The Voice of American Exceptionalism

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Speaking at a media conference in Germany, Voice of America (VOA) director Danforth Austin advocated for "rigidly enforcing the dividing line between government-financed efforts to inform people and government-financed attempts to influence and even mislead a population without revealing that government's involvement or motives." According to Austin, VOA is the former. "The Voice of America does not do propaganda," he said. He also warned about other countries' attempts to use media to "mislead and manipulate" and engage in "'influence operations' that are disguised as journalism." As John Eggerton points out, Austin's warnings "resonated with those dealing with domestic media issues including alleged Internet-content blocking and the Defense Department's embedded analyst program." That's not to mention the Pentagon's new "Trans Regional Web Initiative," which hires local journalists to write stories that promote U.S. military interests overseas.