TRANSCRIPT:
I think we can see that, China in particular — and China is what I pay the most attention to — has made good use of the time by expanding their own state media ties with local media in the developing world, particularly in Africa and the Middle East. So they’re not resting. China has been on an aggressive push to expand the reach of its state media for the better part of two decades now. And they very much see the hobbling of VOA as an opening.
For most Chinese, they are swamped with state-controlled messages. All media answers to the Communist Party in China. Most of it is controlled and owned by the government, and the few that are nominally independent still have to answer for the Communist Party. So VOA, along with other outlets — foreign outlets — played a crucial role in bringing unbiased, objective, fact-based reporting and news and information to a Chinese audience.
When people see reports from VOA or hear reports from VOA, they trust it in a way that they don’t trust reporting from elsewhere. So, if VOA is seen to be a mouthpiece for the U.S. government, whatever administration it is, that will tarnish its reputation; audiences will turn away, and it will become just another source of government information like state media from China or Russia or elsewhere.
Published
Hutzler is a journalist who has covered China and U.S.-China relations for decades. He spent 25 years reporting from China and served as China bureau chief for both The Wall Street Journal and The Associated Press.