White House Orders Propaganda Broadcasts

White House Backs Airing of Anti-Castro Propaganda Station in Florida
The watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington has requested a Congressional investigation into whether a U.S. government propaganda radio and tv station can be broadcast over the commercial airwaves in Southern Florida. The U.S. government recently reached deals with two South Florida commercial Spanish-language TV and radio stations to broadcast TV and Radio Marti which are run by the U.S. government and have historically been beamed into Cuba as part of a U.S. effort to overthrow the Castro government. The Miami Herald has reported the White House is now pushing to begin broadcasting on local stations in Miami even though the government is prohibited under the Smith-Mundt act from broadcasting propaganda inside the country.

Since 1951, that prohibition on the funding of propaganda within the U. S. has been enacted annually. It’s a straight forward ban on the expenditure of taxpayer dollars intended to deceive and manipulate taxpayers. While there are many examples of deceptive communications by the government and its accessories (i.e. Judith Miller, Armstrong Williams, and Fox News), there remains a distinction between that and products deliberately intended to influence foreign audiences. For example, Voice of America, whose broadcasts are not permitted within the U. S.