Fair and Balanced

Ungar's factual account of the severe cuts in the VOA's news and information programs in English and other languages should not be ignored by those concerned about America's image abroad. Nor should the VOA's reputation for credibility, earned over six decades of broadcasting to overseas audiences, be dismissed by those engaged in public diplomacy, as it has been by the Broadcasting Board of Governors and by the VOA's management in its attempt to skew the news. Sadly, the demeaning of the VOA iS continuing. The latest move is a plan to close the central newsroom during the overnight shift (midnight to 7 AM) and outsource the shift's news-writing jobs to freelancers among British, Australian, and American expatriates in Hong Kong, who then would electronically transmit the material back to an editor in Washington. PHILOMENA JUREY was the Voice of America's White House correspondent during the Nixon, Ford, Carter, and Reagan administrations. Ungar Replies