Andrew Lack was sworn in this week as the first chief executive of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, putting him in charge of an agency with a $700 million budget and an outsize influence on shaping world opinion about the United States. Foreign policy experts and some critics say the appointment of Mr. Lack, the former president of NBC News and a prominent news media executive, represents a sea change for the often-criticized agency, which oversees United States government-supported civilian international news media such as Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, the Middle East Broadcasting Networks and Radio Free Asia.



“We are facing a number of challenges from entities like Russia Today which is out there pushing a point of view, the Islamic State in the Middle East and groups like Boko Haram, “ he said. “But I firmly believe that this agency has a role to play in facing those challenges.”

– From the New York Times article: U.S. Seeking a Stronger World Media Voice

I have appeared on Russia Today (RT) several times in the past. First on Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert’s Keiser Report, but also as a guest the now defunct Capital Account. Before appearing on these shows, no one ever told me what I could or could not say. Rather, we simply talked freely about whatever I was writing on at the time. I am certainly no spokesperson or cheerleader for Russia, as I am against centralized, authoritarian nation-states no matter where they occur. Nevertheless, I am an American citizen, so that is and should be my primary concern. Certainly, I was chosen as a guest because I was an ardent critic of the inept, crony, war criminal executives running the out of control American Empire, but so what?

RT’s success was not because the Russian state poured so much time and money into the network. It’s success was a direct result of the U.S. mainstream media being so childish and useless. By spewing a mind-numbing amount of inane celebrity gossip, sports drama and cartoonish American propaganda, a massive audience yearning for a different perspective was already present and underserved. RT merely came along and filled that void. This isn’t to say RT isn’t biased, but then again who isn’t biased? Bias isn’t bad as long as there is a free market in the exchange of ideas. What RT offered was a different perspective, and different perspectives in a free society are a good thing, whether you agree with them or not. Kind of like free speech.

As an example of over-the-top American media propaganda, just take a look at Bloomberg Business Week’s latest cover. They actually bragged about this on Twitter earlier today. It’s in the exact same category as Putin wrestling bears bare-chested. It’s downright embarrassing, but I certainly wouldn’t compare it to an act of terrorism.

In contrast, former NBC and Bloomberg executive, Andrew Lack, who was just sworn in as the head of America’s overseas propaganda outlet, the Broadcasting Board of Governors, did just that when it comes to RT.

From the New York Times:

WASHINGTON — Andrew Lack was sworn in this week as the first chief executive of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, putting him in charge of an agency with a $700 million budget and an outsize influence on shaping world opinion about the United States. Foreign policy experts and some critics say the appointment of Mr. Lack, the former president of NBC News and a prominent news media executive, represents a sea change for the often-criticized agency, which oversees United States government-supported civilian international news media such as Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, the Middle East Broadcasting Networks and Radio Free Asia. In an interview on Wednesday, Mr. Lack said that he was still getting his bearings at the agency, and that he has spent the first days on the job visiting newsrooms and meeting with staffers. In the next several months, he said, he will begin implementing a number of reform initiatives by the board of governors. Before Mr. Lack’s appointment, day-to-day international broadcasting operations were overseen by a board that had become known more for its dysfunction than for managing broadcast programs that reach more than 200 million people every week. Now, with Mr. Lack at the helm, the feeling in the agency and in Congress is that the broadcasting board is better positioned to counter the increasing hostile and suspicious views of Americans aboard, and more forcefully engage international rivals such as China and Russia in the high-stakes information war. “We are facing a number of challenges from entities like Russia Today which is out there pushing a point of view, the Islamic State in the Middle East and groups like Boko Haram, “ he said. “But I firmly believe that this agency has a role to play in facing those challenges.” Mr. Lack will also have to contend with a staff that has been up in arms about pending legislation that would change the organization into what many journalists say would be an overtly propaganda arm of the United States government. A bipartisan bill passed by the House Foreign Relations Committee last year and was written by the committee’s chairman, Rep. Ed Royce, Republican of California, and Representative Eliot Engel, a Democrat of New York and he committee’s ranking member, would make the current board of governors an advisory board, create a new communications agency and alter Voice of America’s charter to make it more of a mouthpiece for American policy. The bill is expected to be introduced again in the House, and a similar one is in the works in the Senate. The board of governors will be Mr. Lack first job in government. He came to the agency from Bloomberg Media Group, where he was responsible for expanding the company’s television, radio, magazine and digital businesses.

Personally, I am a realist. Countries are going to support their official points of view via media outlets. That’s just the world we live in. The only thing I ask is that other points of view are also allowed so we can let the best perspective win. RT has added a much needed alternative perspective to global news and we should all welcome the debate.

Ultimately, I think the fact that Mr. Lack uttered RT in the same breath as terrorist organizations is a great sign. It shows an irrational fear and panic on behalf of an entrenched status quo media executive. There’s no better evidence that they are losing the information war…and they know it.

For related articles, see:

“Non-Official Cover” – Respected German Journalist Blows Whistle on How the CIA Controls the Media

Propaganda 101 – How the Pentagon is Trying to Rewrite Vietnam War History

U.S. Propaganda Enters Into Insane, Irrational Overdrive in Attempt to “Sell” War in Syria

More Proof Emerges that “Meet the Press” is Pure Propaganda

Time Magazine Cover: This is What Propaganda Looks Like

Remember Zero Dark Thirty? Turns Out it was a CIA Propaganda Film After All

In Liberty,

Michael Krieger

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