22 Comments

Thanks for highlighting this federal program that most people in Iowa probably ignore.

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Thank you David!

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Seems a little hysterical, Dave. VOA is a relic of the past, a place to reward political supporters with cushy, do nothing jobs. Cutting federal spending isn’t evil or dangerous.

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Jun 9Liked by Dave Busiek

Thank you. Putin and other dictators would like nothing more than to shut these operations down. Why? They speak the truth which they do not want their people to hear. Keep up the good and important work! And, last (and of no real importance...) thank you for your last sentence, the memorable quote from Bette Davis is "All About Eve." A great motion picture!

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Way to go, Dave! I’m waiting for Grassley and Ernst to explain/apologize, but I won’t hold my breath!

Awful!

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Keep it up! You are refreshing in your comments!

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I worked for the Voice of America in the mid-80s. We enjoyed complete journalistic independence, which is exactly how it should be.

Part of that was due to Bernie Kaminski, the legendary chief of the VOA News Division when I was there. He always fought for our independence and integrity, especially during the turbulent Watergate investigations and subsequent resignation of Richard Nixon. His resistance to pressure from the White House on domestic issues and the State Department on foreign affairs, allowed us to do our jobs without fear of recrimination.

I hope the new generation of VOA leaders can restore the credibility that it and its sister broadcast entities need and that international listeners rely upon.

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Appreciation to you for writing about media treatment under the Trump administration. It was evident he & his minions did anything they could to ridicule, disparage, attempt to silence any journalist in order to not answer questions they weren’t honest enough to tackle. It remains a profound mystery to me how anyone can continue to support an individual whose behavior revealed no moral compass.

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Our current Iowa govt. administration also works to silence or distort media coverage, e.g. no more IGOV press conferences, or use of misleading press releases, as with Trump indictment. I support VOA, though about 30 years ago, Michael Gartner and myself had to sue VOA to increase access to its broadcast content. With Mark McCormick's representation, we settled. It does not appear to be a problem today.

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Our Senators and Governor are just lemmings as far as I can tell, and we are about to be dragged over the cliff with them. If we can believe Trump fashioned a playbook for 2024, it would have included bringing on these latest (crucial) indictments. Dictators and narcissists operate best in reactive attack mode. Trump loves to control the narrative, as it aids his anti-establishment propaganda. I fear for the nation and hope this case can proceed as quickly as possible….AND that the Democratic Party can get its act together so that Trump will never be in a position to pardon himself…

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Thank you for your article on the Trump document and our Grassley/Ernst responses. I have not seen written info about the IA leadership in Congress. Biden’s son is a totally separate debate.

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