"We are in an information war, and we are losing that war." That was Secretary of State Hillary Clinton testifying before Congress on plans to cut the already lean budget for Voice of America, which delivers news and information to some of the most repressed populations in the world.

Unbelievably, the proposed cuts would result in reduced service in most of the areas where the US has crucial interests, including China and the Middle East, according to Wall Street Journal columnist L. Gordon Crovitz.

China, meanwhile, is spending an estimated $7 billion on a global propaganda machine, including a 24-hour English-language news channel and broadcast studios in Times Square.

How influential is Voice of America? Despite aggressive jamming by the Chinese government, 12% of Chinese are aware of VOA, more than CNN and the BBC combined. (The British are also contemplating serious cuts to the BBC’s legendary World Service.) When the proposed VOA service cuts were discussed on one of its Chinese-language shows, listeners from China called in and volunteered to pay to keep the programs on the air!

Some have argued that it’s OK to reduce the VOA’s radio programming because its target audiences can get a lot of the same info from the Internet using VOA-supplied software that circumvents government firewalls. But, as Crovitz notes, radio remains an essential medium in China where impoverished rural populations don’t have access to the web.

I’d like to think that protecting – even bolstering – VOA is a cause that all talk radio professionals can support, regardless of their political views. Yes, government spending is out of control, but as radio broadcasters we understand our medium’s ability to convey information and make emotional connections. Radio is a powerful and affordable weapon that America should not abandon in the middle of an information war.

One talk radio host suggested that perhaps VOA could be privatized. I’m not sure how that would work. I can’t imagine that many companies would want to underwrite programming that alienates the governments of some of their largest growth markets.

Read the Crovitz piece and think about how you can help VOA. Remember, your colleagues at Voice of America are helping to protect your right to express yourself on the radio.