In accordance with the United States International Broadcasting Act of 1994, as amended, BBG manages and oversees all U.S. civilian international broadcasting, including the federal entities VOA and OCB and the grantees MBN, RFA, and RFE/RL. Collectively, these entities include 69 language services that produce content in 59 languages for radio, television, the Internet, mobile devices, and social media in more The International Broadcasting Bureau provides all than 100 countries.support services to BBG, oversight over grantee operations, and transmission and distribution services to BBG entities. BBG is managed by a nine-member part-time bipartisan Board of Governors. As an element of U.S. public diplomacy, BBG is to be responsive to U.S. foreign policy and national security priorities while maintaining editorial independence. All BBG entities are required to provide news and information that is consistently reliable, authoritative, accurate, objective, and comprehensive. VOA provides global, U.S., and local news, as well as information on U.S. policies, to people living in closed societies. OCB provides news and information to the people of Cuba. The role of the grantee broadcasters—MBN, RFA, and RFE/RL—is to operate as surrogates for the local media in countries where a free and open press does not exist. Following specific foreign policy challenges over the last decade, Congress created the five broadcasting entities that compose BBG. In some instances, BBG entities were created or directed to broadcast in languages and countries where VOA was already present. BBG officials noted, for example: The International Broadcasting Act authorized RFA in 1994 to broadcast in seven Asian countries where VOA already broadcast. In 2009, a House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations report and a Senate Committee on Appropriations report directed BBG to provide an increase in daily broadcast hours for VOA’s language service in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region (Deewa Radio) while also calling for the establishment of an RFE/RL radio program (Radio Mashaal) in the region. Figure 1 shows the creation of BBG entities since 1942. Figure 2 describes each BBG entity’s mission and shows the amount of appropriated funds each entity received in fiscal year 2012. BBG annually conducts a language service review, as required by law, intended to help the agency make decisions regarding allocating resources to language services. In conducting the language service review, BBG considers foreign policy priorities, the domestic media environment in countries that receive BBG broadcasts, audience research, and the impact of BBG programming. BBG uses the review to determine which language services should be enhanced or added and which services to recommend for closure or reduced funding. From 2001 through 2012, BBG eliminated 20 language services, including VOA’s Czech, Polish, and Slovak services and RFE/RL’s Czech and Slovak services. In its fiscal year 2009 through 2013 annual budget requests, BBG has proposed to eliminate additional language services, including two services that overlap with another service. In response to BBG’s proposals, Congressional appropriations committees, which have jurisdiction over BBG funding, in some years have directed the continuation of the language services. Nearly two-thirds of the BBG language services—that is, offices that produce content for particular languages and regions—overlap with another BBG service by providing programs to the same countries in the same languages. BBG’s 2012-2016 strategic plan identifies the need to reduce overlap among its language services. However, BBG’s annual language service reviews have not systematically considered the cost and impact of overlap. We identified 23 instances of overlap, involving 43 of BBG’s 69 language services (62 percent), where two services provide programming to the same countries in the same languages. For example, in 8 instances involving 16 services, a VOA service and an RFA service overlapped. Figure 3 shows the extent of overlap among BBG language services as of June 2012. (See app. II for a detailed list of BBG language services.) Of the 43 language services that overlap in terms of language and country, 91 percent (39 services) also overlap in terms of platform (i.e., radio or television).broadcast on the same platforms, while in others, such as Ukraine, RFE/RL broadcasts only by radio and VOA broadcasts only on television. In almost all countries, the overlapping entities BBG officials noted some benefits of its overlapping language services, such as the availability of news from various sources in countries of strategic interest to the United States. In addition, BBG officials noted that in authorizing more than one entity to undertake international broadcasting, the statutory structure appears to envision that some overlap in activities may be necessary to achieve U.S. government objectives. However, these officials acknowledged that overlap among its language services reduces the funding available for other BBG broadcasts, including those that may have greater impact. BBG officials emphasized that overlapping language services are sometimes distinguished by their broadcast hours or purpose and content. Broadcast hours. BBG