Happy Anniversary, VOA!

VOA celebrates 70 years of broadcasting news

The year 2012 is here and VOA is celebrating its 70th anniversary! We look forward to sharing it with our audience. We invite you to experience this 70th year with us here on our blog whatsupvoa.wordpress.com and website www.insidevoa.com.

This year Voice of America’s calendar highlights the accomplishments of some of our long-term employees, who have helped VOA achieve so much during these 70 years.  A few examples include George Mackenzie, a Public Relations writer-editor with VOA since 1989, and like VOA, he has transitioned with the advances in technology.  From print to online media to studio tours, his behind-the-scenes work is front-page material.  Fredrica “Fritzi” B. Depew started at VOA as an intern in 1966 and worked her way up to editor.  Her work is so well viewed that anything she edits is considered to be “fritzied,” a term coined by her appreciative colleagues.  In 1990, Ekram Shinwari took on a freelance job with VOA.  Today, in Kabul, he coordinates all of VOA’s special technical requests for material from Afghanistan.  He also continues to fulfill his initial role as a reporter and works closely with affiliate stations that carry VOA programs.  These and nine other remarkable employees share glimpses of their VOA experience. 

Along with our employee’s stories, the calendar showcases American celebrations throughout the country.  The month of May features New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. Former VOA jazz broadcaster Willis Conover would certainly appreciate it!  November’s celebration is none other than the famous Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade.  A classic staple of the American holiday, the parade is viewed by thousands on the streets and millions more on television.  Our calendar takes its monthly followers through the seasons of American celebrations.

This is just a quick peak at VOA’s initial commemoration of its 70 years.  Since VOA’s first broadcast in 1942, the world continues to change, and VOA continues to adapt.  Public Relations Director David Borgida says, “This year we celebrate the accomplishments and lessons learned over the years, realizing that like many things in life, VOA only gets better with age.”  We will continue providing accurate, objective and comprehensive news via shortwave, television, social media and any other new medium our audiences use. Stay tuned!

MLK’s ‘Dream’ Lives On

VOA and BBG highlight diversity with program that resonates across cultures

“I walked three miles along a dirt road to a one-room school,” said Dr. Charlie Nelms, as he shared his humble beginnings at a January program marking the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King.

The chancellor of North Carolina Central University said he credits the faith of his parents and four decisions he made on the day of King’s assassination, in 1968, for the drive that has helped him overcome obstacles in life, including his rough childhood in rural Arkansas.  He and his 10 siblings lived in a place where electricity was a “scarcity,” said Nelms,  along with “clean water, indoor plumbing and a roof that didn’t leak.”

Nelms’ four decisions were: to not be angry, to treat people with respect, to become an agent for change and to hold on to his parents’ faith in the power of education, the right to vote and owning land.

“Hold fast to dreams,” said Nelms in his keynote address, borrowing a line from a Langston Hughes poem. 

VOA Director David Ensor also reflected on King’s influence as he introduced Nelms. He called the civil rights leader’s “I Have a Dream”speech  “one of those big events in history.”  Ensor said King’s powerful speech at the Lincoln Memorial may have helped spark his interest in becoming a journalist.  He described watching the speech on TV, as a young boy in 1963.

And, the Morgan State University Choir belted out a spiritual rendition of the words of King’s famous “Dream” speech.

VOA and its parent organization, the Broadcasting Board of Governors, hosted the King commemoration. The program was sponsored by the Southwest Interagency, a group comprised of six government agencies.  More to come from this group.  Its upcoming events include programs for Black History Month, Women’s History Month, Holocaust Remembrance Day and Asian Pacific American Heritage Month.

For more information on upcoming events, check out the homepage for the BBG’s Office of Civil Rights.

Deewa Radio Now on TV!

Audience spurs Deewa radio to add TV

“The best way to keep and grow your audience,” explains Deewa Radio Chief Nafees Takar, “is to listen to them and keep up with their needs.” The popular Deewa Radio has done this since its first broadcast in 2006. Now, Takar says, his listeners in northwestern Pakistan have prompted another programming change.

Deewa Radio is now Deewa Radio and TV. The Pashto language radio show expanded on January 9th to include a daily television simulcast. “More and more of the show’s fans are moving to television, so we’re going to be there as well,” explains Takar.

“It’s a big jump,” he adds. “It’s an attempt to get more access in the region and also to diversify.”

Takar says the idea of reaching out to the growing number of Pakistanis with satellite TV began a few years ago. Deewa started with “baby steps,” he said, which included putting video clips on the Web.

