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Official Touts U.S. Broadcasts in Arabic NewsMax.com WiresWASHINGTON -- The chief overseer of U.S. government broadcasts to the Arab world said Friday that most listeners accept the accuracy of their news reports in spite of an environment often hostile to the United States. ``Who would even imagine five years ago, in countries where they boycott American products, that they say of an American government broadcast, 'Your news is accurate,''' Kenneth Tomlinson said in an interview. ``It is amazing.'' Story Continues Below Tomlinson is chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, which oversees Radio Sawa as it sends a mixture of pop music and news in Arabic to at least 18 million listeners from Morocco to Iraq. Operating on a $22 million budget, Sawa broadcasts have largely displaced the Voice of America as the U.S.-sponsored radio outlet in the Middle East. A draft report assessing operations, prepared by the State Department's inspector general, was sent last summer to the board but was not released to the public. Subsequently, the acting inspector general, Cameron Hume, questioned the standards used in preparing the report and called in independent auditors, a U.S. official said Thursday. After a review, Hume concluded the report should not be issued. But what Tomlinson described as ``suggestions or challenges'' were submitted to the board last month. ``These were evergreen challenges,'' he said. ``Everyone is always trying to improve the quality of what they do in journalism.'' He said of the broadcasts, ``The reaction has been fantastic from listeners, and polls demonstrate the people accept our news as credible.'' Among improvements, he said, about 25 new FM stations have been added in the Middle East in the past four years and transmission is being strengthened. Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press
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