The Foreign Service Journal, October 2009

O C T O B E R 2 0 0 9 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 55 set up as a firewall between the broadcast services and the government funding them, to prevent tampering. The new entity retains this firewall function, but individual gov- ernors now have more authority to micromanage. Former board member Norman Pattiz, for example, had an enormous influence on the development of pro- gramming to the Muslim world. Pattiz, the founder of Westwood One Radio, was closely involved in setting up Radio Sawa and Radio Farda, whose formats focused on pop music as a way of attracting listeners to news content. This drew criticism from some veterans of U.S. broad- casting such as former VOA director Robert Reilly, who wrote in a 2007 Washington Post op-ed: “It seems that the board transformed the ‘war of ideas’ into the ‘battle of the bands’.” Post-9/11: Rebirth of a Cause The inability to prevent the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist at- tacks marked a “failure of imagination,” in the famous words of the 9/11 Commission. It was also widely seen as a result of the breakdown in U.S. public diplomacy. Dozens of think-tank reports over the next few years pro- posed new ways to engage Arabs and Muslims and under- mine the “root causes” of terrorism. The BBG, which had already begun putting together a new strategic plan before the attacks, was given additional funding to broadcast to the Middle East and other critical regions. In 2002 the board unveiled its strategy under the title “Marrying the Mission to the Market.” It emphasized the need to reach large audiences by applying modern broad- cast techniques, including music formats, and allocating resources to focus on high-priority broadcast markets. In the aftermath of 9/11, it said, the priority in international broadcasting was improving outreach toMuslim countries. The plan repeatedly referred to target listening areas as “markets,” lending a new, commercial-sounding ap- proach to U.S. international broadcasting. It expressed a determination to reachMuslim audiences where U.S. pop- ularity had plummeted: “We stand ready to launch new model radio and television operations in a multitude of Is- F O C U S Buy all your travel guides, language books and pleasure reading through the AFSA bookstore. Buy the Amazon Kindle and download and read first chapters for free before you decide to purchase that new book. When you access Amazon.com through our bookstore all your purchases will benefit AFSA at no additional cost to you. Find State Department and AFSA Reading Lists Online at www.afsa.org/ads/books/ Start your purchase on our site: www.afsa.org/ads/books/