International Broadcasting Bureau
Encyclopedia
The International Broadcasting Bureau (IBB) is an entity within the Broadcasting Board of Governors
Broadcasting Board of Governors
The Broadcasting Board of Governors is an independent agency of the United States government responsible for all non-military, international broadcasting sponsored by the U.S government. It was previously a department within the United States Information Agency until 1999.-Origins:Starting in...

 (BBG), which is a U.S. independent agency
Independent agencies of the United States government
Independent agencies of the United States federal government are those agencies that exist outside of the federal executive departments...

. The IBB supports the day-to-day operations of Voice of America
Voice of America
Voice of America is the official external broadcast institution of the United States federal government. It is one of five civilian U.S. international broadcasters working under the umbrella of the Broadcasting Board of Governors . VOA provides a wide range of programming for broadcast on radio...

 (VOA) and the Office of Cuba Broadcasting (Radio and TV Martí
TV Martí
TV Martí was created by the US government to provide news and current affairs programming to Cuba. It is named after Cuban independence leader José Martí, and is the television equivalent to Radio Marti.-History:...

). It also provides transmission and technical support for all of the independent non-military broadcasting services funded by the (BBG). The IBB is located in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....


History

On April 30, 1994, President Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...

 signed the International Broadcasting Act
International Broadcasting Act
Signed in law in 1994 by U.S. President Bill Clinton, this act was meant to streamline the U.S. international broadcasting and provide a cost-effective way to continue Radio Free Europe/ Radio Liberty, Voice of America, and Radio Marti...

 (Public Law 103-236). The legislation established the International Broadcasting Bureau (IBB) within the United States Information Agency
United States Information Agency
The United States Information Agency , which existed from 1953 to 1999, was a United States agency devoted to "public diplomacy". In 1999, USIA's broadcasting functions were moved to the newly created Broadcasting Board of Governors, and its exchange and non-broadcasting information functions were...

 (USIA), and created a Broadcasting Board of Governors
Broadcasting Board of Governors
The Broadcasting Board of Governors is an independent agency of the United States government responsible for all non-military, international broadcasting sponsored by the U.S government. It was previously a department within the United States Information Agency until 1999.-Origins:Starting in...

 (BBG) with oversight authority over all non-military U.S. government international broadcasting.

The Voice of America, the oldest and best-known organization within the BBG, was the first broadcast news organization to offer continuously updated programming on the Internet.

When USIA was disbanded in October 1999, the IBB and BBG were established as independent federal government entities
Independent agencies of the United States government
Independent agencies of the United States federal government are those agencies that exist outside of the federal executive departments...

, with the IBB as an administrative vehicle under the BBG containing VOA, Radio and TV Martí, the Office of Engineering and Technical Services, and a number of support services.

Other international broadcasting services supervised by the BBG are constituted as private corporations and are not part of the IBB.

These include:
  • Radio Sawa
    Radio Sawa
    Radio Sawa is a 24-hour 7-day-a-week Arabic language radio station broadcasting in the Arab world. The station is a service of theMiddle East Broadcasting Networks, Inc. and is publicly funded by the Broadcasting Board of Governors and the U.S. Congress...

     and Al Hurra television (Arabic),
  • Radio Farda
    Radio Farda
    Radio Farda is the Iranian Branch of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's broadcast services. It broadcasts 24 hours a day in the Persian language from its headquarters Prague, Czech Republic. Radio Farda first aired December 2002. Radio Farda broadcasts political, cultural, social, and art news...

     (Persian
    Persian language
    Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...

     to Iran),
  • Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
    Radio Free Europe
    Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty is a broadcaster funded by the U.S. Congress that provides news, information, and analysis to countries in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and the Middle East "where the free flow of information is either banned by government authorities or not fully developed"...

     (RFE/RL)
  • Radio Free Asia
    Radio Free Asia
    Radio Free Asia is a private, nonprofit corporation that operates a radio station and Internet news service. RFA was founded by an act of the US Congress and is operated by the Broadcasting Board of Governors . The RFA is supported in part by grants from the federal government of the United States...

     (RFA).


Currently, the VOA and the IBB continue to operate shortwave radio transmitters and antenna farms at one site
International Broadcasting Bureau Greenville Transmitting Station
The International Broadcasting Bureau Greenville Transmitting Station is the transmitting station for Voice of America, in Greenville, North Carolina. It is also known as the Edward R. Murrow Transmitting Station or Voice of America Greenville Transmitting Station. Originally at three sites, only...

 in the United States, located near Greenville
Greenville, North Carolina
Greenville is the county seat of Pitt County and principal city of the Greenville, North Carolina metropolitan area. Greenville is the health, entertainment, and educational hub of North Carolina's Tidewater and Coastal Plain and in 2008 was listed as the Tenth Largest City in North Carolina...

, North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...

.

Director

The position of IBB Director is appointed by the president of the United States
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....

, with Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

 confirmation. Currently, this position is held by Richard M. Lobo. Mr. Lobo was appointed by President Barack Obama and confirmed by the Senate in September 2010.

Past directors

Previously, the directorship was held by Seth Cropsey
Seth Cropsey
-Biography:He is the son of Joseph Cropsey noted Straussian political philosopher, and professor at the University of Chicago. Graduated from Harvard-St. George School, Chicago, IL and St. John's College and received his M.A. from Boston College....

 (December 9, 2002—2004).
Appointed by the BBG, Brian Conniff served as acting director from April 1999 to December 2002. Joseph B. Bruns was the first director of IBB, he served from 1994 until 1995. Bruns previously had been Acting Associate Director of Broadcasting of USIA and Acting Director of VOA.

See also

  • International broadcasting
    International broadcasting
    International broadcasting is broadcasting that is deliberately aimed at a foreign, rather than a domestic, audience. It usually is broadcast by means of longwave, mediumwave, or shortwave radio, but in recent years has also used direct satellite broadcasting and the Internet as means of reaching...

  • Shortwave
    Shortwave
    Shortwave radio refers to the upper MF and all of the HF portion of the radio spectrum, between 1,800–30,000 kHz. Shortwave radio received its name because the wavelengths in this band are shorter than 200 m which marked the original upper limit of the medium frequency band first used...

  • Radio Canada International
    Radio Canada International
    Radio Canada International is the international broadcasting service of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation . Until 1970, it was known as the CBC International Service and was sometimes referred to as the "Voice of Canada" in its early years.- The early years :The idea for creating an...

  • Media of the United States
    Media of the United States
    Media of the United States consist of several different types of communications media: television, radio, cinema, newspapers, magazines, and Internet-based Web sites. The U.S...


External links

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