Effective immediately, the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), an independent U.S. government agency that employs thousands of talented journalists, storytellers and media professionals, has been rebranded as the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM).
USAGM describes itself as a modern media organisation, operating far beyond the traditional broadcast mediums of television and radio to include digital and mobile platforms. In a statement, USAGM said that the term “broadcasting” does not accurately describe what it does. “The new name reflects our modernisation and forward momentum while honouring its enduring mission to inform, engage and connect people around the world in support of freedom and democracy,” the statement said.
“We recognise the overdue need to communicate the evolving, global scope of our work as well as our renewed, urgent focus on the agency’s global priorities, which reflect U.S. national security and public diplomacy interests. USAGM is an independent federal agency that provides accurate, professional and objective news and information around-the-globe in a time of shifting politics, challenging media landscapes and weaponized information. Our identity and name will now address these realities.
“The decision to change our name was a result of thorough research and extensive consultation with numerous internal and external stakeholders, including the BBG Board of Governors, agency staff and leadership at all levels, the five networks, Congress, the Administration, and interagency colleagues.”
As with the BBG, the U.S. Agency for Global Media encompasses five networks: the Voice of America (VOA), Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), the Office of Cuba Broadcasting (Television and Radio Martí), Radio Free Asia (RFA), and the Middle East Broadcasting Networks (MBN). These networks collectively reach an unduplicated weekly audience of 278 million people in 100 countries and in 59 languages. Insulated by a firewall from political influence, these networks deliver truth and professional journalism to people living in some of the world’s most closed societies.
Concluding the statement, USAGM said: “Now more than ever, people around the world need access to the truth. The U.S. Agency for Global Media continues to tell the truth, and illuminate the world like no other news organisation in the world.”