Broadcasting Board of Governors

The Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) is an independent agency of the United States government responsible for all non-military, international broadcasting sponsored by the U.S government. It was previously a department within the United States Information Agency until 1999.

Governing Board organizational structure

The Board is composed of nine members, eight of whom are appointed by the President of the United States:
* James K. Glassman, Chairman;
* Joaquin F. Blaya
* Blanquita Walsh Cullum
* D. Jeffrey Hirschberg
* Edward E. Kaufman
* Mark McKinnon
* Steven J. Simmons
* (Vacant)
* and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

See [http://www.bbg.gov/bbg_board_info.cfm] for updates on board structure.

Organizations

It supervises the following independent broadcasting organizations, which collectively broadcast in 65 languages in more than 125 markets around the world:

*Voice of America (VOA)
*Alhurra
*Radio Sawa
*Radio Farda
*Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
*Radio Free Asia (RFA)
*Radio Marti and TV Marti

Mission

Its stated mission is:

:To promote and sustain freedom and democracy by broadcasting accurate and objective news and information about the United States and the world to audiences overseas.

The long-term vision for the BBG is:

:A flexible, multi-media, research-driven U.S. International Broadcasting System, incorporating regional networks and single-country operations, that reaches mass audiences by programming the distinct content of the Voice of America and the surrogate services through state-of-the art formats and the distribution channels - AM, FM, audio and video satellite, shortwave, and the Internet -- that our audiences use and we control.

History

Starting in 1990, all U.S. government international broadcasting services began to work more closely together. That year the U.S. Information Agency, then VOA's parent Agency, established the Bureau of Broadcasting to consolidate its three broadcasting services -- the Voice of America, WORLDNET Television and Film Service, and Radio and TV Marti -- under one umbrella organization, supported by a single Office of Engineering and Technical Operations.

In 1991, the Bureau created the Office of Affiliate Relations and Audience Analysis (later renamed the Office of Affiliate Relations and Media Training in 1996) to establish and maintain a network of "affiliated" radio and TV stations around the globe that would broadcast VOA- and WORLDNET-produced programs. Today, more than 1,200 radio and TV stations receive programming through the Office of Affiliate Relations.

U.S. government international broadcasting was consolidated even further when President Clinton signed the International Broadcasting Act (Public Law 103-236) on April 30, 1994. The legislation established the International Broadcasting Bureau (IBB) within the U.S. Information Agency (USIA), and created a Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) with oversight authority over all non-military U.S. government international broadcasting.

The Voice of America and Radio and TV Marti -- the federally funded services of the former Bureau of Broadcasting -- along with the Office of Engineering and Technical Services, comprise the IBB. [http://www.ibb.gov/worldnet/ WORLDNET TV was folded into VOA in 2004] and no longer exists independently.

The bipartisan BBG includes the Secretary of State ("ex officio") and eight members appointed by the President and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. The first Broadcasting Board of Governors was sworn in on August 11, 1995.

The BBG became an independent, autonomous entity on October 1, 1999, as a result of the Foreign Affairs Reform and Restructuring Act of 1998 (uspl|105|277). BBG had 3,200 employees and a budget of US$535 million in 2002.

The BBG [http://www.bbg.gov/_bbg_news.cfm?articleID=133&mode=general/ has requested $671.9 million for its FY2007 budget] . This amount is an increase of 4.3% from FY2006 budget.

Organizational structure

On October 1, 1999, the Broadcasting Board of Governors became the independent agency responsible for all U.S. government and government sponsored, non-military international broadcasting.

The bi-partisan board consists of eight members appointed by the president and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. The ninth member is the Secretary of State. By law, no more than four members shall be from the same political party. The president designates one member (other than the Secretary of State) to serve as Chairman.

References

*"Portions of this article are based on public domain text from BBG and VOA." [http://www.bbg.gov/bbg_aboutus.cfm] [http://www.voa.gov/index.cfm?tableName=tblVOAHistory&articleID=10012&sectiontitle=VOA%20History]

External links

* [http://www.bbg.gov/ Broadcasting Board of Governors]