By Zhu Shanshan

Voice of America (VOA) is to scale back its Chinese service later this year, following a similar proposal by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), as the Western media landscape is swept by a tsunami of budget cuts.

The Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), which supervises all US government-supported, civilian international broadcasting, proposed to cut VOA's radio and television programs in China that began in 1942, a move the board said could save up to $8 million.

Short-wave radio broadcasts in Chinese Mandarin and Cantonese, as well as Cantonese television programs and a website, will be closed October 1, according to the budget submitted to the US Congress.

The move would also mean laying off 45 staff, according to the Central News Agency in Taiwan.

The content resources will be diverted to Radio Free Asia (RFA), a smaller news broadcaster that is also supported by the US government.

"As VOA shifts delivery of Mandarin content to the Web and other new media, the BBG will strategically consolidate the network's shortwave transmissions to ensure availability of peak listening hours for RFA Mandarin," BBG said.

An RFA staff member in Hong Kong, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed to the Global Times Wednesday that content resources would be channeled to reinforce RFA, but that little action had taken place so far.

S. Enders Wimbush, a member of the BBG, said the decision was made after surveys showed a sharp decline in short-wave radio listeners in China, according to a Washington Post report.

"We're perfectly aware that we want to maintain a short-wave foothold, and what we've done is take VOA frequencies and time slots and consolidated them into Radio Free Asia," Wimbush said. "We haven't stopped broadcasting to China. We've just recalibrated the broadcasts."

An article on the BBG website also says part of the fiscal year 2012 plan is to "expand efforts to move VOA to an all-digital broadcast platform."

Critics in the US slammed the decision, claiming that the move will "prevent people from getting unfiltered news and information."

However, Chinese media analysts claimed that VOA is a government-funded propaganda tool of the US.

Qiao Mu, director of the International Communication Studies Center at Beijing Foreign Studies University, told the Global Times that shutdown the VOA's Chinese service does not signify a downturn in communicating Washington's values, it is simply a structural adjustment made to dedicate more resources to new media.

In contrast with the Western decline of media operations, China has been more aggressive in reaching out to the world as media communications still remain underdeveloped here, Qiao said. "There is huge space for the media, including traditional media outlets, to thrive for a long time in China."

The VOA cut came on the heels of the BBC's decision in January to close five of its language services, including Chinese Mandarin radio programing. This will cut up to 650 jobs, about a quarter of all jobs at the BBC World Service, after it was ordered to save 46 million pounds ($74 million) in annual costs by the Conservative-led government.

Chen Weixing, a vice dean of the International Communication School at the Communication University of China, told the Global Times that this move is but another piece of evidence showing how new media is overtaking traditional media platforms.

Meanwhile, in an effort to make Chinese voices heard globally, a multi-billion-dollar program is reportedly underway to strengthen its media presence.

The Xinhua News Agency has launched a 24-hour English language news channel, CNC World, which will provide services in other foreign languages.

China Central Television (CCTV), the country's biggest State-run television station, is planning to launch an international channel in Portuguese this year, adding to its broadcasting in Chinese, English, French, Arabic and Russian, and it will have 11 international channels by 2012.

"China has become the focus of the world, as the country is now in the middle of a great transition and plenty of significant events take place here. There is a need for it to present itself to the world," Qiao said.

Song Shengxia contributed to this story