They Have ‘Propaganda,’ US Has ‘Public Diplomacy’–and a Servile Private Sector
The New York Times headline (4/15/15) paints a dire picture:
Turmoil at Voice of America Is Seen as Hurting US Ability to Counter Propaganda
But wait a secondisnt Voice of America itself a propaganda outlet? Not in the New York Times stylebook, apparently. The piece, by Ron Nixon, describes VOA as the government agency that is charged with presenting Americas viewpoint to the world. Later on, the Times refers to what it calls Americas public diplomacy.
The USs enemies, on the other hand, have sophisticated propaganda machines that have expanded the influence of countries like China and Russia and terrorist groups like the Islamic State. The difference between propaganda machines and public diplomacy is never explained in the article, but the former appears to be what they do while the latter is what we do.
The only source quoted in the article whos not directly connected to the government is Glen Howard, president of the Jamestown Foundation, described as a Washington think tank. (We are getting our butts kicked
. Countries like Russia are running circles around us, Howard says.) Not mentioned is the fact that Jamestown was founded with the help of then-CIA Director William Casey to provide financial support for the Agencys spies (Washington Post, 1/10/05).
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