Dr. Helle Dale of the Heritage Foundation has called for a comprehensive overhaul of the Broadcasting Board of Governors. “Congress should undertake much overdue oversight of the management practices and structures of the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG). U.S. international broadcasting needs professional management and a transparent structure and does not have it at the moment, Dr. Dale posted on the Heritage Foundation website: Congress Should Overhaul BBG Management. She called the BBG “consistently inconsistent” and “the U.S. government’s most dysfunctional agency.”
Dr. Dale also describes the problem of low employee morale, which had been raised at the BBG open meeting last month by BBG member Ambassador Victor Ashe.

“Employees sometimes find Web sites blocked that contain content critical of the BBG. Management is so fearful of leaks to the Hill and the media that employees have occasionally been directed not to bring notepads or pencils to staff meetings. In the case of VOA’s China service, producers were warned by management against covering any congressional hearings relating to the decision to close down the China service. VOA personnel have also been warned against contacting the State Department despite the fact that State is actually a stakeholder in international broadcasting, as the Secretary of State sits on the BBG itself.”

In conclusion of her article, Dr. Dale wrote: “The United States has to retool and reinvigorate its most important communications tools—its international broadcasters—in order to compete.”
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