Voice of America Propaganda Supremo

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VOA the propaganda radio, owned by the U.S. government, used to be popular in Africa and other regions before the internet.

What is propaganda? I’m not part of the British royal family that speaks English so I consulted the online Cambridge dictionary. It defines propaganda as: “a word that describes information or ideas spread to influence people’s opinion, often with bias or deception."

Does that include pure unadulterated lies? I don’t think so, but propaganda has been on my mind, since the U.S.A. announced that it will hold a presidential election on November 5, 2024. America is a master in smooth propaganda. Ask any one in Africa who listens to the radio and the Voice of America (VOA) in particular. We grew up mad at the BBC because British kings and the navy colonized us then called us poor. We looked up to America, the ‘clean’ role model.

We used to believe in that far away country where democracy reigned and everyone was free to practice their religion and non-religion. And the music? That was another reason for listening to the Voice of America, our black sisters and brothers singing about freedom. It was smooth propaganda because we did not know that Voice of America was a propaganda tool. We did not know that it got money from the annual U.S. budget, presented to Congress. We did not know VOA was a sub-section of the U.S. Agency for Global Media.

The internet is here. It has emasculated the influence of the VOA in Africa but boy, was it smooth? Joe Biden’s campaign managers are dead like the Dead Sea. They fell into the debate trap. They are not futuristic. They don’t think outside the box. They are letting Donald Trump lead them by the nose. He wanted the debate to prove a point, a birthday point. It won’t sway voters who will vote for Biden come rain, come sunshine, come debate but the debate definitely made American politics disjointed, not smooth like Voice of America radio in Africa.

Nonqaba waka Msimang

Blogger Without Borders

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