Deewa’s listeners and viewers are getting a lively mix of news, current events, health, education and entertainment. Its feature segments profile American Muslims who share their concepts of the “American Dream” with the Pakistani audience. They also explain how they educate their kids in the U.S. and observe their religion. For other segments, Pashtun artists, poets and writers share their life stories.

“Everyone was excited,” said show anchor Rahman Bunairee. He said right after the first show, two of his friends in the region contacted him through Facebook to say they were watching and listening.

“Audience members can relate better, now that they can see us,” adds co-anchor Mahwash Jaleel.

The one-hour show airs at 10 P.M. Peshawar time, reaching people in Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Area and several surrounding provinces in the volatile border region. The Deewa Service is planning to expand coverage to include more visual elements, Americana and cultural stories from Pakistan.

Check out DeewaRadio.com to see one of the shows and some of the other programming.

In Memory of Ferdinand Ferella

Un membre respecté de l’équipe de la Voix de l’Amérique

VOA French to Africa reporter Ferdinand Ferella, one of the most respected and well-known journalists in Central Africa, passed away December 13 following a battle with lung cancer.  He was 59.

Born in Rouen, France in 1952, Ferdinand worked at Radio Canada International before joining VOA in the late 1980s. As a reporter for VOA he traveled frequently to the Democratic Republic of Congo, where his dedication to balance and accuracy built credibility and a loyal audience.

Ferdinand Ferella with Pres. Denis Sassou N'Guesso, Republic of Congo

Friends called his influence in the Democratic Republic of Congo “astounding.”  Many journalists held him in such high regard they named their children after him.  One of his listeners once wrote he should be nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize for his reporting.

Longtime French to Africa Service Chief and friend Idrissa Dia, who worked with Ferdinand for the past 25 years, called him “an extraordinary journalist because of the way he practiced his craft in a sometimes explosive environment.  He had passion for the story, but he was very demanding, very, very meticulous about sourcing and fairness, and high officials knew they would have credibility if they spoke to him.”

Ferdinand Ferella with journalists he trained in Goma, DRC

VOA Director David Ensor called Ferdinand “one of the most respected journalists in Africa,” whose reporting was responsible for much of VOA’s audience.

In addition to his reporting, Ferdinand was also a mentor, training hundreds of journalists in Congo, carefully monitoring their work and helping them hone their skills.

VOA’s French to Africa Service has established a memorial page on their website for Ferdinand, already including many appreciative audience comments in French and English, along with audio tributes and photos from his career. Please visit and share your thoughts or memories, or learn more about this respected journalist, colleague, and friend.

Ferdinand Ferella interviews President Joseph Kabila, Democratic Republic of Congo

No Worries in the Swahili Service

A glimpse into VOA Swahili’s past, present, and future

Before the Disney movie “The Lion King” made “hakuna matata” (there are no worries) the world’s most widely known Swahili phrase in 1994, VOA had already broadcast Swahili to Africa’s East and Great Lakes regions for more than 30 years.

VOA began Swahili as a one-hour daily show in 1962. It was the first African language service established by Voice of America. Now it delivers a wide range of topics, from news and entertainment to sports and women’s development. It reaches millions of listeners each week with accurate and comprehensive information across multiple media platforms.

“The first time I came to the U.S. was for reporting the 1984 Summer Olympics. After having lived in a country with limited information, I was surprised by the U.S.’s prosperity and freedom,” said Mwamoyo Hamza, chief of the Swahili Service. This trip to the U.S. influenced Hamza to go study in the U.S. After he graduated from Washington, D.C.’s Howard University with double majors in Journalism and Mass Communication, Hamza found a position in the VOA Swahili Service. In transitioning from a regular listener to a service chief, Hamza’s legendary story inspires every employee in the Service.

“International media is more powerful and reliable in my country (Tanzania),” Hamza explains. Speaking of the competition between VOA and other international media agencies, Hamza said, “We have a lot of challenges. Budget issues are the major concern for us.” Although the Service only broadcasts an hour a day, this helps them devote more attention to developing their content. “We don’t only report an event: instead, we always think about why this event happened. This has more meaning than just the event itself.”

Their reports are not only heard on shortwave frequencies and on local radio stations in several countries, but also online. This modification helped them to expand their listenership in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

VOA Swahili always keeps in step with the times. As the social media wave continues growing globally, the Service established Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, e-mails, phone calls, texts, and other online services for better communication with its listeners.

Hamza believes that combining great content with technology and innovation will create a better space for the Swahili Service. We’re looking forward to see what new success VOA Swahili will achieve!

Inside VOA Khmer

Delivering news of justice to Khmer Rouge Victims

Thirty years after the Khmer Rouge regime wrought terror throughout Cambodia, the regime’s leaders are being tried for their crimes in the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC). Given the pervasive impact of the regime, comprehensive and accurate coverage of the Khmer tribunals is crucial for all Cambodians; fortunately, VOA Khmer Service is dedicated to bringing it to them.

