{"id":17824,"date":"2016-03-18T13:26:43","date_gmt":"2016-03-18T17:26:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=17824"},"modified":"2016-03-18T13:29:05","modified_gmt":"2016-03-18T17:29:05","slug":"breaking-news-oig-report-on-the-edward-r-murrow-transmitting-station","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2016\/03\/breaking-news-oig-report-on-the-edward-r-murrow-transmitting-station\/","title":{"rendered":"Breaking news: OIG Report on the Edward R. Murrow Transmitting Station"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Fullscreen-capture-3182016-51138-PM.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-17826\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-17826\" src=\"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Fullscreen-capture-3182016-51138-PM.jpg\" alt=\"Fullscreen capture 3182016 51138 PM\" width=\"800\" height=\"328\" srcset=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Fullscreen-capture-3182016-51138-PM.jpg 800w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Fullscreen-capture-3182016-51138-PM-300x123.jpg 300w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Fullscreen-capture-3182016-51138-PM-768x315.jpg 768w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Fullscreen-capture-3182016-51138-PM-500x205.jpg 500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;ve just received a copy of the Office of Inspections (OIG) report on the VOA transmitting station in Greenville, NC.\u00a0The full OIG report is now in the public domain <a href=\"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/isp-ib-16-08.pdf\">as a PDF<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h1><strong>Here are a few highlights&#8230;<\/strong><\/h1>\n<p><strong>A summary of what OIG found:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The Broadcasting Board of Governors Special Committee\u00a0on the future of shortwave broadcasting issued the\u00a0report \u201cTo Be Where the Audience Is,\u201d in August 2014. It\u00a0concluded that the demand for shortwave broadcasting\u00a0is declining in most of its audience markets. The report\u00a0referred to transmission to Cuba twice, but fell short of\u00a0recommending to close any Broadcasting Board of\u00a0Governors shortwave transmitting stations.<\/li>\n<li>The Edward R. Murrow Transmitting Station reports to\u00a0the Office of Cuba Broadcasting and Office of\u00a0Technology, Services, and Innovation. The dual reporting\u00a0structure has not affected operations negatively.<\/li>\n<li>Administrative operations for the Edward R. Murrow\u00a0Transmitting Station were effective, except in\u00a0management of human resources. Specifically, the station<br \/>\nmanager\u2019s position description was outdated and the\u00a0performance evaluations record keeping did not comply\u00a0with Federal regulations.<\/li>\n<li>The Edward R. Murrow Transmitting Station had effective\u00a0internal controls processes in place. The Edward R.\u00a0Murrow Transmitting Station management were<br \/>\ncognizant of internal controls and provides effective\u00a0oversight of operations.<\/li>\n<li>The Edward R. Murrow Transmitting Station complied\u00a0with the Broadcasting Board of Governors and applicable\u00a0Federal regulations for contracting, property\u00a0management, and safety. The Edward R. Murrow\u00a0Transmitting Station complied with the Broadcasting\u00a0Board of Governors review processes for unliquidated\u00a0obligations and the purchase card program.<\/li>\n<li>The security and emergency preparedness at the Edward\u00a0R. Murrow Transmitting Station met the Interagency\u00a0Security Committee, Office of Security, and Office of<br \/>\nTechnology, Services, and Innovation policies and\u00a0standards. The employees participated in emergency\u00a0drills and complete required insider threat training<br \/>\nannually.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div id=\"attachment_5124\" style=\"width: 1034px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/IMG_0044.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-5124\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5124\" class=\"size-full wp-image-5124\" src=\"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/IMG_0044.jpg\" alt=\"The Edward R. Murrow Transmitting Station's mail building, located in the center of the 2800 acres campus. (Click to enlarge)\" width=\"1024\" height=\"684\" srcset=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/IMG_0044.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/IMG_0044-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/IMG_0044-100x66.jpg 100w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-5124\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Edward R. Murrow Transmitting Station&#8217;s mail building, located in the center of the 2800 acres campus. (Click to enlarge)<\/p><\/div>\n<p><strong>Regarding the future of the station:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>BBG has not evaluated the return on investment of the Station&#8217;s operations to determine its\u00a0effectiveness in advancing the U.S. international media strategies. The BBG\u2019s Special Committee\u00a0report refers twice to transmissions to Cuba but falls short of recommending to close any BBG\u00a0shortwave transmitting stations. Congress continues funding the Station\u2019s budget even though\u00a0on February 1, 2010, the BBG FY 2011 budget request proposed the closure of the Station.