Radio Free Asia

U.S. Senate Unanimously Confirms Michelle Giuda, Krach Institute for Tech Diplomacy at Purdue CEO, as Member of Bipartisan Board to U.S. Agency for Global Media

Retrieved on: 
Friday, December 15, 2023

The Krach Institute for Tech Diplomacy at Purdue , the world’s preeminent nonprofit trusted technology accelerator, announced today that its CEO, Michelle Giuda , has been unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate to serve on the newly formed bipartisan International Broadcasting Advisory Board (IBAB) of the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM).

Key Points: 
  • The Krach Institute for Tech Diplomacy at Purdue , the world’s preeminent nonprofit trusted technology accelerator, announced today that its CEO, Michelle Giuda , has been unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate to serve on the newly formed bipartisan International Broadcasting Advisory Board (IBAB) of the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM).
  • View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231215097475/en/
    Michelle Giuda, CEO Krach Institute for Tech Diplomacy at Purdue, unanimously confirmed by U.S. Senate to serve on bipartisan board to U.S. Agency for Global Media (Photo: Business Wire)
    “I am deeply honored to join the USAGM’s International Broadcasting Advisory Board,” said Giuda.
  • Prior to her role as the CEO of the Krach Institute for Tech Diplomacy at Purdue, Giuda was Executive Vice President of Geopolitical Strategy & Risk at global communications firm Weber Shandwick.
  • in Political Science from the University of California, Los Angeles, where she was an NCAA Champion and Team Captain of the UCLA Women’s Gymnastics Team.

SES Space & Defense Awarded Global Satellite Services Contract to Support USAGM

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, December 12, 2023

SES Space & Defense, a wholly-owned subsidiary of SES, will provide satellite broadcast distribution in support of the United States Agency for Global Media (USAGM), Global Network Division (GN) for global distribution of video and audio programming.

Key Points: 
  • SES Space & Defense, a wholly-owned subsidiary of SES, will provide satellite broadcast distribution in support of the United States Agency for Global Media (USAGM), Global Network Division (GN) for global distribution of video and audio programming.
  • USAGM awarded the five-year Global Satellite Services (GSS) contract through the General Services Administration (GSA) Complex Commercial SATCOM Solutions (CS3) contract vehicle.
  • SES Space & Defense is harnessing SES’s expertise in broadcast services, coupled with the capabilities offered by trusted industry partners, to manage satellite and terrestrial content delivery.
  • The comprehensive global support provided by SES Space & Defense to the USAGM network includes transmission to sites worldwide responsible for delivering shortwave Amplitude Modulation (AM), Frequency Modulation (FM), and Television (TV) broadcasts.

Cambodian strongman Hun Sen wins another 'landslide' election. Will succession to his son be just as smooth?

Retrieved on: 
Monday, July 24, 2023

The meeting saw his eldest son, Hun Manet, 45, unanimously selected to be the future prime minister.

Key Points: 
  • The meeting saw his eldest son, Hun Manet, 45, unanimously selected to be the future prime minister.
  • After years of speculation over the identity of the strongman’s political successor, it was both an unsurprising and uninspiring choice.
  • Up against a mix of 17 emasculated, feeble and grovelling opposition parties, Hun Sen’s party quickly boasted it had won in a “landslide”.

Preparing for a sham election

    • In May, the National Election Committee barred the leading opposition Candlelight Party from competing in the election because it had failed to provide the necessary documentation.
    • This documentation, ironically, had been taken in a police raid years earlier.
    • In early June, the National Assembly amended the election law to bar non-voters from ever running for office, as well as penalise anyone who calls for election boycotts.

How do dictators stay in power?


    How has he accomplished this feat over the past 38 years? Based on my research in the field of authoritarian politics, two significant factors stand out. The first thing Hun Sen did was personalise power by following the “playbook” of other strongmen like Paul Biya in Cameroon, Saddam Hussein in Iraq and Idi Amin in Uganda. Among his actions across four decades of authoritarianism:
    • The second thing Hun Sen did was entrench a harsher form of dictatorship in Cambodia, transforming the country in recent years into a genuine one-party state.
    • In July 2015, the government rammed through a bill designed to suppress civil society groups.
    • The law used arcane compliance requirements related to funding, reporting, registration and political neutrality to limit their operations.

