2007年VOA标准英语-Lawmakers Demand Close Oversight of US Arabic T

By Dan Robinson
Capitol Hill
16 May 2007

U.S. lawmakers are demanding greater oversight¹ of the U.S.-government funded Al-hurra television for the Middle East, amid continuing controversy² over programming carried by the station in late 2006 and early 2007. VOA's Dan Robinson reports from Capitol Hill, where a congressional hearing also examined U.S. public diplomacy³ efforts aimed at improving the U.S. image in the Middle East and combat extremism in the Muslim world.

Since the September 2001 al-Qaida terrorist attacks on the United States, Congress has approved tens of millions of dollars for expanded programming for the Middle East and Muslim world.

Al-hurra television is a key element, along with radio broadcasts of Radio Sawa, heard throughout the Middle East, including Iraq.

Other programming by the Voice of America, and Radio Farda targets Iran, and there are also separate efforts for Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The Broadcasting Board of Governors, an independent body controlling non-military U.S. government-funded broadcasting, says it is committed to "using the tools of objective journalism⁴ to promote freedom and democracy and enhance understanding about the United States and the world to audiences overseas."

It also has a five-year strategy designed to combat extremism, while adhering to U.S. law and guidelines requiring fact-based news and objective analysis, including broadcasts, and responsible discussion of, U.S. policy.

But Al-hurra, which in English means "The Free One", has been the focus of intense criticism because of programs it aired between November 2006 and February of 2007.

Broadcast officials acknowledge the station violated editorial guidelines in airing, among other things, an un-edited speech by the leader of the Hezbollah, interviews with a Hamas leader, and coverage⁵ of a conference in Tehran denying the Holocaust⁶.

Congressman⁷ Gary Ackerman is a Democrat⁸ who chairs the Middle East subcommittee:

"Why are American taxpayer⁹ dollars used to spread hate, the lies and propaganda of these nuts, when our goal is to counter them?" he asked.

Board member Joaqin Blaya testified that Al-hurra erred¹⁰ in broadcasting "several reports that lacked journalistic or academic merit," saying there were "significant and unprofessional breeches in Al-hurra's editorial policy" by contractors¹¹ and employees. He added these were a "very small fraction" of the station's output.

Blaya told lawmakers what he calls "enhanced editorial structures" aimed at centralizing editorial control are now in place at Al-hurra:

"We feel that we have those internal controls in place now, and we feel that it is not a systemic problem," said Joaqin Blaya.

Brian Coniff, who heads the Middle East Broadcasting Networks overseeing Al-hurra, details steps taken in the wake of the incidents, including appointment of an official responsible for internal review.

"This person reports directly to me, he does not report through the editorial chain of command, he does not report to the [Al-hurra] vice¹² president [for news], his job is to watch Al-hurra all day long as well as the other Arab language networks for feedback to me," said Brian Coniff.

As part of additional safeguards, Coniff says an Arabic-speaking American citizen has also been hired to track programming.

Republican Mike Pence questioned whether managers and reporters for Al-hurra understand the station's mission.

"This is a diplomatic mission of the U.S, and are we communicating in very practical ways to employees down the line that this is not a "We report, you decide," television station, we are about promoting the truth about the free world and the United States of America in this region?" said Mike Pence.

Lawmakers also question whether a non-Arabic-speaker should be managing news operations at Al-hurra, a reference to the station's vice president for news, former CNN producer Larry Register, who did not appear at Wednesday's hearing.

While criticizing Al-hurra, Democrats¹³ and Republicans assert they do not want the station to fail, suggesting that the broadcasting board should institute private independent reviews of programming.

Congressman Ackerman and others also raised questions about how the independent broadcast board is measuring the impact of U.S. broadcasting to the Middle East:

"Simply measuring audience size is great, but it doesn't tell us how much or whether our broadcasting influences those who receive it," said Gary Ackerman.

In its testimony¹⁴ to Congress, the broadcasting board pointed¹⁵ to surveys it says show that both Al-hurra and the Arabic language Radio Sawa are, in Blaya's words, regarded as credible¹⁶ sources of news and information by audiences, despite high levels of anti-American sentiment throughout the region.

 

In separate testimony, State Department public diplomacy officials pointed to progress under President Bush in coordinating¹⁷ government information programs in the effort to undermine ideological¹⁸ support for terrorism around the world.

1 oversight   

n.勘漏，失察，疏忽

参考例句：

• I consider this a gross oversight on your part.我把这件事看作是你的一大疏忽。
• Your essay was not marked through an oversight on my part.由于我的疏忽你的文章没有打分。

2 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

3 diplomacy   

n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕

参考例句：

• The talks have now gone into a stage of quiet diplomacy.会谈现在已经进入了“温和外交”阶段。
• This was done through the skill in diplomacy. 这是通过外交手腕才做到的。

4 journalism   

n.新闻工作，报业

参考例句：

• He's a teacher but he does some journalism on the side.他是教师，可还兼职做一些新闻工作。
• He had an aptitude for journalism.他有从事新闻工作的才能。

5 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

6 holocaust   

n.大破坏；大屠杀

参考例句：

• The Auschwitz concentration camp always remind the world of the holocaust.奥辛威茨集中营总是让世人想起大屠杀。
• Ahmadinejad is denying the holocaust because he's as brutal as Hitler was.内贾德否认大屠杀，因为他像希特勒一样残忍。

7 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

8 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

9 taxpayer   

n.纳税人

参考例句：

• The new scheme will run off with a lot of the taxpayer's money.这项新计划将用去纳税人许多钱。
• The taxpayer are unfavourably disposed towards the recent tax increase.纳税者对最近的增加税收十分反感。

10 erred   

犯错误，做错事( err的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He erred in his judgement. 他判断错了。
• We will work on those who have erred and help them do right. 我们将对犯了错误的人做工作，并帮助他们改正。

11 contractors   

n.（建筑、监造中的）承包人( contractor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We got estimates from three different contractors before accepting the lowest. 我们得到3个承包商的报价后，接受了最低的报价。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Contractors winning construction jobs had to kick back 2 per cent of the contract price to the mafia. 赢得建筑工作的承包商得抽出合同价格的百分之二的回扣给黑手党。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

13 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 testimony   

n.证词；见证，证明

参考例句：

• The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
• He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。

15 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

16 credible   

adj.可信任的，可靠的

参考例句：

• The news report is hardly credible.这则新闻报道令人难以置信。
• Is there a credible alternative to the nuclear deterrent?是否有可以取代核威慑力量的可靠办法？

17 coordinating   

v.使协调，使调和( coordinate的现在分词 )；协调；协同；成为同等

参考例句：

• He abolished the Operations Coordinating Board and the Planning Board. 他废除了行动协调委员会和计划委员会。 来自辞典例句
• He's coordinating the wedding, and then we're not going to invite him? 他是来协调婚礼的，难道我们不去请他？ 来自电影对白

18 ideological   

a.意识形态的

参考例句：

• He always tries to link his study with his ideological problems. 他总是把学习和自己的思想问题联系起来。
• He helped me enormously with advice on how to do ideological work. 他告诉我怎样做思想工作，对我有很大帮助。