<\/p>\n<p>Futhermore, in FY 2011, the Senate Committee on Appropriations asked BBG to submit a \u201cmultiyear\u00a0strategic plan for broadcasting to Cuba to include an analysis of options for disseminating\u00a0news and information to Cuba and a report on the cost effectiveness of each.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Office of Management and Budget&#8217;s Global Engagement Resource Guidance for FY 2015\u00a0and for FY 2016 address the need to modernize U.S. International media by &#8220;transitioning away\u00a0from the use of shortwave radio where this platform is ineffective, toward more widely used\u00a0media platforms like mobile, television, and the internet.\u201d The United States International\u00a0Broadcasting Act, Public Law 103-236, Section 303(a)(1) and (7) states that BBG has the\u00a0responsibility to &#8220;be consistent with the broad foreign policy objectives of the United States\u201d\u00a0and \u201cto effectively reach a significant audience.&#8221; Section 305(a)(7) states the Board is also\u00a0authorized to &#8220;ensure that all broadcasting elements receive the highest quality and cost effective\u00a0delivery services.&#8221; Given BBG\u2019s limited resources and changes in technology as well as\u00a0the significance of Cuba to U.S. national security objectives, BBG risks missing an opportunity to\u00a0engage with Cuban audiences in a digital media environment.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong>Recommendation 1:<\/strong> The Broadcasting Board of Governors should prepare a written<br \/>\ncost\/benefit evaluation of the Edward R. Murrow Transmitting Station to determine its<br \/>\nefficiency and effectiveness for continuing, reducing, or eliminating operations. (Action: BBG)<\/p>\n<p><strong>The full report:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/isp-ib-16-08.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">Click here to download the full report as a PDF.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>For a little context, this is the same station I&#8217;ve visited multiple times and even posted a photo tour of (<a href=\"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2012\/12\/for-your-holiday-enjoyment-a-tour-of-the-edward-r-murrow-transmitting-station\/\" target=\"_blank\">click here to view<\/a>) several years ago.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I&#8217;ve just received a copy of the Office of Inspections (OIG) report on the VOA transmitting station in Greenville, NC.\u00a0The full OIG report is now in the public domain as a PDF. Here are a few highlights&#8230; A summary of what OIG found: The Broadcasting Board of Governors Special Committee\u00a0on the future of shortwave broadcasting [&hellip;]<\/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":[56,960,3,43],"tags":[406,936,2658,1106,1531,4854,1568,1103],"class_list":["post-17824","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-broadcasters","category-international-broadcasting","category-news","category-shortwave-radio","tag-bbg","tag-broadcasting-board-of-governors","tag-edward-r-murrow-transmitting-station","tag-ibb","tag-international-broadcasting-bureau","tag-oig-report-edward-r-murrow-tranmitting-station","tag-tour-of-voa-site-b","tag-voa-site-b"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-4Du","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6940,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2013\/07\/bbg-watch-edward-r-murrow-site-appears-safe-in-fiscal-year-2014\/","url_meta":{"origin":17824,"position":0},"title":"BBG Watch: Edward R. Murrow site appears safe in fiscal year 2014","author":"Thomas","date":"July 27, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"This is good news for our friends at the Edward R. Murrow Transmitting Station (click to read tour): (Source: BBG Watch) Thanks to efforts by Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) member Victor Ashe, support of his board colleagues Susan McCue and Michael Meehan, and intervention from North Carolina congressmen\u00a0G.K. Butterfield\u00a0(D-NC)\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Broadcasters&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Broadcasters","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/broadcasters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Edward R. Murrow Transmitting Station campus as seen by Google Earth (Click to enlarge)","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/VOAfromGoogleEarth-300x264.