Voice of America in the post-Cold War era: Opportunities and challenges to external media services via new information and communication technology

This study examines Voice of America’s (VOA) services in the post-Cold War era within the framework of the information revolution and globalization. The use of new information venues has caused VOA to evolve from a pure propaganda machine to a notion of informational soft power. However, this study finds that not only is there a gap between VOA’s target audiences and its actual website visitors but its website attracts more American and western users than users in the societies it intends to influence the most. The role of informational soft power in articulating appealing ideas, values, norms and ethics through all manners of media and new information and communication technology to create the perception that US hegemony is benign poses challenges for the US’s information strategy.