Defend Voices of the People, Not the “Voice of America” KPFA Management Lies About VOA

Defend the Voices of the People, Not the “Voice of America” | Campaign to Preserve Democracy & Accountability at Pacifica Radio

https://pacificafightback.org/defend-the-voices-of-the-people-not-the-voice-of-america/

Defend the Voices of the People, Not the “Voice of America”
May 25, 2025 admin

Listeners to KPFA and other Pacifica stations have a wide range of opinions on issues within the progressive spectrum . But numerous listeners who may disagree on other issues have all expressed strong disapproval of a promotional pitch recording airing on KPFA that defends and praises the so-called “Voice of Americaˮ (VOA) and compares it to KPFA as an “independent” media outlet under attack by Trump.

Listen and judge for yourself below

In fact, for over 75 years the VOA has been the propaganda arm of the US State Department, the Pentagon and the CIA. From the Korean War to backing of dictatorships like Marcos in the Philippines to the US-financed war on Gaza, the VOA has whitewashed or lied outright about US imperialist actions and interventions. It is part and parcel of “US Global Media”, along with Radio Free Europe (RFE) and Radio-TV Marti, designed to support regimes that uphold and align with the goals of the US empire, and to foment dissent and subversion within countries like Cuba or Venezuela that want independence and do not align with or accept US domination and corporate exploitation.

1950's magazine add for Radio Free Europe seeking funds. Elegant white woman asks, "You mean I can fight communism?"
The pitch promo recording may be right in lining the VOA up with NPR & PBS, because many officials at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) and the public media they support come out of the propaganda operations of US Global Media, like the VOA, RFE, Radio Liberty, and Radio/TV Marti. But the VOA should not be defended on KPFA’s airwaves, and KPFA should not be aligning itself with or whitewashing the VOA or other state propaganda.

For KPFA management, which has refused to comment editorially on air to defend journalists like Mumia Abu-Jamal, Frank Sterling or Julian Assange against state attacks, to play a pitch promo defending the VOA as “independent journalism” and comparing it to KPFA, exposes how the current management of the station and Foundation, installed by the New Day majority in control of the Pacifica national board and KPFA’s local board, is corrupting, abandoning and debasing the Pacifica Mission and our commitment to the cause of peace and of freedom of speech, cultural expression and the press.

Again, this recording has been played over and over. It’s not a sentiment by some misguided guest or an opinion of an individual host, but presented as an editorial statement and self-promotion by KPFA, voiced by a former station manager and approved by current management. The VOA is the exact opposite of what Pacifica stands for! Pacifica Fightback calls on KPFA to take this recording off the air. That is not a violation of freedom of speech, but a defense of the principles of true freedom of the press that KPFA and Pacifica should defend and uphold.