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3425,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2012\/05\/the-edward-r-murrow-transmitting-station-voa-site-b-re-dedication-means-a-new-name-plus-a-future\/","url_meta":{"origin":17824,"position":1},"title":"The Edward R. Murrow Transmitting Station: VOA &#8220;Site B&#8221; re-dedication means a new name plus a future","author":"Thomas","date":"May 1, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Last December, I had the honor of receiving a personal five hour tour of the VOA transmitter site near Greenville, NC, USA. It was literally a dream come true for me, and providing a more in-depth understanding of the history, the equipment, the antennas and, most importantly, the people who\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Broadcasters&quot;","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\/2012\/04\/MonitoringTimesCoverMarch2012-230x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3494,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2012\/05\/edward-r-murrow-transmitting-station-re-dedication-videos\/","url_meta":{"origin":17824,"position":2},"title":"Edward R. Murrow Transmitting Station: re-dedication videos","author":"Thomas","date":"May 9, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Last week, we noted the upcoming re-dedication of the Edward R. Murrow Transmitting Station and the significance of this particular broadcasting location. Videos of the event have now been posted on the BBG Watch website, including this one, which features the original dedication of the site in 1963: Local CBS\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Broadcasters&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Broadcasters","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/broadcasters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":17992,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2016\/03\/any-requests-heading-to-the-edward-r-murrow-transmitting-station\/","url_meta":{"origin":17824,"position":3},"title":"Any requests? Heading to the Edward R. Murrow transmitting station&#8230;","author":"Thomas","date":"March 31, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm planning to visit the Edward R. Murrow transmitter station for a few hours on Friday (tomorrow). This will be my third trip to the station and I'll be hanging out with the chief engineer, Macon Dail. I plan to take more photos--especially of some recent transmitter upgrades. Any questions\/requests?\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Broadcasters&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Broadcasters","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/broadcasters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"VOA-Greenville-Curtain-Antennas","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/VOA-Greenville-Curtain-Antennas.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/VOA-Greenville-Curtain-Antennas.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/VOA-Greenville-Curtain-Antennas.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/VOA-Greenville-Curtain-Antennas.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6991,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2013\/08\/victor-ashe-joins-cusib-after-leaving-the-broadcasting-board-of-governors\/","url_meta":{"origin":17824,"position":4},"title":"Victor Ashe joins CUSIB after leaving the Broadcasting Board of Governors","author":"Thomas","date":"August 7, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Without a doubt, Victor Ashe has championed US international broadcasting on the Broadcasting Board of Governors and has voiced his support for continued funding of the Edward R. Murrow Transmitting Station. He will now join The Committee for U.S. International Broadcasting Advisory Board: (Source: CUSIB Press Release) The Committee for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Broadcasters&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Broadcasters","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/broadcasters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Victor Ashe","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/BBG-member-Victor-Ashe.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":37374,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2019\/05\/photo-tour-the-edward-r-murrow-transmitting-station\/","url_meta":{"origin":17824,"position":5},"title":"Photo Tour:  The Edward R. Murrow Transmitting Station","author":"Thomas","date":"May 12, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday, I posted a photo\u00a0and asked if you guess where I was when I took the shot. Those of you who guessed the Edward R. Murrow Transmitting Station (formerly, \"VOA Site B\") near Greenville, North Carolina, were absolutely correct! My buddy, John Figliozzi, gave a presentation about NASWA and the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Broadcasters&quot;","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\/2019\/05\/VOA-Site-B-51-of-170-150x150.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/VOA-Site-B-51-of-170-150x150.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/VOA-Site-B-51-of-170-150x150.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/VOA-Site-B-51-of-170-150x150.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17824","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=17824"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17824\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17824"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17824"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17824"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}