{"id":10987,"date":"2014-10-08T07:07:07","date_gmt":"2014-10-08T11:07:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=10987"},"modified":"2014-10-08T07:07:28","modified_gmt":"2014-10-08T11:07:28","slug":"voa-reduced-tv-to-china-during-hong-kong-protests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2014\/10\/voa-reduced-tv-to-china-during-hong-kong-protests\/","title":{"rendered":"VOA Reduced TV to China during Hong Kong protests"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"VOA-Weishi-TV\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The website BBG Watch<\/a> recently posted a guest commentary from an anonymous VOA reporter regarding the loss of VOA Weishi TV during the Hong Kong protests. Here is an excerpt from BBG Watch<\/a>:<\/p>\n

“On Monday, September 29, the loyal viewers of Voice of America (VOA) \u201cWeishi,\u201d the VOA Mandarin TV program, were surprised to see their TV screen turned into a blue graphic during some hours when the original program previously aired was repeated. In the place of the professionally produced VOA TV broadcast, audiences received radio signals from Radio Free Asia (RFA).<\/p>\n

Audience surveys, although underestimating the viewership because many Chinese are reluctant to share sensitive and potentially dangerous information with strangers, show that the popularity of the 2-year-old VOA \u201cWeishi\u201d is growing by leaps and bounds in China. Some of its segments, including \u201cHistory\u2019s Mysteries,\u201d \u201cPro&Con\u201d and \u201cIssues and Opinions,\u201d already also attract many millions of viewers on YouTube. The management\u2019s decision to take away some of the repeat hours from the \u201cWeishi\u201d programs will be devastating to VOA\u2019s Mandarin broadcasting. Meanwhile, it will not help RFA, since very few people listen to radio via TV. If they do, there are existing channels leased by the International Broadcasting Bureau (IBB) to broadcast radio programs via satellite to China and Tibet. IBB reports to the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), the federal agency and the bipartisan Board in charge of all U.S. taxpayer-supported media for audiences abroad.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Read the full commentary on the BBG Watch website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I listened to China Radio International<\/em> a few times during the peak of the protests and–no surprise–there was absolutely no mention or even hint of an uprising. Indeed, China has been\u00a0actively blocking international TV news outlets like CNN and social media sites like Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"China-WPFI-001\"<\/a><\/p>\n

China is ranked as one of the worst countries in the world in terms of press freedoms–175th out of a possible 180 countries on the 2014 World Press Freedoms Index<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The website BBG Watch recently posted a guest commentary from an anonymous VOA reporter regarding the loss of VOA Weishi TV during the Hong Kong protests. Here is an excerpt from BBG Watch: “On Monday, September 29, the loyal viewers of Voice of America (VOA) \u201cWeishi,\u201d the VOA Mandarin TV program, were surprised to see […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[56,960,3],"tags":[406,1090,146,3296,1106,3298,3297,182],"class_list":["post-10987","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-broadcasters","category-international-broadcasting","category-news","tag-bbg","tag-bbg-watch","tag-china","tag-hong-kong","tag-ibb","tag-tv","tag-umbrella-revolution","tag-voice-of-america"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-2Rd","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":19212,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2016\/05\/proposed-amendment-to-national-defense-authorization-act-calls-for-privatization-of-voa\/","url_meta":{"origin":10987,"position":0},"title":"Proposed amendment to National Defense Authorization Act calls for privatization of VOA","author":"Thomas","date":"May 27, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"(Source: BBG Watch via Andrea Borgnino) BBG Watch has learned that a proposed privatization of the U.S. taxpayer-funded Voice of America (VOA) is widely opposed by Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) federal employees, their union, the independent Committee for U.S. International Broadcasting (CUSIB \u2013 cusib.org), and numerous foreign policy and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Broadcasters"","block_context":{"text":"Broadcasters","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/broadcasters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"View of the Capitol Building from the roof of the Voice of America on 330 Independence Ave., S.W.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/K3VOA12-1024x682.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/K3VOA12-1024x682.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/K3VOA12-1024x682.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4785,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2012\/10\/bbg-hurricane-sandy-fails-to-stop-voa-broadcasts\/","url_meta":{"origin":10987,"position":1},"title":"BBG: Hurricane Sandy Fails To Stop VOA Broadcasts","author":"Thomas","date":"October 31, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Though this press release rightfully focuses on the staff at VOA headquarters in DC, we should take our hats off to the good folks that kept the Edward R. Murrow Transmission site running in North Carolina as well. (Source: BBG) Pounding rain and 80 mile an hour winds from Hurricane\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Broadcasters"","block_context":{"text":"Broadcasters","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/broadcasters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/a999voalogo_2050081722-26491.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":8977,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2014\/03\/deadline-approaching-bbg-seeks-public-comment-on-relevancy-of-shortwave-radio\/","url_meta":{"origin":10987,"position":2},"title":"Deadline approaching: BBG seeks public comment on relevancy of shortwave radio","author":"Thomas","date":"March 12, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Reminder: The US Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG)\u00a0is asking for your comments\u00a0on the relevancy of shortwave radio broadcasting. In short, simply send the BBG an email (limited to 1,200 words or less) with your comments\u00a0by Friday (March 14th, 2014).\u00a0The BBG has set up the following email address:\u00a0ShortwaveCommittee@bbg.gov Click here for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Broadcasters"","block_context":{"text":"Broadcasters","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/broadcasters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Students in South Sudan listen to their favorite shortwave radio program, VOA Special English.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/DSCN2988wtmk-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":10389,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2014\/07\/bbg-watch-voa-coverage-of-h-r-4490-lacks-balance\/","url_meta":{"origin":10987,"position":3},"title":"BBG Watch: VOA coverage of H.R.4490 “lacks balance”","author":"Thomas","date":"July 29, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"(Source: BBG Watch) \"It took Voice of America a few hours to post a report, which includes quotes by two outside opponents of the bill: former VOA deputy director Alan Heil and Reporters Without Borders Secretary-General Christophe Deloire, but has no quotes from any outside supporters of the bill, including\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Broadcasters"","block_context":{"text":"Broadcasters","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/broadcasters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"VOA-Screen-Shot-2014-07-28-at-9.53PM-EDT","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/VOA-Screen-Shot-2014-07-28-at-9.53PM-EDT.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9117,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2014\/03\/bbgs-2015-budget-voa-to-increase-services-to-asiaafrica-but-cut-others\/","url_meta":{"origin":10987,"position":4},"title":"BBG’s 2015 budget: VOA to increase services to Asia\/Africa, but cut others","author":"Thomas","date":"March 27, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"The Broadcasting Board Of Governors is requesting a reduced budget from congress for FY 2015 and re-focusing efforts on services to Asia and Africa. Of course, this will be at the expense of Azerbaijani, Georgian, Persian, and Uzbek language\u00a0programming and a complete cut of programs to\u00a0Serbia, Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Macedonia.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Broadcasters"","block_context":{"text":"Broadcasters","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/broadcasters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"The new budget would expand Leaning English (a.k.a. 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Many of us are fortunate to know Dan: not only is he highly respected as a correspondent, but he is also an avid\u00a0shortwave\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Current Events"","block_context":{"text":"Current Events","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/current-events\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"DanRobinson-WhiteHouse","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/DanRobinson-WhiteHouse.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/DanRobinson-WhiteHouse.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/DanRobinson-WhiteHouse.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/DanRobinson-WhiteHouse.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10987","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10987"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10987\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10987"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10987"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10987"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}