International Broadcasting Act

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International Broadcasting Act
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Other short titles
  • Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1994 and 1995
  • Arms Control and Nonproliferation Act of 1994
  • Cambodian Genocide Justice Act
  • Middle East Peace Facilitation Act of 1994
  • Mike Mansfield Fellowship Act
  • Nuclear Proliferation Prevention Act of 1994
  • Protection and Reduction of Government Secrecy Act
  • Spoils of War Act of 1994
Long titleAn Act to authorize appropriations for the Department of State, the United States Information Agency, and related agencies, to authorize appropriations for foreign assistance programs, and for other purposes.
NicknamesAnti-Economic Discrimination Act of 1994
Enacted bythe 103rd United States Congress
EffectiveApril 30, 1994
Citations
Public law 103-236
Statutes at Large 108  Stat.   382 aka 108 Stat. 432
Codification
Titles amended 22 U.S.C.: Foreign Relations and Intercourse
U.S.C. sections created 22 U.S.C. ch. 71 § 6201 et seq.
Legislative history

Signed in law in 1994 by U.S. President Bill Clinton, this act was meant to streamline the U.S. international broadcasting and provide a cost-effective way to continue Radio Free Europe/ Radio Liberty, Voice of America, and Radio Marti. [1] It placed control of the international broadcasting under the United States Information Agency. [2]

Contents

History

In 1958, President Eisenhower in an address to the United Nations proposed monitoring radio broadcasts:

I believe that this Assembly should ... consider means for monitoring the radio broadcasts directed across national frontiers in the troubled Near East area. It should then examine complaints from these nations which consider their national security jeopardized by external propaganda. [3]

In the 1960s, President Kennedy to build an international broadcasting arm of the United States to as a way to promote foreign policy and overthrow communism. [4] In 1976, President Gerald Ford signed the Voice of America charter that established it as the leading branch of US international broadcasting.

In 1993, the Clinton Administration proposed cutting the budget for Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty in order to reduce budget expenditures. [1] However, after working with the Congress, the International Broadcasting Act was born.

Original law

This Act (Public Law 103-236) consolidated all non-military, U.S. Government international broadcast services under a Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) and also created the International Broadcasting Bureau (IBB). [5] The BBG is an independent government agency created to replace the Board for International Broadcasting and consolidate Voice of America broadcasting. [6]

In this law, the president appoints one member of the board as the chairman of the board. The Secretary of State also serves on the board. [7]

Besides combining current radio service, this act also created the Radio Free Asia – a network aimed at Burma, China, Cambodia, Laos, North Korea, and Vietnam. [8]

Congressional updates

In September 2009, the 111th Congress amended the International Broadcasting Act to allow a one-year extension of the operation of Radio Free Asia. [9]

In 2002, the Act was amended to include the Radio Free Afghanistan. [7]

In May 1994, the president announce the continuation of Radio Free Asia after 2009 was dependent on its increased international broadcasting and ability to reach its audience. [10]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Voice of America</span> International US-owned broadcaster

Voice of America is an international radio broadcasting state media network funded by the United States of America. It is the largest and oldest of the U.S. international broadcasters. VOA produces digital, TV, and radio content in 48 languages, which it distributes to affiliate stations around the world. Its targeted and primary audience is non-American outside of the US borders. As of November 2022, its reporting reached 326 million adults per week across all platforms. It is financed by the U.S. Agency for Global Media after the approval of the Congress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty</span> US-funded international media outlet

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is an American government-funded international media organization that broadcasts and reports news, information, and analyses to Eastern Europe, Central Asia, the Caucasus, and the Middle East. RFE/RL is a private 501(c)(3) corporation and is supervised by the U.S. Agency for Global Media, an independent government agency overseeing all international broadcasting services that receive American government support. Nicola Careem is the organization's editor-in-chief.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States Information Agency</span> Former government agency

