The State Department has secretly financed Syrian political opposition groups and related projects, including a satellite TV channel that beams anti-government programming into the country, according to previously undisclosed diplomatic cables.

Britain should abandon its plan to cut funding for the BBC World Service or at least ring-fence some parts of it, including BBC Arabic, in the light of the upheaval in the region, parliamentarians said on Wednesday.

The Broadcasting Board of Governors will receive $10 million under the compromise spending deal reached last week. President Obama effectively sided with the BBG over his own State Department in a funding dispute involving Internet circumvention work.

Recent strategic decisions by the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) on Voice of America (VOA) broadcasts to China suggest that the time has come for Congress to take a serious look at the way the U.S. government manages its international broadcasting services.

When Benghazi fell into the hands of the opposition a week ago, Saleh Zayani grabbed two sound mixers and a microphone and headed to the radio transmission building.

The recent uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt are sending shockwaves across the Middle East and demonstrating the power of social media to connect citizens striving for democratic reform. During a packed briefing at the U.S. Capitol this morning, new media experts and journalists from U.S. international broadcasters discussed this digital revolution and how the U.S. is taking advantage of its potential for change.

But when that fails, the Broadcasting Broad of Governors, which oversees the government-owned media organizations that send pro-American messages to foreign audiences, has begun using social media to go around online restrictions in repressive countries. Perhaps the most important? Facebook.

Adam Powell reports in his most recent CPD Blog post that the U.S. Broadcasting Board of Governors plans to investigate expanded program acquisitions for use overseas on the Voice of America and perhaps other U.S. government non-military international broadcasts under its aegis