The Foreign Service Journal, October 2010

O C T O B E R 2 0 1 0 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 37 were implemented. • The audience observes independent journalism, a necessary ingredient in any democracy, in action. • Providing this service to the world speaks well of the United States. The consolidation of U.S. international broadcasting would be an opportunity for a rebranding exercise to sig- nal unambiguously that the new entity is an independent and reliable provider of news. The organization should be a government-funded corporation rather than a govern- ment agency. Telling the Truth With technologies changing quickly and new players coming on the scene, we are at a critical juncture in the world media environment. A winnowing process is decid- ing which broadcasting organizations will be competitive, and which will merely be bureaucracies. If the newmem- bers of the Broadcasting Board of Governors can convince the administration and Congress that changes must take place, USIB can compete with the improving domestic and regional services throughout the world, even among a greater choice of media technologies. The site of the VOA Bethany shortwave transmitting station near Cincinnati is an artifact of an older, simpler time in U.S. international broadcasting. The space is now home to the popular Voice of America county park, the Voice of America Learning Center of Miami University, and the shops and restaurants of the Voice of America Center. The art deco building that housed the shortwave transmitters is being developed into the National Voice of America Museum of Broadcasting. A T-shirt sold to raise funds for the museum depicts the building with VOA’s slogan under it: “Tell the truth, and let the world decide.” That, succinctly, describes how suc- cessful international broadcasting works. ■ F O C U S