The United States Information Agency (USIA) was a United States government agency devoted to the practice of public diplomacy which operated from 1953 to 1999.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Telecommunications Act of 1996</span> 1996 U.S. legislation overhauling telecommunications regulations and laws

The Telecommunications Act of 1996 is a United States federal law enacted by the 104th United States Congress on January 3, 1996, and signed into law on February 8, 1996 by President Bill Clinton. It primarily amended Chapter 5 of Title 47 of the United States Code. The act was the first significant overhaul of United States telecommunications law in more than sixty years, amending the Communications Act of 1934, and represented a major change in that law, because it was the first time that the Internet was added to American regulation of broadcasting and telephony.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Radio y Televisión Martí</span> US radio, television broadcaster to Cuba

Radio Televisión Martí is an American state-run radio and television international broadcaster based in Miami, Florida, financed by the federal government of the United States through the U.S. Agency for Global Media. It transmits propaganda in Spanish to Cuba and its broadcasts can also be heard and viewed worldwide through their website and on shortwave radio frequencies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alhurra</span> US TV broadcasting to the Arab world

Alhurra is a U.S. government-owned Arabic-language satellite TV channel that broadcasts news and current affairs programming to audiences in the Middle East and North Africa. Alhurra is funded by the U.S. government and is barred from broadcasting within the United States itself under the 1948 Smith-Mundt Act.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">U.S. Agency for Global Media</span> Agency of the United States government

The United States Agency for Global Media (USAGM), known until 2018 as the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), is an independent agency of the United States government that broadcasts news and information. It is considered an arm of U.S. diplomacy.

The Board of Broadcast Governors (BBG) was an arms-length Government of Canada agency. It was created in 1958 by amending the Broadcast Act to regulate television and radio broadcasting, originally taking over that function from the CBC.

Radio Free Asia (RFA) is an American government-funded non-profit corporation operating a news service that broadcasts radio programs and publishes online news, information, and commentary for its audiences in Asia. The service, which provides editorially independent reporting, has the stated mission of providing accurate and uncensored reporting to countries in Asia that have poor media environments and limited protections for speech and press freedom and "advancing the goals of United States foreign policy."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Smith–Mundt Act</span> Act regulating State Department broadcasting to foreign & domestic audiences

The U.S. Information and Educational Exchange Act of 1948, popularly called the Smith–Mundt Act, was first introduced by Congressman Karl E. Mundt (R-SD) in January 1945 in the 79th Congress. It was subsequently passed by the 80th Congress and signed into law by President Harry S. Truman on January 27, 1948.

Kenneth Y. Tomlinson was an editor at Reader's Digest and American government official. He was also chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, which manages Voice of America radio, and Chairman of the Board of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which manages funds appropriated by Congress in support of public television and radio. According to The New York Times, there was an inquiry concerning possible misuse of federal money by Tomlinson. Investigators at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting said on November 15, 2005, "that they had uncovered evidence that its former chairman had repeatedly broken federal law and the organization's own regulations in a campaign to combat what he saw as liberal bias". According to The New York Times, U.S. State Department investigators determined in 2006 that he had "used his office to run a 'horse racing operation'," that he "improperly put a friend on the payroll", that he "repeatedly used government employees to perform personal errands", and that he "billed the government for more days of work than the rules permit".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Radio Azadi</span> Afghan branch of Radio Free Europe / Radio Libertys (RFE/RL) broadcast services

Radio Azadi is the Afghan branch of the U.S. government's Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty's (RFE/RL) external broadcast services. It broadcasts 12 hours daily as part of a 24-hour stream of programming in conjunction with Voice of America (VOA). Radio Free Afghanistan first aired in Afghanistan from 1985 to 1993 and was re-launched in January 2002. Radio Azadi produces a variety of cultural, political, and informational programs that are transmitted to listeners via shortwave radio, satellite and AM and FM signals provided by the International Broadcasting Bureau. According to Radio Azadi, their mission is "to promote and sustain democratic values and institutions in Afghanistan by disseminating news, factual information and ideas".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Radio Farda</span> US-funded Persian language radio

Radio Farda is the Iranian branch of the U.S. government-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) external broadcast service for providing "factual, objective and professional journalism" to its audiences. It broadcasts 24 hours a day in the Persian language from its headquarters in the district Hagibor of Prague, Czech Republic.

