February 24 this year is the 80th "birthday" of the "Voice of America", the machine of American ideological propaganda to foreign countries.
Shortly before the "birthday," the Voice of America's Chinese website published more than 70 articles containing anti-China content in 48 hours during the opening of the Beijing Winter Olympics, setting a record.
What is "interesting" is that the "Voice of America" prides itself on being an "independent news media," but the vast majority of these more than 70 articles are only Chinese version aimed at the Chinese world, and there is no English version.
What is the "mysterious" "Voice of America" like?
The Voice of America that Americans can't hear
At the beginning of World War II, among the world's great powers, only the United States did not have its own officially funded international radio station. In the 1940s, the United States also had only a dozen low-power shortwave transmitters. However, Robert Sherwood, who later became known as the father of the Voice of America, had foreseen the significant role of international broadcasting in the future.
In 1941, the United States Bureau for the Coordination of Internal Affairs leased several transmitters of private owners to broadcast to Latin America. In mid-1941, Roosevelt established the Foreign Information Service and appointed Sherwood as its director.
On December 7 of the same year, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, and Germany declared war on the United States. The Foreign Information Service, led by Sherwood, quickly began to act. That same month, the Foreign Press Service conducted its first live broadcast of Asia in a san Francisco studio. On 24 February 1942, the Foreign Press Service launched the first radio programme to Europe through the BBC, "Now the Voice from the United States", in which the announcer William Harlan Hale began a "propaganda" campaign against Nazi Germany, and the name "Voice of America" gradually became the radio sign of the Foreign Press Service. In July 1942, the Voice of America had its new owner, the Wartime Intelligence Service, which grew rapidly.
At the end of World War II and the beginning of the "Cold War", the "enemy" of the "Voice of America" changed from a fascist Axis to the Soviet Union and the socialist camp. In order to carry out a psychological propaganda offensive against socialist countries and break through the Soviet Union's interference with the "Voice of America", the US State Department, under the instruction of the US National Security Council, organized a highly classified research group of 22 scientists, engineers and social scientists from academic institutions such as MIT and Harvard University to start a three-month study at MIT.
On January 16, 1948, the United States passed the United States Information and Educational Exchange Act, referred to as the Smith-Monte Act, which required the U.S. Department of State to make the rest of the world better understand the United States through radio, publications, films, exhibitions, and cultural and educational exchanges. In addition, the bill authorized the State Department to establish the U.S. Information Service, and the Voice of America became the largest division of the agency.
Because of the important role of the "Voice of America" in the global psychological propaganda war, the President of the United States, the State Department, and the CIA have attached great importance to the issue of making the "Voice of America" play a greater role. But on the way to touching such "conscience" media for its own people, the Smith-Mount Act explicitly stipulates that information disseminated by the U.S. government to international audiences must not be disseminated within the United States.
In 2013, Oba President Ma signed a law repealing restrictions that prohibit the U.S. government from disseminating long-standing government propaganda to domestic audiences.
However, some conservatives in the United States still posted that the Obama administration is launching a large-scale "brainwashing" campaign led by government news at home. They feared that after the repeal of the "Cold War" propaganda statutes, "government propaganda news" would hit news organizations in the United States like a tidal wave.
It turns out that they are also afraid of their own "conscience" media.
Of course, the self-proclaimed "Voice of America" of the media has not thought of putting on a "white lotus".
During the Trump administration, the "Voice of America" was criticized by the White House simply because of an "objective" description of the epidemic in China.
The meaning of the statement is very straightforward, and the "Voice of America" actually takes the money of American taxpayers to promote China.
AMANDA Bennett, the head of VOA, hastened to issue a statement listing a series of VOA smears of China on the topic of the epidemic, along with a link that meant: "Captain, don't shoot, it's me!" ”
"China Coverage Project"
Founded in the 1940s, VoA's broadcasts to China initially used Mandarin and Cantonese, but broadcast only one hour a day, and later added Hokkien and Shanghainese programs. In the early post-World War II period, the "Voice of America" broadcast to China was further reduced, retaining only Mandarin programs. Later, under the impetus of the "Cold War," the "Voice of America" once again expanded the scale of broadcasting to China, not only resuming Cantonese, Hokkien, and Shanghainese broadcasts, but also adding Teochew, Hakka, and Tibetan programs, which broadcast for more than 10 hours a day.
In order to cooperate with the "Voice of America", during the Johnson administration, the United States also established the so-called "China Reporting Project".
In terms of propaganda content, the US Information Agency made the following arrangements in the early days of the construction of New China.