officials told us that overlapping language services generally coordinate with one another to broadcast at different hours of the day to ensure that audiences are able to access programs from both services. For example, VOA officials from the Farsi language service told us that VOA and RFE/RL collaborate to avoid overlap and do not broadcast on the radio simultaneously. BBG officials also said that overlapping services coordinate regarding their broadcast hours even if using different platforms. Purpose and content. BBG officials said that VOA and the grantee broadcasters have different purposes and that flexibility in their governing laws allows some overlapping content. The officials noted that according to those laws, VOA must represent the United States, presenting and explaining the country’s policies in addition to providing accurate news. In contrast, the grantee broadcasters, in their surrogate role, generally act as regional or local news providers, with less emphasis on international news and limited discussion of U.S. policies or interests. However, BBG officials noted that the entities’ mandates and missions allows for some flexibility related to programming content. For example, the International Broadcasting Act states that in order to be effective, VOA must win the attention and respect of listeners. According to BBG officials, to attract a larger audience and to provide fuller news coverage, some VOA language services produce not only news about the United States and the views of the U.S. government but also local news, which a BBG grantee might also broadcast in the same language and country. BBG officials stated that the roles of VOA and grantee broadcasters when both VOA and a grantee broadcast in a particular country and language are not clearly established. For example, it is not clear whether, in such cases, VOA should provide strictly U.S. and international news and the grantee should provide strictly local and regional news or whether the types of content they provide can, or should, overlap. BBG officials told us that this can lead to overlapping content. For example, officials from Deewa Radio (VOA) stated that they sometimes cover the same news stories, with similar content, as Radio Mashaal (RFE/RL) in the same region. Although BBG has identified the need to reduce overlap among its broadcast entities’ language services, BBG has not systematically considered the cost or impact of such overlap as part of its annual language service review process. The International Broadcasting Act, as amended, directs BBG to consider issues related to overlap, such as duplication, among some language services. For example, the law requires that grant agreements to RFE/RL shall include a provision stating that duplication of language services and technical operations between RFE/RL and VOA should be reduced to the extent appropriate, as determined by BBG’s Board of Governors. In addition, the law gives the board authority to identify areas in which broadcasting activities could be made more efficient and economical. In its strategic plan for 2012-2016, BBG addresses language service overlap and recognizes the need to streamline and improve coordination and efficiency. The plan states that BBG found that its language services overlapped significantly and that the agency could not easily manage its resources for highest impact and efficiency. In the plan, BBG states in general terms that it will end language services in countries that have more developed, independent media and that are no longer strategic priorities; however, the plan does not describe specific steps for achieving this goal. The plan also states that where there are two broadcast entities operating in a given country, they will cooperate—with shared bureaus, freelance reporters, and distribution networks—and will provide complementary, not duplicative, content. According to BBG officials, some entities already cooperate with each other to share resources and maximize efficiency. For example, VOA and RFE/RL staff share office space in Afghanistan and collaborate on their Persian service to share news agendas and reduce duplication of effort. BBG officials also said that the agency’s proposed management reforms included in the strategic plan may enhance their ability to increase coordination, reduce overlap, and create a more integrated and efficient organization. Although BBG’s strategic plan includes a general proposal to reduce language service overlap, BBG’s annual language service review—the agency’s primary method of prioritizing broadcast languages and planning resource allocations—does not systematically consider the cost and impact of language service overlap. BBG’s language service review is intended to help the agency make decisions regarding allocating resources to language services by considering factors such as foreign policy priorities and the domestic media environment in countries that receive BBG broadcasts. The resulting Annual Language Service Review Briefing Book provides detailed data for all language services, including information regarding the media and political environments in which the services operate. example, when more than one BBG entity broadcasts in a language—it does not discuss the cost or impact associated with this overlap.