we must appreciate the impediments
to being credible with any given audience. Secondly, we must resist efforts to sway our news coverage or otherwise interfere
with the content of our broadcasts.· Because we are government-supported, our credibility is automatically suspect. Audiences
worldwide often believe government-supported media simply toe an official line - because many government-supported media (e.g.,
Iraqi, Cuban, North Korean media) do toe an official line.· At the same time, peoples' views of our country and our policies
color their view of the purposes of U.S. international broadcasting. Middle East audiences, for example, have viewed traditional
VOA Arabic-language programming through the prism of U.S. support for Israel. · In places like Afghanistan, where we broadcast
in multiple languages to distinct ethnic groups, we must be sure that our coverage across the languages is consistently balanced
and that we in no way imply partisanship.
Indicator(s):
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