Exposing China's "ambitions" for nuclear status and disclosing pictures or information proves that Chinese development of nuclear programs is "futile."
Second, use food aid as bait.
Third, sending a large number of planes through China's airspace and throwing rice in food-scarce areas proves that the government cannot control its airspace and does not accept assistance, increasing the problems of local governments, and coordinating with psychological warfare strategies.
Fourth, to provide a large number of journalists and cultural circles with opportunities to exchange, to provide two years of postgraduate scholarships.
5. Sponsor science and technology organizations in Hong Kong and invite the Mainland to participate.
6. Subsidize persons from Third World countries who have visited Chinese mainland to stay in Taiwan for an equal length of time.
Support the Chinese to return the land seized by Tsarist Russia.
The four major strategies of the "Voice of America" propaganda against China
In view of the various historical and tactical traces of the "Voice of America," some scholars have summarized several major strategies for their propaganda against China.
I. "Factual" publicity. In order to become an "authoritative source of information trusted by listeners", VOA strictly separates news from commentary in the program setting, stipulating that news only tells the facts, and comments only state their opinions.
To a certain extent, this kind of "factual" propaganda dilutes the color of the "Voice of America" official media, accumulates an "objective" image, and maximizes its influence on key issues. But VOA's news coverage is by no means a purely objective reflection of the facts. It hides the opinion to be expressed in an "objective description" of the facts, while concealing the intention. With a little attention, you will find that it often shows a clear subjective tendency in the news introduction and the wording of the news, and plays the role of "adding comments and annotations".
Second, "balanced" propaganda. VOA pays attention to the use of "balance" tactics, claiming to "report both good news and bad news" in news programs. However, if we pay a little attention, we will find that the "Voice of America" mostly attacks China's values and political system, and at the same time symbolically reports some of China's achievements in the details; for the United States, the "Voice of America" mainly promotes the Political System, values and lifestyle of the United States, boasts about its material civilization, and also reports on some dark sides, such as dollar depreciation, unemployment, drug addiction, etc.
The process of broadcasting on the human mind is very fast, and the listener hears that both sides of it are reported, giving both sides the same opportunity to speak, and mistakenly thinks that its report is objective and comprehensive. In fact, "balanced" propaganda, like "factual" propaganda, is only a means for "Voice of America" to gain the trust of listeners, and it is the intentional action of "Voice of America" to achieve its propaganda purposes. Instilling one's own views into the audience in the guise of "objectivity and impartiality" in order to influence their views and behaviors is the true intention of the "Voice of America" "balanced" propaganda.
3. Comparative publicity. VOA believes that making it clear to the audience that one's positive or negative attitude toward someone or something can easily make the report appear unobjective. Therefore, it often adopts a contrasting and contrasting approach in the report, subtly expressing its positive and negative attitude, so as to achieve the expected publicity effect.
For example, the Voice of America has broadcast two messages in the brief news, with the following titles and introductions: 1. China's trade surplus in December set a record. 2. Trade with China has caused the loss of US work.
It seems that these two articles are objective reports, without mixing with critical words, but the two are by no means an unintentional combination. It is easy for the audience to conclude that China's economic development is in fact posing a "threat" to the United States, thus counteracting the positive impression of China's economic growth in people's minds.
4. "Service" publicity. In order to attract Chinese listeners and improve listening rates, "Voice of America" launched an English teaching program "Listening and Learning English", and later added "English 900 Sentences" and "Intermediate American English". These programs have had a considerable impact on the audience. Prior to 1972, VOA Chinese received fewer than 20 letters from listeners in Chinese mainland.
But after the broadcast of "900 Sentences in English", the Chinese received an average of about 1,000 letters per month. As one voicing Chinese radio director said, the purpose of these programs is not to teach English, but to hear a little reflection and ask for directions.
The Voice of America (VOA) and "Special English" programs were once an important way for Chinese teenagers to learn English, with high listening rates. "Special English" expresses the major news of the day in limited vocabulary, slow speed, short sentences and simple language, which is suitable for beginners in English. But Henry Lunus, former director of VOA, once said, "The ideas that spread in simple sentences are still powerful." Voice of America achieves a double effect through such "service" programs: on the one hand, through English-taught programs to promote American lifestyles, values, etc., on the other hand, it knocks on the door of Chinese listeners.
The Voice of America summed up its purpose in a program: "If it were not for the long-term interests of the United States, the American people would not have agreed to give so much money to run the Voice of America." Ultimately, VOA is a tool for the U.S. government to advance its "peaceful evolution" strategy.
Source: Central Committee of the Communist Youth League