“I would be surprised if there is a single person who survived this regime without losing at least one member of their family,” explains Kimseng Men, a broadcaster with VOA’s Khmer Service. Kimseng himself is no exception; having lost his own father and brother to the Khmer Rouge, he realizes that not only is the success of these trials important, but also that all Cambodians must have access to balanced news about the progress. And difficult as it may be, he and other journalists must separate their emotions from their reporting. “We journalists should not put our emotions in the way we report, but this is the day where people will see perpetrators being brought to justice, and justice will be served to the 1.7 million people killed,” he says.

VOA’s coverage of the tribunals has not been exempt from controversy. On August 31st, co-investigating judges at the United Nations-backed Cambodian tribunal issued a “contempt of court proceedings” related to the Khmer Service’s reports for allegedly exposing information from confidential court documents in a report and video published on VOA’s website on August 10th, and furthermore “interfering with the administration of justice.” VOA expressed concern about these warnings and a possible “chilling effect” as a result.

Despite such challenges, the Khmer Service has continued its commitment to covering the tribunals, providing special coverage upon their reopening on November 21st. Kimseng explains, “On the date of the beginning of the trial, I moderated a special session of Hello VOA to which I invited a survivor of the infamous Cambodian prison, S-21, who now has an association that represents other survivors.  We also had another special Hello VOA program to discuss one of the civil party representatives, who decided to pull out of the trial because of her loss of trust in the court.”

November 21st hearing at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, Phnom Penh. Reuters

According to Kimseng, “VOA is the number one media outlet that focuses on critical issues in Cambodia,” with Hello VOA as its flagship program. “The problem is that there is not much accurate coverage of the tribunals. By listening to us, Cambodians are able to hear more about them. People pass us first hand information, and we get the scoop. We give everyone a chance to talk. It is not our position to say what is right and wrong. We want the court to be successful so that it can work to deliver justice to the victims.” As the trials progress, VOA plans to continue delivering the news that millions have been waiting to hear for over three decades.

Starting a Dialogue with “Citoyens Journalistes”

Using Phones to Engage the Congolese people

Wivine, new citizen journalist from Likasi, DRC

During October 2011, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Bart Childs assisted in training local coordinators for the “Citoyens Journalistes” (Citizen Journalists) program. A VOA social media project using Facebook and Twitter, the initiative is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and seeks to engage everyday people on matters important to them. The program employs a small device that many people around the world take for granted – the cell-phone.

The ten coordinators Childs trained then trained 100 other citizens, who were each given a phone with Internet capability and taught to effectively post and hunt for information using social media. In return for receiving the phones, these 100 individuals are to post video, audio, or text at least once a week and those with French skills were avidly recruited. Rather than reporting on hard news, says Childs, their aim is to open a dialogue amongst the people. Phones make this dialogue possible because of their accessibility; Internet cafes within the country are often difficult and expensive to use, while phone coverage is relatively stable and widespread.

Voter identity card is checked during the November 28, 2011 elections

Childs says there are vastly more participants who, along with these 100, post on Facebook and Twitter about such topics as violence in the Eastern Congo and the travel trails of presidential candidates competing in the election. Pleasantly surprised by the response, Childs says the program has so far been a success. “I didn’t expect people to be so interested,” says Childs. “I was floored when I found out how enthusiastic they were.” He notes that the current Minister of Information, Lambert Mende, declared himself a fan of the Facebook group. Mende has stated that “Citoyens Journalistes” will “help the world discover the Congo [as place known for] other than its more or less alarmist, often negative and pessimistic connections.” The program, however, remains aimed at the average person, and Childs makes it a point to state that even the salesman he bought coverage from became a citizen journalist.

Childs didn’t only buy the coverage in the Congo – he says the phones were bought there as well. Still, buying the phones in-country didn’t mean the practical setup of “Citoyens Journalistes” was simple. Despite the enthusiasm of the participants and the government’s tolerance, the logistical complexities of setting up such a program in Central Africa were numerous. For example, the program not only had to deal with bureaucratic complexities of setting up such a program in Central Africa, but also the occasional struggle with loading monetary credits onto phones. Childs acknowledges still other obstacles, such as physically getting and distributing the money needed to keep the phones running, as the banks within the DRC are notoriously unstructured.

Despite these challenges, Childs expresses great hope in the possibilities of further expansion, given that only two months have passed for the eighteen month project. Though he is no longer as involved as he was at the outset, he expects to visit the DRC in the future. After all, the project is gaining traction: “I’m still amazed by how fast it grew,” says Childs.