The International Broadcasting Bureau (IBB) is the technical support outlet within the United States Agency for Global Media (USAGM), which is a U.S. independent agency. The IBB supports the day-to-day operations of Voice of America (VOA) and the Office of Cuba Broadcasting. It also provides transmission and technical support for all of the independent non-military broadcasting services funded by the USAGM. The IBB is located in Washington, D.C.

<i>Broadcasting Act</i> (Canada) Canadian law regarding broadcasting and telecommunications

The Broadcasting Act, given royal assent on 1 February 1991, is an act of the Parliament of Canada regarding broadcasting of telecommunications in the country.

The Board for International Broadcasting (BIB) was a commission established in the United States as a privately incorporated organization in 1973 by the International Broadcasting Act of 1973, Public Law 93-129, on October 19, 1973. This primarily covered Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), established as an option to USSR broadcasting during the Cold War. In 1994, President Bill Clinton signed the International Broadcasting Act into law. This act disbanded the BIB and put control of the RFE/RL under the newly created bipartisan Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG).

Public diplomacy is that "form of international political advocacy in which the civilians of one country use legitimate means to reach out to the civilians of another country in order to gain popular support for negotiations occurring through diplomatic channels."

Radio propaganda is propaganda aimed at influencing attitudes towards a certain cause or position, delivered through radio broadcast. The power of radio propaganda came from its revolutionary nature. The radio, like later technological advances in the media, allowed information to be transmitted quickly and uniformly to vast populations. Internationally, the radio was an early and powerful recruiting tool for propaganda campaigns.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States International Programming to Ukraine and Neighboring Regions</span>

The United States International Programming to Ukraine and Neighboring Regions is a law that authorizes the federal government to spend $10 million on programming for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and the Voice of America to be broadcast into Ukraine. The goal of the increased funding would be to combat the Russian "propaganda" into the Crimean peninsula, which had been illegally annexed by Russia in 2014, provoking international condemnation and severe economic sanctions against Russia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States International Communications Reform Act of 2014</span>

The United States International Communications Reform Act of 2014 is a bill that would revise U.S. international broadcasting and communications structures, missions, and objectives. The bill would also replace the Broadcasting Board of Governors with the United States International Communications Agency.

References

  1. 1 2 Raghavan, Sudarsan V., Stephen S. Johnson, Kristi K. Bahrenburg. Sending cross-border static: on the fate of Radio Free Europe and the influence of international broadcasting. Journal of International Affairs, Vol. 47, 1993.
  2. United States International Broadcasting Act, Pub. L. No. 103-236, title. III.
  3. Dept of State Bulletin 337-342 at 339. 1958 Statement to the UN, August 1958.
  4. Jon T. Powell, "Towards a Negotiable Definition of Propaganda for International Agreements Related to Direct Broadcast Satellites," Law & Contemporary Problems 45 (1982): 3, 25-26.
  5. "IBB Fact Sheet. University of Illinois Chicago. Web". Archived from the original on 2017-10-24. Retrieved 2011-04-01.
  6. Broadcasting Board of Governors FAQ
  7. 1 2 "U.S. Code. House of Representatives". Archived from the original on 2011-02-03. Retrieved 2011-04-01.
  8. Price, Monroe. The Transformation of international broadcasting. Global Media and National Controls: Rethinking the Role of the State, MIT Press, 2002.
  9. Bill Text Versions for the 111th Congress, 2009 - 2010. The Library of Congress.
  10. Executive Order 12, 850, 3 C.F.R. 606, 607 § 1(b).