![\"\"](\"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/voaat70-300x187.jpg\" "\\"voaat70\\"")
(Source: Voice of America Press Release)<\/p>\n(Source: Voice of America Press Release)<\/p>\n
Washington, D.C. \u2014 February 1, 2012<\/strong> \u2014 Voice of America turned 70 on Wednesday, and VOA Director David Ensor says the international broadcast agency is aggressively moving forward with new programs that ensure it remains an \u201cinformation lifeline to people in closed societies like Iran.\u201d<\/p>\n Addressing VOA journalists at the agency\u2019s Washington headquarters, Ensor pointed to a television news show for Burma that began airing in January, a popular video blog that has been viewed more than 7 million times in China, expanded TV broadcasts to Iran, and new health programs on radio in Africa. He also described plans for a Russian language TV program that will harness popular social media programs to make citizen journalists and the audience a key part of the show.<\/p>\n Ensor said the one-time cold war broadcaster is \u201cas relevant today as it was February 1st, 1942,\u201d the date of the first shortwave radio broadcast to Germany.\u201d<\/p>\n Created by the U.S. government in the opening days of World War Two, the Voice of America has evolved into a global multi-media organization, broadcasting balanced and comprehensive news in 43 languages to an estimated weekly audience of 141 million.<\/p>\n The first shortwave radio transmission, spoken in German just weeks after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, began with the words \u201cHere speaks a voice from America.\u201d The broadcast went on to promise, \u201cThe news may be good. The news may be bad. We shall tell you the truth.\u201d Ensor, the 28th Voice of America director, says the agency continues to be guided by those words.<\/p>\n VOA radio remains highly popular in many markets, including Somalia, parts of Pakistan and Haiti. Ensor says the agency is moving forward with new television and Internet programs that target countries like Iran, where the government restricts the free flow of information.<\/p>\n VOA programs are delivered on satellite, cable TV, mobile, shortwave, FM, medium wave, the Internet, and on a network of about 1,200 affiliate stations around the world. In addition to more than 1,100 employees in Washington, VOA works with contract journalists in trouble spots around the world. Last month the Taliban claimed responsibility for the murder of a reporter working for VOA in Pakistan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" (Source: Voice of America Press Release) Washington, D.C. \u2014 February 1, 2012 \u2014 Voice of America turned 70 on Wednesday, and VOA Director David Ensor says the international broadcast agency is aggressively moving forward with new programs that ensure it remains an \u201cinformation lifeline to people in closed societies like Iran.\u201d Addressing VOA journalists at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[56,81],"tags":[34,4082,10,831,830,832,182],"class_list":["post-2681","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-broadcasters","category-current-events","tag-shortwave","tag-shortwave-radio","tag-voa","tag-voa-70th-anniversary","tag-voa-at-70","tag-voa-shortwave","tag-voice-of-america"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-Hf","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":12924,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2015\/04\/voa-director-david-ensor-steps-down\/","url_meta":{"origin":2681,"position":0},"title":"VOA director David Ensor steps down","author":"Thomas","date":"April 8, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"(Source: NY Times) David Ensor, who as director of the Voice of America has presided over significant growth in the news agency\u2019s audience despite budget cuts, announced Tuesday that he was stepping down. Mr. Ensor, who joined the Voice of America in June 2011, said he would leave the government-funded\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Broadcasters"","block_context":{"text":"Broadcasters","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/broadcasters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"David Ensor (Source: BBG)","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/DAVID-ENSORBig.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5809,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2013\/02\/voa-protests-jamming-of-english-service-to-china\/","url_meta":{"origin":2681,"position":1},"title":"VOA protests jamming of English service to China","author":"Thomas","date":"February 26, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"(Source: VOA) The Voice of America is protesting new jamming of its English broadcasts in China. VOA Director David Ensor condemned the new interference and said the U.S. government broadcaster is working with experts to determine the precise origin of the jamming. He said \"the free flow of information is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Broadcasters"","block_context":{"text":"Broadcasters","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/broadcasters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"voa logo","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/a999voalogo_2050081722-26491.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4785,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2012\/10\/bbg-hurricane-sandy-fails-to-stop-voa-broadcasts\/","url_meta":{"origin":2681,"position":2},"title":"BBG: Hurricane Sandy Fails To Stop VOA Broadcasts","author":"Thomas","date":"October 31, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Though this press release rightfully focuses on the staff at VOA headquarters in DC, we should take our hats off to the good folks that kept the Edward R. Murrow Transmission site running in North Carolina as well. (Source: BBG) Pounding rain and 80 mile an hour winds from Hurricane\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Broadcasters"","block_context":{"text":"Broadcasters","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/broadcasters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/a999voalogo_2050081722-26491.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6084,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2013\/03\/6084\/","url_meta":{"origin":2681,"position":3},"title":"VOA reducing shortwave radio broadcasts","author":"Thomas","date":"March 27, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Following the BBC World Service's lead, the VOA will reduce broadcasts to Iran,\u00a0Albania, Georgia and Latin America, along with English language broadcasts to the Middle East and Afghanistan. Full details below: (Source: Inside VOA) WASHINGTON, D.C.\u00a0\u2014 Voice of America is reducing some of its radio transmissions this weekend and ending\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Broadcasters"","block_context":{"text":"Broadcasters","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/broadcasters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"VOA","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/VOA-300x168.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2982,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2012\/03\/voa-launching-interactive-humanitarian-shortwave-programs-for-burundi\/","url_meta":{"origin":2681,"position":4},"title":"VOA launching interactive humanitarian shortwave programs for Burundi","author":"Thomas","date":"March 15, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"At a forum of the Winter SWLfest this year, I made a presentation titled, \"Shortwave For Good.\" In it, one of the ideas I put forth to increase interaction between international broadcasters and their listenership in Africa is through the use of mobile phone SMS technology. I was very pleased\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Broadcasters"","block_context":{"text":"Broadcasters","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/broadcasters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/burundiVOA.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":13208,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2015\/05\/voa-to-increase-broadcasts-to-burundi\/","url_meta":{"origin":2681,"position":5},"title":"VOA to increase broadcasts to Burundi","author":"Thomas","date":"May 12, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Mauno Ritola shared the following message on the WRTH Facebook page this morning: VOA Boosts Broadcasts to Burundi as Civilians Flee Political Violence Monday through Friday: 0400-0530: 7350 kHz, 9815 kHz, 11905 kHz 1600-1630: 13630 kHz,\u00a015460 kHz, 17530 kHz 1930-2000: 9470kHz, 11615 kHz, 12140 kHz Mauno also notes that the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Broadcasters"","block_context":{"text":"Broadcasters","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/broadcasters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"voa logo","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/a999voalogo_2050081722-26491.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2681","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2681"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2681\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2681"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2681"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2681"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}