Some people believe that the U.S. international broadcast organizations like VOA, Radio Free Asia and Middle East Broadcast Networks should be managed in a more unified way.
Here’s a development that, though smaller in scope, seems to tend in that direction. The Broadcasting Board of Governors has launched a site that pulls together news from five separate broadcast entities and lets users filter content by checking boxes for regions, networks and media.
It’s calling the initiative the Global News Dashboard.
“This site showcases the depth and reach of the high-quality journalism that the BBG produces,” Richard M. Lobo was quoted saying in the announcement. He’s director of the BBG’s International Broadcasting Bureau.
“There are millions of English-speakers worldwide who get their news from the individual websites of our broadcasters. It makes sense to pool our resources and put them to work to serve our audiences even better.” BBG quoted another official, Robert Bole, director of its Office of Digital and Design Innovation, saying the move “makes a powerful statement about this agency and the way we do business. We’re so much greater than just the sum of our parts.”
According to BBG, the site pulls together news from some 50 bureaus, production centers and offices supported by staff journalists and 1,500 stringers. English-language content will come from Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Radio Free Asia. The dashboard also will link to Spanish-language content of Radio/TV Martí as well as the Arabic-language online offerings of the MEBN.
The site runs on the Pangea content management system.
