The Tough World of Soft Power

The Voice of America broadcasts in 43 languages and weekly reaches more than 134 million people around the world through radio, television, the Internet and mobile programs—filling a critical void, especially in countries that lack a free press. Increasingly these programs are the most effective way for the US to communicate directly with the people of countries like Iran, Burma, or North Korea. As broadcasters like China’s CCTV and Iran’s Press TV use their heavily-funded state muscle to limit access, trumpet regime policy and deny broad coverage to their audiences, how is VoA navigating the sea-change of state-controlled media and the grassroots digital and social media revolutions?

Cosponsored with the Turnbull Center for Journalism, University of Oregon