Friday, February 18, 2011

VOA Chinese service employees 'furious' as end nears

The Tapei Times quotes an employee at the Voice of America (VOA) Chinese service as saying “There’s a lot of anger,” at plans to drastically cut its funding. Under a proposed restructuring plan, the US Broadcasting Board of Governors’ (BBG) budget submission for the VOA Mandarin service for the next fiscal year would include a US$8 million cut, which would be achieved in large part by eliminating traditional radio and TV broadcasting and shifting to a Web-only platform utilizing new media technologies. In addition, VOA’s Cantonese service would be eliminated ­altogether, with Radio Free Asia continuing broadcasts in the language.
(R Netherlands Media Network Weblog)