Congressional efforts to reform and reorganize U.S. international broadcasting (USIB) stalled last year. The U.S. International Communications Reform Act of 2014 (H.R. 4490)[1] was passed with overwhelming bipartisan support in the House but was never introduced in the Senate. The USIB is still much in need of reform and facing greater challenges than at any time since the end of the Cold War.
Audiences within reach of Russia’s growing media empire are increasingly subjected to manipulation and rampant anti-Americanism. This trend has intensified since the Russian annexation of Crimea and its invasion of Eastern Ukraine in 2014. Free Western media has no comparable presence in Russia.[2] In the Middle East, a new version of Islamist fundamentalist fanaticism has developed advanced communications strategies focused on social media to recruit and radicalize foreigners. USIB needs to…
