The Broadcasting Board of Governors has updated its brand.

The board, which oversees government-backed international programming services including the Voice of America, is now the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM).

The reboot is meant to convey that the digital age agency now extends far beyond TV and radio to include digital and mobile platforms.

The agency is headed by John Lansing as CEO. Lansing is the former head of CTAM and president of Scripps Networks.

"The term "broadcasting" does not accurately describe what we do," said Lansing. "The new name reflects our modernization and forward momentum while honoring our enduring mission to inform, engage and connect people around the world in support of freedom and democracy."

Lansing said the decision was made in consultation with the Trump Administration, Congress and others. "in a time of shifting politics, challenging media landscapes, and weaponized information," he said. "Our identity and name will now address these realities."

In addition to VOA, USAGM comprises Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), the Office of Cuba Broadcasting (Television and Radio Martí), Radio Free Asia (RFA), and the Middle East Broadcasting Networks (MBN).

WASHINGTON— The Broadcasting Board of Governors today announced the unanimous election of Kenneth Weinstein, who has served as a board member since October 2013, to the position of Acting Board Chairman, effective immediately. Weinstein takes over from Jeff Shell, who served as chairman of the board since August 2013. Shell, chairman of Universal Filmed Entertainment Group, will continue to serve as a board member.

“This transition illustrates BBG’s commitment to ensuring high caliber, accomplished leaders in the agency,” said outgoing Chairman Jeff Shell. “Ken is a consummate professional and a wonderful person to boot, whose contribution to the Board has been invaluable. He is the perfect person to work with CEO John Lansing as he continues to lead key reforms and advance growth at BBG.”

In his acceptance of the chairman role, Weinstein said, “Working to advance the mission of BBG throughout the world is truly an honor, and I am excited to work with my fellow Board Members and with CEO Lansing in this new capacity. CEO Lansing’s leadership has been crucial to our continual progress here at BBG. During his tenure, the agency’s total audience grew by 52 million to an estimated total 278 million people weekly, in 100 countries and 61 languages, even as he leads internal reforms that tighten processes, save money, and cultivate impact.

“I and other board members continue to support John’s leadership, having voted on Jan. 19 to reaffirm his authority, without objection, and I look forward to working together. I also want to thank Jeff Shell, whose unmatched dedication and strategic leadership of the Board have been critical to the transformation of the agency.”

Kenneth R. Weinstein is president and CEO of Hudson Institute, a free-market D.C. think tank founded by Herman Kahn.

A political theorist by training whose academic work focuses on the early Enlightenment, Weinstein has written widely on international affairs for leading publications in the United States, Europe, and Asia, including Bungei Shunju (Japan), Le Figaro (France), Le Monde (France), The Wall Street Journal, and the Yomiuri Shimbun.

He has been decorated with a knighthood in Arts and Letters by the French Ministry of Culture and Communication as a Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Weinstein previously served by presidential appointment and Senate confirmation on the National Humanities Council, the governing body of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Weinstein graduated from The University of Chicago (B.A. in General Studies in the Humanities), the Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris (D.E.A. in Soviet and Eastern European Studies), and Harvard University (Ph.D. in Government).

Additionally, on Jan. 24, the board noted the resignation of public diplomacy expert Matthew Armstrong, who served on the board since August 2013.

In noting Armstrong’s resignation, Weinstein said, “Matt was a pleasure to work with and his accomplishments are many. I wish him the best in his future endeavors.”

WASHINGTON—Journalists from the five Broadcast Board of Governors radio and television networks were named to receive the David Burke Distinguished Journalism Award. “These are outstanding journalists that represent the BGG out in the field,” CEO John Lansing said. 

The winners:

Ayesha Tanzeem, Voice of America’s Islamabad bureau chief, joined VOA in 2015; she received the award for her reports from Afghanistan on the terrorist group ISIS and for her courage to enter hostile areas. 

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s special Crimea Unit formed two months after Russia’s annexation of the Ukrainian territory. BBG said it is known as “Crimea Reality” to local Ukrainians. The 40-member team of journalists, editors and engineers produce two weekly, 30-minute television programs running on Ukraine’s national news channel.

The Office of Cuba Broadcasting’s Tomas Cardoso, a radio host on Radio Martí, is honored for a career in journalism about current events in Cuba and for his extensive networks of news contacts in that country.

Radio Free Asia’s Vuthy Khin Huot, a journalist for the Khmer Service in Cambodia, is honored for a career as an anchor, producer and staff trainer. The organization said he has faced danger as a journalist in Cambodia and expanded BBG’s reach into delivery platforms like Facebook Live and a daily television program.

Middle East Broadcasting Networks salutes a team of three correspondents reporting out of Yemen. They are resources for MBN’s coverage of the conflict in that country, filing stories from hot spots.

Award namesake David Burke was founding chairman and leader of the BBG for three years as well as president of CBS News. The award includes a $2,500 prize. 

This story originally appeared on TVT's sister publicationRadio World.

WASHINGTON— Broadcasting Board of Governors has named John Lansing as its next CEO and director, to start next month.

BBG is the federal government agency that oversees U.S. civilian international media. Lansing is former president of Scripps Networks, where BBG says he was “credited with guiding the company to become a leading developer of unique content across various media platforms including television, digital, mobile and publishing.”

Most recently he was president and CEO of the Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing; BBG said he worked in a number of content and management positions at several television stations earlier in his career.

Chairman Jeff Shell made the announcement, calling Lansing “a proven executive and a remarkable, transformative leader in multiplatform content strategies, development and distribution.”

André Mendes has been interim CEO, since Andrew Lack — who had joined BBG to much fanfare and hopes — left after about two months to rejoin NBC as head of that networks news division.

BBG oversees VOA, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio and TV Martí, Radio Free Asia and the Middle East Broadcasting Networks.