U.S. Senate Confirms Ballard Spahr’s Ken Jarin as Chair of International Broadcasting Advisory Board

Kenneth M. Jarin, a Ballard Spahr partner with decades of experience in law, government affairs, and public policy, has been confirmed by the U.S. Senate to serve as a member and Chair of the International Broadcasting Advisory Board (IBAB) of the U.S. Agency for Global Media.

Appointed by President Biden and confirmed last week by the U.S. Senate, Mr. Jarin and five fellow IBAB appointees—leaders in mass communications, broadcast media, and international affairs—comprise the new, bipartisan IBAB, said U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) Chief Executive Officer Amanda Bennett in announcing the confirmations. The seventh member of the IBAB is the U.S. Secretary of State, who serves in an ex-officio capacity.

The IBAB provides strategic counsel and oversight, in partnership USAGM CEO Bennet, in fulfilling the agency’s mission to "inform, engage, and connect people around the world in support of freedom and democracy.”

“In the wake of a global information war, our mission remains critical,” CEO Bennett said, praising the “wealth of talent, expertise, and passion” of the new IBAB members and Chair.

“I am honored beyond words by the trust the President and the USAGM have placed in me to do this important job,” Mr. Jarin said. “I intend to work with the amazing team on the Board and at the agency to forward our mission to serve hundreds of millions of people who turn to USAGM’s fact-based news in the face of growing information manipulation and censorship.”

A former presidential appointee to the National Council on the Arts, Mr. Jarin focuses his practice on public, political, and government affairs and policy.

USAGM provides multimedia broadcast distribution as well as technical and administrative support to broadcasting networks. It manages a global network of transmitting sites and an extensive system of leased satellite and fiber optic circuits, along with a rapidly growing internet delivery system servicing USAGM broadcasters.

The agency oversees and provides grants to the Voice of America, the Office of Cuba Broadcasting, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia, the Middle East Broadcasting Networks, and the Open Technology Fund.

For media inquiries, please contact Bill Shralow at 215.864.8195.