Voice of America removes “Capitalism” from its approved vocabulary list

Recently, the Voice of America (VOA) removed the word “capitalism” from its Special English vocabulary list that all its English broadcasts to Third World countries are encouraged to use. Explaining the decision, the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), the U.S. agency in charge of U.S. broadcasting, stated that a word search of VOA scripts was done, and words that appear less frequently were replaced with words that are finding more frequent usage.

U.S. law dictates that U.S. broadcasting effectively presents the policies of the U.S. government which includes an economic policy based on individual rights, the rule of law, and private ownership of the means of production, distribution, and exchange of wealth—in other words “capitalism.”

With an annual budget of over $650 million, the BBG has the means to effectively communicate U.S. policy. Instead of wasting time and energy censoring away “capitalism” and other words, the BBG might focus on its statutory mission of promoting democracy in the darkest corners of the earth, including stepping up the use of words such as “democracy,” “capitalism,” “freedom of press,” “freedom of speech”, “freedom of religion” and “human rights.” Unfortunately, BBG’s Third World audience will be lucky to hear the word “capitalism,” let alone its principles of individual rights and freedoms that make the U.S. economy the strongest in the World.

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Voice of America removes “Capitalism” from its approved vocabulary list

News:

Jan 2, 2008

By J. David Goodman

Columbia News Service