Mark Helmke
Senior Professional Staff Member
U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee
Richard G. Lugar, Chairman

Dear Mr. Helmke,

Your recent speech misstates the
Congressionally-determined purpose of the Voice
of America, and what it has "long been about,"
which you refer to simply as "promoting U.S.
foreign policy." I refer you to the Voice's
charter, a public law enacted by Congress in
1976.*

On a practical level, I don't think that anyone
who wants to advance American interests can
seriously believe that the way to do this is by
redefining VOA's mission into State
Department-run broadcasts "promoting" U.S.
foreign policy.

This is because actual human beings, including
those in unfree societies, find propaganda
obnoxious and boring. And they find
propaganda-dressed-as-"news" obnoxious, boring
and dishonest. In either case, they will react to
it instantly by tuning out -- and into anything
else, from Al Jazeera to BBC.

Actual human beings do enjoy, however, the sound
of a free press, fascinating features, reliable,
impartial news of the world and their regions,
and free music of all kinds -- the best of
America -- coming at them from the United States.
That's the way to capture people's interest and
liking. They enjoy this enough that they'll even
listen to short editorials, too.

A program of State Department vanity broadcasts
might stroke a few Washington egos, but it
wouldn't do a whit to help America abroad.

Sincerely,

Carolyn K.A. Weaver


*The VOA Charter

To protect the integrity of VOA programming and
define the organization's mission, the VOA
Charter was drafted in 1960 and later signed into
law (Public Law 94-350) on July 12, 1976, by
President Gerald Ford. It reads: The long-range
interests of the United States are served by
communicating directly with the peoples of the
world by radio. To be effective, the Voice of
America must win the attention and respect of
listeners. These principles will therefore govern
Voice of America (VOA) broadcasts.

1. VOA will serve as a consistently reliable and
authoritative source of news. VOA news will be
accurate, objective, and comprehensive. 2. VOA
will represent America, not any single segment of
American society, and will therefore present a
balanced and comprehensive projection of
significant American thought and institutions. 3.
VOA will present the policies of the United
States clearly and effectively, and will also
present responsible discussions and opinion on
these policies.