In the war of ideas between freedom and authoritarianism, the Voice of America (VOA) broadcast program is losing to the voice of communist China – not because Beijing’s message is better but because its strategic vision and will to win surpass Washington’s.

Café DC , a new weekly TV interview show for Pakistan, premiers on Friday with a relaxed and personal look at some of the people making headlines in and around Washington.. the program gives newsmakers “plenty of opportunity to talk about the burning issues of the day.."

With critics calling for the axe, the Australia Network finds itself in territory familiar to many of its larger peers in the West. But under attack, the broadcaster has found defenders of its soft-power capabilities…

RFE/RL’s Georgian Service, Radio Tavisupleba, is partnering with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and IREX to launch the Radio Tavisupleba Media School, a new one-year certificate program in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi.

VOA’s Kurdish service is the only international broadcaster that speaks to the Kurds of Iraq in their main dialects, Sorani and Kurmanji. The service, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this week, also attracts a significant audience in Syria, Turkey and Iran, all with sizable Kurdish minorities.

In what could only be described as a complete pasting, Professor Judith Sloan has called for the axing of Australia's international television broadcaster, the Australia Network, dubbing it 'repetitive, pointless tosh'. Scrapping the service would save taxpayers millions of dollars, Sloan argues, largely based on what she saw of the service during a recent trip around Asia.

Though the corporate figures often come to stand as symbols for Western political and media imperialism, state‐sponsored media organisations exist as direct mouthpieces for that nation’s ideology. In official rhetoric this strategy is referred to as ‘public diplomacy’.

The Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) recently released its 2013 budget request, which slashes Voice of America (VOA) funding by more than $17 million while increasing funding for major bureaucratic offices inside the International Broadcasting Bureau.