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MARC NATHANSON TELLS CONGRESS
Washington, D.C., October 19, 2001 -- In testimony earlier this month, Marc Nathanson, Chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), told members of Congress that millions of people throughout the Middle East and Central and South Asia tune in to U.S. international broadcasting for “direct, up-to-date, unbiased, unfiltered news and information about the attack on terrorism.” The House International Relations Committee held the hearing on U.S. public diplomacy and the anti-terrorism campaign on Oct. 10, 2001. Nathanson’s remarks underscored the power of the U.S. international broadcasting to tell America’s story along with the global reach of the BBG’s network of satellites and transmitters. He reported that the BBG has carried the U.S. leaders including President Bush as well as many members of Congress and the cabinet. Broadcasts have also “given a human face to the victims, telling the heart-breaking stories of people who came to America from scores of nations,” he said. He noted the expansion of broadcasts in the critical languages of the region including Arabic, Dari, Farsi, Pashto and Urdu. He added, “We will continue to tell the truth about terrorism and the United States’ response to it. We cross all borders, broadcasting in over sixty languages, to tens of millions of people around the globe who desperately need to hear America’s story.” In opening the hearing on public diplomacy and the anti-terrorism campaign, Rep. Henry Hyde (R-IL), Chairman of the International Relations Committee, said, “…we must ask ourselves whether or not our public diplomacy effort as current constituted can ever do the job of correcting the damage that has been done to our image and reputation overseas, and, beyond that, establishing a positive image of the United States abroad.” In his remarks, Rep. Tom Lantos (D-CA) recalled his own experience with international broadcasting as a teenager in the anti-Nazi underground in Hungary during World War II. He said, “I fondly recall the inspirational and uplifting and liberating broadcasts of the Voice of America and the BBC. And I can testify personally to the incredibly dramatic effect these programs had in providing hope to captive people.” Similarly, Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA), who recently introduced legislation to create Radio Free Afghanistan, added, “…we find ourselves right now much as we found ourselves during the Cold War in Eastern Europe. We now find ourselves in hot war. And to reiterate the point, we found during the Cold War that there was a particular methodology that worked very, very well in changing attitudes, changing the minds of the people, and that was surrogate broadcasting….” Marc Nathanson is Vice-Chairman of Charter Communications. In addition, he serves as Chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors. He was appointed by President Clinton and confirmed by the Senate. The BBG is an independent government agency created by the International Broadcasting Act of 1994. The Board is responsible for all international broadcasting of the United States Government, which includes 3,400 employees in 67 countries. The entities under the BBG include Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia, and Radio/TV Marti. The Broadcasting Board of Governors supervises the operations of the three federally funded broadcast elements of the International Broadcasting Bureau (Voice of America, WORLDNET Television and Film Service, and Radio and TV Marti). The BBG also administers grants of congressionally appropriated funds to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Radio Free Asia, two nonprofit corporations. For additional information, please contact the Office of External Affairs at (202) 619-2538 or send email to pubaff@voa.gov. Releases | VOA | WORLDNET | IBB | Radio/TV Marti |
