Review of Steve Herman and This Is The Voice of America

(Full disclosure: I am a friend of Steve’s and have given some pro bono advice for dismissed VOA employees.) As with Steve’s book, this is a an informative and very human account of both Steve’s life-long personal fascination with broadcast media, particularly shortwave and VOA, and the impact VOA has had on world events. Steve’s recitation of and adherence to VOA’s guiding principle “you were not expected to be first; you were expected to be correct” not only exemplifies his personal philosophy but illustrates just how far we as a society have removed ourselves from that standard, whether from the impact of social media or the government’s now ever-expanding efforts to control the narrative. Those of us who were fortunate enough to grow up with reliable news sources, Cronkite, Huntley and Brinkley, The New York Times, Mike Wallace and Harry Reasoner and 60 Minutes, have a devastating recognition of what we have lost and, even worse, looks like we may never regain. Unlike Steve, I have never been to North Korea, but as an immigration attorney I have traveled widely, including visiting a mom who went to Belarus (already under Lukashenko) for three summers while in her 60’s for the U.S. Information Service to teach English to others ESL teachers, so I have seen my share of how people in less-free countries valued American honesty, warts and all, when it came to reporting the truth. Never has Santayana’s statement been more true: "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."