Summary
The Broadcasting Board of Governors' (BBG) broadcasting services, Radio Sawa, and the Alhurra satellite television networks--collectively known as the Middle East Broadcasting Networks, Inc. (MBN)--currently aim to reach Arabic speakers in 19 countries and areas throughout the Middle East. Annual spending for current activities amounts to about $78 million. GAO reviewed MBN's (1) strategic planning to address competition in the Middle Eastern media market, (2) implementation of internal control, (3) procedures MBN has developed to ensure compliance with its journalistic standards, and (4) performance indicators and whether targets have been met.
MBN faces a number of competitive challenges in carrying out its mission of broadcasting in the Middle Eastern media market and has taken some steps to address them. However, MBN lacks a comprehensive, long-term strategic plan. As MBN emerges from its start-up mode and faces future challenges, a long-term strategic plan will be important. While MBN has developed financial and administrative controls to manage and safeguard its financial resources, it could take additional steps to strengthen its system of internal control. For example, the MBN has not (1) convened a meeting of its internal control board to formally develop its controls and coordinate audits, (2) completed an internal control plan, (3) completed a risk assessment to address potential risks to its operation, or (4) developed a comprehensive training program for its staff. MBN has procedures in place to help ensure its programming meets its journalistic standards. However, MBN lacks regular editorial training and has not fully implemented a comprehensive, regular program review process to determine whether its programming complies with those standards or with MBN's mission. While the BBG calls for its broadcasters to undergo an annual program review, Radio Sawa has only held one such review, and Alhurra has not completed one to date. The BBG has developed several performance indicators and targets for MBN's Radio Sawa and Alhurra services, including measures of audience size and program credibility. However, it is not clear whether the Radio Sawa and Alhurra performance targets have been met because of weaknesses in MBN's survey methodology and documentation. The BBG did not take certain steps that could have explained and increased the reliability of its estimates, such as by fully documenting its research and estimation methods, measuring the level of uncertainty surrounding its estimates, disclosing significant limitations, and consistently implementing policies and procedures for verifying data.
Recommendations
Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change
from "In process" to "Implemented" or "Not implemented" based on our follow up work.
Director:
Team:
Phone:
Jess T. Ford
Government Accountability Office: International Affairs and Trade
(202) 512-4268
Recommendations for Executive Action
Recommendation: To improve efforts to monitor performance and the efficiency and effectiveness of the broadcasting activities of the Middle East Broadcasting Networks, Inc., the chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors should require that MBN develop a long-term strategic plan, which incorporates a shared vision for Alhurra and Radio Sawa operations and details specific measurable objectives and implementation strategies for the successful implementation of the goals in the plan.
Agency Affected: Broadcasting Board of Governors
Status: In process
Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Recommendation: To improve efforts to monitor performance and the efficiency and effectiveness of the broadcasting activities of the Middle East Broadcasting Networks, Inc., the chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors should require that MBN implement the remaining recommendations from the Grant Thornton LLP report and require that its internal control board meet on a regular basis to coordinate MBN's single audits and oversee MBN's ongoing efforts to use sound internal control procedures.
Agency Affected: Broadcasting Board of Governors
Status: In process
Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Recommendation: To improve efforts to monitor performance and the efficiency and effectiveness of the broadcasting activities of the Middle East Broadcasting Networks, Inc., the chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors should develop a process for analyzing risk as part of strategic planning that identifies approaches to mitigate the potential obstacles to efficiently and effectively achieving MBN's operational objectives.
Agency Affected: Broadcasting Board of Governors
Status: In process
Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Recommendation: To improve efforts to monitor performance and the efficiency and effectiveness of the broadcasting activities of the Middle East Broadcasting Networks, Inc., the chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors should require MBN to develop a comprehensive training program covering both internal controls and editorial procedures to meet the continuing needs of all employees.
Agency Affected: Broadcasting Board of Governors
Status: In process
Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Recommendation: To improve efforts to monitor performance and the efficiency and effectiveness of the broadcasting activities of the Middle East Broadcasting Networks, Inc., the chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors should initiate a schedule of annual program reviews for Radio Sawa and Alhurra to regularly ensure that the quality of Alhurra's broadcasts conforms to applicable standards.
Agency Affected: Broadcasting Board of Governors
Status: In process
Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Recommendation: To improve efforts to monitor performance and the efficiency and effectiveness of the broadcasting activities of the Middle East Broadcasting Networks, Inc., the chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors should implement program quality performance indicators for MBN's broadcast services, consistent with other BBG entities, to assess and compare their performance and measure the contribution of these efforts to the goals of the overall organization.
Agency Affected: Broadcasting Board of Governors
Status: In process
Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Recommendation: To improve efforts to monitor performance and the efficiency and effectiveness of the broadcasting activities of the Middle East Broadcasting Networks, Inc., the chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors should require research contractors to improve the methods used in audience research to allow for probability sampling and document the sample selection so that survey sampling errors can be calculated, where possible.
Agency Affected: Broadcasting Board of Governors
Status: In process
Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Recommendation: To improve efforts to monitor performance and the efficiency and effectiveness of the broadcasting activities of the Middle East Broadcasting Networks, Inc., the chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors should identify and report significant methodological limitations and the implications of them for performance indicators, including, where applicable, sampling errors, margins of error, or confidence intervals.
Agency Affected: Broadcasting Board of Governors
Status: In process
Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Recommendation: To improve efforts to monitor performance and the efficiency and effectiveness of the broadcasting activities of the Middle East Broadcasting Networks, Inc., the chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors should develop, document, and report policies and procedures for verification and analysis of performance indicator estimates.
Agency Affected: Broadcasting Board of Governors
Status: In process
Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
