Tag Archives: Radio Liberty

BBG tries to improve employee morale

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BBG-LogoIn December 2012, we posted a survey from the 2012 edition of The Best Places to Work in the Federal Government by The Partnership for Public Service and Deloitte. The survey indicated that the Broadcasting Board of Governers (BBG) had been ranked in the bottom five places to work in the federal government.

According to the Washington Post, the agency is now working on a plan to boost employee morale. Some of their initiatives include:

“Agency directors and senior staff hold[ing] face-time sessions in the cafeteria for informal talks with employees, a “Civility Campaign” addresses labor-management issues, and a Workplace Engagement Initiative takes a deeper dive into the agency’s low morale ratings.

Some of the morale-boosting events are meant to be fun, such as the raffle during the fitness-center open house, a chocolate bake-off in time for Valentine’s Day, and ?after-work gatherings — a bingo night, happy hour, checkers and chess.

It’s going to take all that and some sustained work to improve the agency’s failing report cards.”

Read the full article on The Washington Post…

Many thanks to Richard Cuff for the tip!

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Radio Liberty President Steve Korn has resigned in wake of closure

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RFE-RadioLiberty(Source: The Washington Post)

American-financed Radio Liberty, which penetrated the Iron Curtain with news of the outside world during the Cold War, has been trying to join today’s information revolution — and the static crackling around its efforts has been loud enough to reach Washington.

The radio station, funded by Congress but independent of it, has embraced a digital future, dismissing 37 journalists as it downsized just before it lost its only local broadcasting license here in November, when a 2011 law preventing foreign ownership came into effect.

[H]ere in the Russia of Vladimir Putin, where news is highly political and controlled, a small but loyal radio audience that treasures unbiased reporting has declared itself betrayed. Even Mikhail Gorbachev, the last Soviet president, has complained. The name Radio Liberty — Svoboda in Russian — carries memories of overcoming Soviet oppression, freighted with disappointment over failed democracy, and its transformation is mourned.

On New Year’s Eve, after weeks of growing controversy, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty President and Chief Executive Officer Steven Korn resigned, effective Jan. 25. […]

The forced closure of Radio Liberty is hypocritical–especially since the Voice of Russia’s own strategy is to pull out of shortwave radio broadcasting into North America and invest in local radio/television stations within major US markets (like Washington DC) where they, of course, receive no resistance.

Korn has been heavily criticized for how he handled the “re-organization” of Radio Liberty in Moscow. He certainly disposed of a lot of talented journalists, many of whom could have been instrumental in gathering and reporting news into Russia via Internet.

Kim Elliott has done an excellent job following the Radio Liberty story as it appears in the media.

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BBG (Voice of America) ranks in bottom five places to work

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This just out: the Broadcasting Board of Governers has been ranked in the bottom five places to work in the 2012 edition of The Best Places to Work in the Federal Government by The Partnership for Public Service and Deloitte. Specifically, the BBG consists of the Voice of America, Radio Free Europe, Radio Free Asia, Radio and TV Marti, the Middle East Broadcasting Network and the International Broadcasting Bureau (see org chart here). [Kim Elliott points out, however, that the survey only covers the VOA and the IBB.]

BBG’s leadership lacking

Upon closer examination of the rankings and score composite, you can see BBG employees scored their agency worst in categories of Effective Leadership. Indeed, the BBG ranked in the bottom five of the 290 mid-sized federal agencies in the survey in all of the effective leadership sub-categories of the survery. Here a breakdown:

No plan for the future

Another area where the agency received a low score was in the category of Strategic Management: BBG employees rankings came in at 289 of 290, with only the Office of Chief Information Officer (HUD) ranking lower.

This, no doubt, shows that BBG employees feel there is no direction nor goals for the organization’s future.

I know quite a few employees in the Voice of America and the IBB. When I talk with these friends, I hear true passion for their jobs. They love what they do, whether it’s reporting or electronics engineering. When you read the results of this survey, it’s clear that these competent employees simply lack faith in their governing board and their management. The results suggest that they feel there is no plan for their future, and have concerns about their job security–especially with rumors of agency functions being merged and with jobs (like those at Radio Liberty) being cut without warning.  They also feel there is no chance for performance-based rewards and/or advancement.

A sad state of affairs, indeed, for the worthy and still highly relevant role of radio in international diplomacy.

Read the full report of the BBG (Voice of America) in The Best Places to Work in the Federal Government.

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