Titel	Voice of America
Labels
ID	4309
Type	radio broadcaster
Date	1942

Collection(s)	Cultural Politics, Transfer & Propaganda
Uri(s)	https://ica.acdh-dev.oeaw.ac.at/entity/4309/
Notes	Voice of America (VOA) is the state-owned international radio broadcaster of the United States. In 1942, when the station had been founded, the programs were produced particularly for occupied Europe and North Africa. Beginning in 1947, VOA also broadcast to the Soviet Union. VOA sent programs to the Rot-Weiß-Rot radio station, which was under US supervision and was very popular in Austria. In this context, entertainment culture - especially popular music -became closely related to an idealized consumer society, associated with prosperity and enjoyment. The increasing tensions between East and West, meant the integration of Austria into the west became a central concern for the Americans. In 1948, the US Information and Educational Exchange Act - known as Smith-Mundt Act - was passed, which created a framework for information exchange with Europe, as a response to the disinformation campaign conducted by the Soviet Union. Under Dwight D. Eisenhower, the United States Information Agency (USIA) - also known as United States Information Service (USIS) - was founded in 1953. The goal of the organization was to promote US policy abroad and to present it as being fully in line with the policy of the target country. The main instruments in the pursuit of this goal were America Houses as libraries, cultural exchange programs, and the use of radio stations such as VOA, Radio Liberty and Radio Free Europe.