VOICE OF AMERICA
Voice of America (VOA) is a U.S. government-funded international news source that serves as the United States federal government’s official institution for non-military, external broadcasting. As the largest U.S. international broadcaster, VOA produces digital, TV, and radio content in more than 40 languages which it distributes to affiliate stations around the globe. Primarily viewed by foreign audiences, VOA programming has an influence on public opinion abroad regarding the United States and its leaders. Originally established in 1942, the VOA charter was signed into law in 1976 by former President Gerald Ford. The charter contains its mission, “to broadcast accurate, balanced, and comprehensive news and information to an international audience”, and defines the legally mandated standards in the VOA journalistic code. Some scholars and commentators consider Voice of America to be a form of propaganda, although this label is disputed by others. (More from Wikipedia)
The Communists could not keep rock and roll out of the country entirely; Natasha Kapustin recalls: “Even though Western music was condemned in Russia, we knew what was happening in the world. We listened to the Voice of America broadcasts, the major European radio stations and got records from our Western friends or bought records on the black market. I can still remember the day Jimi Hendrix died because there were black armbands all over Moscow.”
(April 2015/1)
