16.07 US-Funded News Can Now Reach Americans
WASHINGTON, July 15 (RIA Novosti) In the last two weeks, US government-funded news broadcaster Voice of America has received more than a dozen requests for news stories it has produced for foreign audiences to be made available to listeners in the United States, something that hadnt been allowed since a law known as the Smith-Mundt Act was passed by Congress in 1948.
The law specified that US government-funded broadcasts could only be communicated to audiences in other countries.
While the act was developed to counter communism during the Cold War, it is outdated for the conflicts of today, said Rep. Adam Smith, a co-sponsor of new legislation called the Smith-Mundt Modernization Act, that went into effect this month.
Subject to approval for each request, the Smith-Mundt Modernization Act allows organizations in the United States to disseminate news content funded by the US government and intended for foreign audiences to those in the US.
The new legislation was passed as part of the Defense Authorization Bill of 2013. It affects US government-funded news entities including Voice of America (VOA), Radio Free Asia, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and others.
Effective strategic communication and public diplomacy should be front-and-center as we work to roll back al-Qaidas and other violent extremists influence among disaffected populations, Smith said in a press release.
In some ways the new regulations recognize that information on VOA websites, while created for our audience overseas, are already widely available on the Internet, said Kyle King, director of VOA public relations, in a statement to RIA Novosti.
It could be particularly beneficial for diaspora audiences living in the United States but interested in how the US is portrayed to relatives and friends in their native land, or those who are trying to follow details of news events from home, he added.
For a relatively obscure and complex piece of legislation that affects a relatively small number of people, the Smith-Mundt Modernization Act has been the subject of much angst and controversy, and underscores the lack of trust some Americans feel for the US government.
When the bill was initially filed, Mr. Smith got all kinds of outraged emails and letters from people who were confused, said a senior staffer from the House Armed Services Committee who worked on the legislation and asked not to be identified. He called the negative response a deluge.
This is not opening up the spigots to propaganda in America, he added.
But some media outlets see it otherwise.
US Repeals Propaganda Ban, read a headline in Foreign Policy Magazine.
Congressmen Seek to Lift Propaganda Ban, read BuzzFeed before the act was passed.
Use of the word
