Voice of America

The official U.S. government broadcasting service and a primary component of America's public diplomacy abroad. Created to counter enemy propaganda in World War II, the Voice of America (VOA) now oversees a network of radio, television, and Internet media that spans the globe.

The VOA Charter describes three basic functions: to accurately and objectively report the news, to clarify American philosophy and political institutions to international listeners, and to explain American foreign policies. The VOA Charter stresses the need for objectivity. To become a credible source, VOA strives to make sure that the news it presents is accurate, objective, and comprehensive. The Charter for the service mandates “responsible discussions and opinion” of U.S. policies to avoid the perception that it is simply a source of propaganda.

From the start, VOA officials emphasized the importance of objectivity. In 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt authorized the creation of the Foreign Information Service (FIS) and appointed playwright Robert Sherwood as its director. The first broadcast to Germany began with the phrase, “Here speaks a voice from America.” FIS thus became known as the Voice of America, and soon it was transmitting in more than two dozen languages. The VOA's commitment to truth telling was tested immediately because it had to report a string of German and Japanese victories in the early stages of the war.

With the end of World War II, the VOA lost its original purpose, and a variety of domestic critics sought to disband the outfit. Some congressmen complained that the VOA needlessly competed with American businesses, arguing that news reporting should be a private enterprise. To make things worse, the Associated Press and United Press International stopped working with the VOA because they felt that associating too closely with the government would threaten their own reputations.

The VOA was initially part of the Office of War Information (OWI). However, President Harry S. Truman liquidated the office in August 1945 and moved the VOA into the U.S. State Department. This nearly proved disastrous, however, because the VOA became a target for Senator Joseph McCarthy's anti-communist crusade, along with other sections of the State Department. The VOA survived the McCarthy witch hunts, however, when it moved from the State Department to the independent U.S. Information Agency in 1953. At around that time, the war of ideas with the Soviet Union gave new purpose to the VOA and permitted its resurgence during the administration of President Dwight D. Eisenhower.

During the Cold War, some critics denounced the VOA as a propaganda vehicle for the U.S. government. Despite the high-sounding purpose in its charter, they argued that the VOA was nothing more than a mouthpiece for U.S. policy. VOA representatives rejected these claims, taking pains to demonstrate the organization's objectivity.

Nevertheless, American diplomats admitted that foreign leaders often doubt that the VOA, as a government-sponsored institution, can be truly independent. The tension of explaining government policy while remaining independent from government influence is built into the structure of the VOA. This dilemma probably explains why VOA doctrine places such a strong emphasis on impartiality.

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