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Friday, 22 November 2024 | ||
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Voice of America (VOA)The Voice of America is a news organization funded by the U.S. government to provide information to Americans and foreigners outside the U.S. mainly through short wave radio transmissions. VOA news bulletins are available at:
http://www.voanews.com/
According to information provided by VOA: The Charter of the Voice of America (U.S. Public Law 94-30) The long-range interests of the United States are served by communicating directly with the people of the world by radio. To be effective, the Voice of America (the Broadcasting Service of the United States Informa- tion Agency) must win the attention and respect of listeners. These principles will therefore govern Voice of America (VOA) broadcasts: 1. VOA will serve as a consistently reliable and authoritative source of news. VOA news will be accurate, objective and comprehensive. 2. VOA will represent America, not any single segment of American society, and will therefore present a balanced and comprehensive projection of significant American thought and institutions. 3. VOA will present the policies of the United States clearly and effectively, and will also present responsible discussion and opinion on those policies. Also: Approximately 59 percent of all VOA programming is news and 26 percent is feature reporting about economics, science, agriculture, medicine, sports, and American history and culture. Music -- jazz, rock, classical and "country" -- represents 12 percent of the programming and editorials make up the remaining three percent. VOA also produces "Special English," "Tuning in the USA" and "English USA" programs to help listeners learn and improve their English skills. Each of these elements contributes to the broad mosaic of information VOA offers to a curious world. In 1985, VOA began providing its programs to local AM and FM radio stations around the world. Today, VOA programs in 37 languages are transmitted on 32 satellite circuits to over 1,000 independently-owned stations in 118 countries, further expanding VOA's range of listenership. [...] in 1953, that agency was established to carry out the overseas information and cultural exchange programs of the U.S. government, where it remains today. On April 30, 1994, President Clinton signed the United States International Broadcasting Act, officially combining for the first time all U.S. government international broadcast services under a Board of Governors. The Board will oversee the operations of VOA and three "surrogate" international broadcast services: Radio Free Europe, Radio Liberty and the proposed Radio Free Asia, which was established by the new law. VOA will remain a U.S. government entity, and the three independent organizations will receive grants from the Borad of Governors. VOA received approximately $215 million for operating expenses from Congress in 1995.For more information: or Voice of America Office of External Affairs +1 202-619-2538 January, 1995Also: 330 Independence Ave SW, Washington, DC 20547 (202) 485-6231 |