The West's voices of propaganda are falling to a whisper

Many mainlanders in their 30s or older, including this writer, have pressed their ears against transistor radios in the middle of the night, back in the 1970s and 1980s, to tune into Voice of America's shortwave frequencies for its popular English-language learning programme, English 900, and current affairs reports.

Until the early 1990s, VOA's Mandarin programme, along with a similar but far less influential one broadcast by the BBC World Service, was probably mainlanders' only regular source of the outside world's views on international events and, more importantly, what was really happening on the mainland.

During the students' pro-democracy protests in June 1989, it was common in many cities for mainlanders to be seen in the streets, clustered around transistor radios and listening to VOA's news reports, interviews and commentaries on events leading to the bloody crackdown.

Mainland authorities have long labelled the VOA as 'enemy broadcasting' and threatened harsh punishment including jail sentences for mainland listeners, in addition to constant jamming. Following the crackdown on June 4, 1989, Xinhua openly accused VOA, among other international media organisations, of inflaming anti-government sentiment.

All of this explains why the reports last week that the VOA was planning to cut back its shortwave broadcasts in China produced mixed feelings among mainlanders and abroad. This follows a similar proposal by the BBC World Service to close five of its language services, including Mandarin radio programming.

Of course, those cutbacks reflect the pressure on the US and British governments to slash spending in the aftermath of the global financial crisis. Another reason is that their audiences are shrinking considerably as the influence of new media including social networking continues to rise.