David Jackson: Voice Of America

There are literally thousands of David Jacksons out there, and I'm one of them. As far as fame goes, I'm about a quarter of the way up the list.

Maybe I'm exagerrating a bit. I'm probably only an eighth of the way up. However, by actual independent scientific research (conducted by Sidney Logan) I am the 214th most famous person to come from Hayward.

I recently received an e-mail asking about my connection to the head of the Voice Of America (VOA), the propaganda wing of the U.S. government, which is not to be confused with the Fox News Channel, which is the propaganda wing of the Republican Party. (No need to write; I just slapped myself on the wrist. Sorry.)

The current director of the VOA is, in fact, another of these David Jacksons (he's pictured at right) — David S. Jackson, to be precise. Before becoming head of the VOA, he was with Time magazine for 23 years as a correspondent, bureau chief and senior correspondent, and was the creator and Editor-in-Chief of DefendAmerica.gov, "the Defense Department's principal web site devoted to news about the war against terrorism," according to his bio.

Aside from both being handsome, well-educated, dignified men with powerful jobs in the broadcasting industry, we are not related.

The VOA currently broadcasts news and nearly a thousand hours of programming in 53 languages via radio, television and the Internet each week, with an estimated audience of 96-million people around the globe.

Atta boy, Dave. I'm proud to share my bland, boring undistinguished name with you.