John Lansing, now CEO of National Public Radio (NPR), talked about the operations of the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), the agency that oversees United States government-supported, civilian international news media such as Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Marti, and Alhurra. He explained how he planned to reshape U.S. media operations to better fit the current media environment, including how to address propaganda by countries such as Russia and China and stateless actors such as ISIL. (C-SPAN January 6, 2016)
From Voice of America to NPR: New CEO Lansing's Glass House
I don't know about you, but I take a teeny weeny bit of offense when a guy in a glass house lobs a great big stone and expects me not to notice the sound of shattering.
Which brings me to National Public Radio. When the ubiquitous news and public affairs network announced the appointment of a new CEO, it noted that John Lansing made his mark in his current job with "stirring defenses of journalism, free from government interference."
I don't know about you, but I take a teeny weeny bit of offense when a guy in a glass house lobs a great big stone and expects me not to notice the sound of shattering.
Which brings me to National Public Radio. When the ubiquitous news and public affairs network announced the appointment of a new CEO, it noted that John Lansing made his mark in his current job with "stirring defenses of journalism, free from government interference."
This had me picking through the shards when they went on to explain that Lansing comes to NPR from the United States Agency for Global Media, a federally-funded organization whose express mission is to interfere in journalism by doing it, in such as way as to promote American policy values all across the world.
NPR's new CEO story came with a picture of Lansing in his capacity as CEO of USAGM, testifying in Congress about the scourge of Russian media meddling. "The Russian government and other authoritarian regimes engage in far-reaching, malign influence campaigns," he said.
The high dudgeon ill-suited a man who, as he spoke, oversaw an empire of federally-funded influence campaigns with origins in Cold War US psy-ops: The Voice of America, Radio y Television Marti, and Radio Free Europe, as well as Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia, and Radio Persia. According to Yasha Levine at Pando, when Lansing took the reins of this holding company, which was then called the Broadcasting Board of Governors, it had a budget of $721 million, reported directly to the Secretary of State, and was managed by a revolving crew of neocon and military think tank experts, including Ryan Crocker, former ambassador to Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria.
Recently, Lansing has been under criticism after scandals involving fake news and fleecing at Radio Marti--scandals he says he took action on. But it's not the scandals, it's the routine at the US media agency that makes Lansing's stone-throwing so obnoxious. The propaganda past in Latin America, Cuba, Africa, and Cold War Europe is clear. In the Obama/Clinton years, Radio Liberty and Radio Free Europe actively ginned up support for war against Putin's Russia. Now, as the Intercept reported just last month, VOA Persia has become a Trump channel to vilify Iran.
Lansing's not the first NPR director to come from VOA. Nor is he, of course, the first stale, pale male heading up an organization that claims it wants to move into the 21st Century. But jeez. The hypocrisy is hard to take. What next? A Morning Edition report on kettles being black?
Urgent. It's never been this bad.
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission from the outset was simple. To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It’s never been this bad out there. And it’s never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed and doing some of its best and most important work, the threats we face are intensifying. Right now, with just three days to go in our Spring Campaign, we're falling short of our make-or-break goal. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Can you make a gift right now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? There is no backup plan or rainy day fund. There is only you. —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
I don't know about you, but I take a teeny weeny bit of offense when a guy in a glass house lobs a great big stone and expects me not to notice the sound of shattering.
Which brings me to National Public Radio. When the ubiquitous news and public affairs network announced the appointment of a new CEO, it noted that John Lansing made his mark in his current job with "stirring defenses of journalism, free from government interference."
This had me picking through the shards when they went on to explain that Lansing comes to NPR from the United States Agency for Global Media, a federally-funded organization whose express mission is to interfere in journalism by doing it, in such as way as to promote American policy values all across the world.
NPR's new CEO story came with a picture of Lansing in his capacity as CEO of USAGM, testifying in Congress about the scourge of Russian media meddling. "The Russian government and other authoritarian regimes engage in far-reaching, malign influence campaigns," he said.
The high dudgeon ill-suited a man who, as he spoke, oversaw an empire of federally-funded influence campaigns with origins in Cold War US psy-ops: The Voice of America, Radio y Television Marti, and Radio Free Europe, as well as Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia, and Radio Persia. According to Yasha Levine at Pando, when Lansing took the reins of this holding company, which was then called the Broadcasting Board of Governors, it had a budget of $721 million, reported directly to the Secretary of State, and was managed by a revolving crew of neocon and military think tank experts, including Ryan Crocker, former ambassador to Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria.
Recently, Lansing has been under criticism after scandals involving fake news and fleecing at Radio Marti--scandals he says he took action on. But it's not the scandals, it's the routine at the US media agency that makes Lansing's stone-throwing so obnoxious. The propaganda past in Latin America, Cuba, Africa, and Cold War Europe is clear. In the Obama/Clinton years, Radio Liberty and Radio Free Europe actively ginned up support for war against Putin's Russia. Now, as the Intercept reported just last month, VOA Persia has become a Trump channel to vilify Iran.
Lansing's not the first NPR director to come from VOA. Nor is he, of course, the first stale, pale male heading up an organization that claims it wants to move into the 21st Century. But jeez. The hypocrisy is hard to take. What next? A Morning Edition report on kettles being black?
I don't know about you, but I take a teeny weeny bit of offense when a guy in a glass house lobs a great big stone and expects me not to notice the sound of shattering.
Which brings me to National Public Radio. When the ubiquitous news and public affairs network announced the appointment of a new CEO, it noted that John Lansing made his mark in his current job with "stirring defenses of journalism, free from government interference."
This had me picking through the shards when they went on to explain that Lansing comes to NPR from the United States Agency for Global Media, a federally-funded organization whose express mission is to interfere in journalism by doing it, in such as way as to promote American policy values all across the world.
NPR's new CEO story came with a picture of Lansing in his capacity as CEO of USAGM, testifying in Congress about the scourge of Russian media meddling. "The Russian government and other authoritarian regimes engage in far-reaching, malign influence campaigns," he said.
The high dudgeon ill-suited a man who, as he spoke, oversaw an empire of federally-funded influence campaigns with origins in Cold War US psy-ops: The Voice of America, Radio y Television Marti, and Radio Free Europe, as well as Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia, and Radio Persia. According to Yasha Levine at Pando, when Lansing took the reins of this holding company, which was then called the Broadcasting Board of Governors, it had a budget of $721 million, reported directly to the Secretary of State, and was managed by a revolving crew of neocon and military think tank experts, including Ryan Crocker, former ambassador to Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria.
Recently, Lansing has been under criticism after scandals involving fake news and fleecing at Radio Marti--scandals he says he took action on. But it's not the scandals, it's the routine at the US media agency that makes Lansing's stone-throwing so obnoxious. The propaganda past in Latin America, Cuba, Africa, and Cold War Europe is clear. In the Obama/Clinton years, Radio Liberty and Radio Free Europe actively ginned up support for war against Putin's Russia. Now, as the Intercept reported just last month, VOA Persia has become a Trump channel to vilify Iran.
Lansing's not the first NPR director to come from VOA. Nor is he, of course, the first stale, pale male heading up an organization that claims it wants to move into the 21st Century. But jeez. The hypocrisy is hard to take. What next? A Morning Edition report on kettles being black?