Editing Voice of America (section)

===Post–Cold War===
With the breakup of the Soviet bloc in Eastern Europe, VOA added many additional language services to reach those areas. This decade was marked by the additions of services in [[Standard Tibetan]], [[Kurdish language|Kurdish]] (to Iran and Iraq), [[Serbo-Croatian]] (Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian), [[Macedonian language|Macedonian]], and [[Rwanda-Rundi]].<ref>{{Cite book |title=VOA Guide: Voice of America English Broadcasts Worldwide |date=1998 |publication-place=University of Minnesota |publisher=VOA|page=8 |chapter=Voice of America broadcasts in 52 languages |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pJ7DpUe1SO4C&pg=PA8 |issue=1 |access-date=April 19, 2022 |archive-date=February 1, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240201161246/https://books.google.com/books?id=pJ7DpUe1SO4C&pg=PA8#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=VOA Language Service Fact Sheets |url=https://www.insidevoa.com/a/voa-fact-sheets/3780820.html#Eurasia |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220408170711/https://www.insidevoa.com/a/voa-fact-sheets/3780820.html#Eurasia |archive-date=April 8, 2022 |access-date=2022-04-19 |website=insidevoa.com |publisher=Voice of America Public Relations}}</ref>

In 1993, the [[Presidency of Bill Clinton|Clinton administration]] advised cutting funding for [[Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty]], as it believed post-Cold War information and influence was not needed in Europe. This plan was not well received, and US President [[Bill Clinton]] then proposed the compromise of the [[International Broadcasting Act]], which he signed into law in 1994. This law established the [[International Broadcasting Bureau]] as a part of the [[United States Information Agency]] (USIA), and established the [[Broadcasting Board of Governors]] (BBG) with oversight authority, which took control from the Board for International Broadcasters which previously had overseen funding for RFE/RL.<ref name="Raghavan">Raghavan, Sudarsan V., Stephen S. Johnson, and Kristi K. Bahrenburg. "Sending cross-border static: on the fate of Radio Free Europe and the influence of international broadcasting," Journal of International Affairs, Vol. 47, 1993, access on March 25, 2011.</ref> In 1998, the Foreign Affairs Reform and Restructuring Act was signed into law, and mandated that the BBG become an [[Independent agencies of the United States government|independent federal agency]] as of October 1, 1999. This act also abolished the USIA, and merged most of its functions into those of the State Department.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.archives.gov/research/foreign-policy/related-records/rg-306|title=Records of the United States Information Agency (RG 306)|date=August 15, 2016|website=National Archives}}</ref>

The Arabic Service was abolished in 2002 and replaced by a new radio service, called the Middle East Radio Network or [[Radio Sawa]], with an initial budget of $22 million. Radio Sawa offered mostly Western and Middle Eastern popular songs with periodic brief news bulletins. It then expanded to television with [[Alhurra]] in February 2004 (and later to various social media and websites).<ref>{{Cite web |title=USAGM |url=https://www.usagm.gov/networks/mbn/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220703122757/https://www.usagm.gov/networks/mbn/ |archive-date=July 3, 2022 |access-date=July 23, 2019}}</ref> In May 2004, the US government's international English language TV service [[Worldnet Television and Film Service|Worldnet]], became part of VOA as "VOA TV".

As part of an effort to allocate resources to broadcasts in the [[Muslim world]],<ref name="post">{{Cite news |last=Lakshmi |first=Rama |date=September 12, 2008 |title=India Set to Lose Voice of America |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/11/AR2008091103305.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181228210333/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/11/AR2008091103305.html |archive-date=December 28, 2018 |access-date=December 3, 2014 |newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref><ref name="publica">{{Cite web |date=July 3, 2008 |title=Voice of America to Cut Language Services |url=https://www.propublica.org/article/voice-of-america-to-cut-language-services-709 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190611160646/https://www.propublica.org/article/voice-of-america-to-cut-language-services-709 |archive-date=June 11, 2019 |access-date=December 3, 2014 |publisher=propublica.org}}</ref> radio programs in Russian, Hindi, Ukrainian, Serbian, Macedonian and Bosnian ended in 2008.<ref name="post" /><ref name="publica" /> In September 2010, VOA began radio broadcasts in Sudan. As U.S. interests in [[South Sudan]] grew, there was a desire to provide people with free information.<ref>Abedje, Ashenafi. "Voice of America Expands its Sudan Programming," Voice of America News, September 17, 2010. Retrieved on March 25, 2011</ref> In 2013, budget cuts led VOA to end foreign-language transmissions on shortwave and medium wave to Albania, Georgia, Iran, and Latin America, as well as English-language broadcasts to the Middle East and Afghanistan.<ref name="inside">{{Cite web |date=March 26, 2013 |title=VOA Reducing Radio Frequencies |url=http://www.insidevoa.com/content/voa-reducing-radio-frequencies/1629194.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150405082510/http://www.insidevoa.com/content/voa-reducing-radio-frequencies/1629194.html |archive-date=April 5, 2015 |access-date=December 3, 2014 |publisher=insidevoa.com}}</ref> Then, in 2014, most of its English-language transmissions to Asia were cut,<ref name="arrl">{{Cite web |date=July 1, 2014 |title=Voice of America Makes More Cuts to International Shortwave Broadcast Schedule |url=http://www.arrl.org/news/voice-of-america-makes-more-cuts-to-international-shortwave-broadcast-schedule |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190331141645/http://www.arrl.org/news/voice-of-america-makes-more-cuts-to-international-shortwave-broadcast-schedule |archive-date=March 31, 2019 |access-date=December 3, 2014 |publisher=arrl.org}}</ref> as well as shortwave transmissions in Azerbaijani, Bengali, Khmer, Kurdish, Lao, Uzbek, and Greek.<ref name="arrl" /><ref>{{Cite web |date=August 11, 2014 |title=Voice of America Ends Greek Broadcasts |url=http://www.bbg.gov/blog/2014/08/11/voice-of-america-ends-greek-broadcasts/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140816115316/http://www.bbg.gov/blog/2014/08/11/voice-of-america-ends-greek-broadcasts/ |archive-date=August 16, 2014 |access-date=December 3, 2014 |publisher=bbg.gov}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=August 12, 2014 |title=After 72 years on air, VOA's Greek Service goes silent |url=http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite6_1_12/08/2014_542099 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140819233735/http://ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite6_1_12/08/2014_542099 |archive-date=August 19, 2014 |access-date=December 3, 2014 |publisher=[[Kathimerini]]}}</ref>