© AFP 2016/ PAUL J. RICHARDS
Previously, US-funded outlets such as the Voice of America and Radio Liberty have been overseen by a Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), a nine-person, bipartisan board which includes the US Secretary of State, which serves as a buffer between state-sponsored media outlets and the administration.
Congress has long been frustrated over the unpopularity and expense of US government-funded media outlets, especially when compared to the listenership of state-funded media of other nations. BBG's annual budget is over $760 million, while all global operations of RT (including its English, Spanish, Arabic television channels, as well as French and German web-based projects) cost less than $250 million annually. Nevertheless, according to congressional testimony from Helle Dale, senior fellow for public diplomacy at the Heritage Foundation, US government-funded media has no influence on Russians: Voice of America's site ranks 3,828 in Russia, while RT reports that its weekly audience reached 70 million, and half of of those watch RT daily.
Comment: Spending more money hasn't worked so more control of the message should do it, not. The message is the problem and people stopped listening.