The Broadcasting Board of Governors has been on the
receiving end of a
lot of criticism lately. The agency's efforts
in Iran, especially, have come
under fire, as well as the way the
home office in Washington, D.C. has been managed.
But in the most concise report your humble Cable guy has ever seen coming out of
the Office of the Inspector General, the oversight board reported Thursday that
as far as the BBG's operations in Pakistan are concerned, everything is cool.
"Discussions
with BBG staff in Washington during the survey phase revealed no outstanding
issues. Discussions with the staff at the office in Islamabad found a staff
engaged and proud of their accomplishments," the one-page report
stated. "The VOA bureau chief was satisfied with Washington support (he is
extending for a second year): the contractors for the Urdu service were
satisfied with their terms of employment, their working conditions, and the
work itself."
Any room for improvement?
"The OIG team, then, found no issues that require
recommendations."
An OIG report with zero recommendations is pretty unusual.
Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that this was a severely limited
investigation. The OIG team visited the BBG's Islamabad bureau for one day in
February. "Because of security concerns, this was a limited-scope inspection,"
the report said.
The team did not review financial records and also did not
talk to the BBG's Pakistani broadcast partners, again, "for security reasons."
In a letter to BBG
executive director Jeff Trimble,
Assistant Inspector General for Inspections Robert B. Peterson wrote, "The report contains no recommendations
because, overall, the work of the Broadcasting Board of Governors Operations in
Islamabad is being performed well."
Read More
(1)
HIDE COMMENTS LOGIN OR REGISTER REPORT ABUSE