How does one dictator pass the reins to another?

    • The process can sometimes encourage infighting among political elites and potentially plunge a country into chaos.
    • 2) Security: they have a paramilitary force or formal position at the apex of the security apparatus.
    • Having so far satisfied all but the need for immunity, Hun Sen is now well-positioned to pass power onto his son.
    • There is nothing to suggest Cambodia’s next prime minister won’t also have a sham election up his sleeve.

North Korea: fears of a new famine after three years of COVID isolation and harsh repression

Retrieved on: 
Friday, June 16, 2023

All except in one country: North Korea, or the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).

Key Points: 
  • All except in one country: North Korea, or the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).
  • In January 2020, Kim Jong-un decided to isolate the entire country from the outside world in response to COVID.
  • And in June 2023, the DPRK remains closed except for trade with China.
  • But instead of opening the borders, Kim urged his people to stay strong in the face of “tremendous challenges” of COVID.

Inside information

    • But because it is so difficult to get information from inside North Korea, it is hard to assess just how bad the situation has become.
    • Former information sources – such as diplomats and aid workers – have been shut out.
    • Another informal way of getting up-to-date information (albeit limited) – from defectors’ families, when confirming receipt of remittances – has become more limited.
    • While lacking adequate triangulation methods for the information, we can confirm inside information only partially.

Why don’t the people rise up?

    • They spoke of rising disaffection with the regime, but also said that the level of fear of informers was such that nobody dared speak openly, let alone protest or even petition for reform.
    • People at the top have a vested interest in keeping things the way they are.
    • There is hope that North Korea will reopen its borders in 2023, such is the need for trade and foreign currency.

The Washington Center Announces Funded Fellowship for Students Seeking Career Advancement in Broadcast Media

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, October 5, 2022

Washington, D.C., Oct. 05, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Students with an interest in the fields of media, broadcasting or communications are encouraged to apply to a new, funded fellowship program with The United States Agency for Global Media (USAGM) .

Key Points: 
  • Washington, D.C., Oct. 05, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Students with an interest in the fields of media, broadcasting or communications are encouraged to apply to a new, funded fellowship program with The United States Agency for Global Media (USAGM) .
  • Participants in the USAGM Fellowship have access to flexible ways of working, either in-person in Washington, D.C., remote or hybrid, and will receive financial sponsorship to cover expenses of housing and transportation.
  • TWC will also offer Fellows a variety of professional development programs to enhance knowledge, networks and marketability.
  • The USAGM Fellowship is a unique opportunity for learners to directly apply their academic pursuits into the largest global media agency across the Federal government, said Shannan Spisak, Executive Director of Federal Initiatives at The Washington Center.

SOPA Announces 2022 Journalism Awards Finalists

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, May 11, 2022

There are 20 categories, including the new SOPA Awards for Excellence in Audio Reporting and Excellence in Technology Reporting. The investigative reporting category has been renamed as “Carlos Tejada Award for Excellence in Investigative Reporting” to honor the life and work of our late SOPA Editorial Committee member. Carlos, who passed away suddenly late last year, spent more than a decade in Asia, first for The Wall Street Journal, then for The New York Times, directing coverage of some of the biggest stories in the region -- many of which were SOPA Award winners. He joined the committee in 2018.

Key Points: 
  • The Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA), a Hong Kong-based not-for-profit organization dedicated to pursuing excellence in journalism, today announced the finalists for the SOPA 2022 Awards for Editorial Excellence (full list here ).
  • The annual awards recognizing great journalism in the Asia Pacific region have been given out every year since 1999.
  • This years winners will be announced on June 16 at the virtual SOPA Awards Gala and live-streamed on SOPA Asias YouTube channel from 7pm Hong Kong time.
  • There are 20 categories, including the new SOPA Awards for Excellence in Audio Reporting and Excellence in Technology Reporting.