July 10, 2008 | Press Release

FDD President Clifford May Nominated to Serve on Broadcasting Board of Governors

FDD President Clifford May Nominated to Serve on Broadcasting Board of Governors

Washington, D.C. (July 11, 2008) – President George W. Bush has nominated Clifford D. May, president of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, to serve on the Broadcasting Board of Governors for the remainder of a three-year term expiring August 13, 2009.

“In this very challenging period of history, it is vital that the United States communicate with audiences abroad clearly and creatively,” said May.  “I will be honored and privileged if I can assist with this mission.”

The Broadcasting Board Governors (BBG) is the independent federal agency responsible for all U.S. government and government sponsored, non-military, international broadcasting, including the Voice of America (VOA), Alhurra, Radio Sawa, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), Radio Free Asia (RFA), and Radio and TV Martí.

May will continue to serve as FDD’s president, a position he has held since its founding immediately following the 9/11 attacks on the United States. He has a long and distinguished career in international relations, journalism, communications and politics.

A veteran news reporter, foreign correspondent and editor (at The New York Times and other publications), he has covered stories in more than two dozen countries, including Iran, Pakistan, Sudan, Ethiopia, China, Uzbekistan, Northern Ireland and Russia. He is a frequent guest on national and international television and radio news programs, providing analysis and participating in debates on national security issues. He writes a weekly column that is nationally distributed by Scripps Howard News Service and he is a regular contributor for National Review Online and other publications.

In 2006, he was appointed to the Baker-Hamilton Iraq Study Group of the United States Institute of Peace, an independent nonpartisan national institution established and funded by Congress. He also received a two-year appointment to the bipartisan Advisory Committee on Democracy Promotion, reporting to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.  From 1997 to 2001, he served as the Director of Communications for the Republican National Committee.
His complete biography is available here

For more information on the Broadcasting Board of Governors, please visit http://www.bbg.gov/bbg_aboutus.cfm.

The Foundation for Defense of Democracies is a non-profit, non-partisan policy institute dedicated exclusively to promoting pluralism, defending democratic values and fighting the ideologies that drive terrorism.  Founded shortly after the attacks of 9/11, FDD combines policy research, democracy and counterterrorism education, strategic communications and investigative journalism in support of its mission.  For more information, please visit DefendDemocracy.org.