The Voice of America, the largest U.S. international broadcaster, reaches an estimated audience of 134 million weekly by radio (shortwave, FM, AM and satellite), television (satellite and cable), and Internet in 45 languages. VOA has a worldwide network of more than 1,200 local radio and television affiliate stations. VOA, through www.VOANews.com, uses technology to expand the reach of its programs, updating news and information with photos, audio, and video, RSS feeds and Podcasts. The website is ranked as one of the top sources of news and information found through Google News. VOA provides reliable news, balanced reporting, and informative features around the clock, focusing on countries that lack a strong, independent media. The VOA Charter requires that broadcasts:

The VOA Charter, which became the basis for all BBG broadcasters, requires that broadcasts:

• Be accurate, objective, and comprehensive.
• Represent all segments of American society and present a balanced and comprehensive view of significant American thought and institutions.
• Clearly present the policies of the United States.

VOA-TV produces programs in more than 20 languages, including news reports, feature magazines, and live call-in shows. TV broadcasts include original and acquired programs that reflect American life along with discussions on United States foreign and domestic policies.

VOA's Internet provides continually updated news and information with photos, audio, and video. RSS feeds and Podcasts are also available.

RECENT HIGHLIGHTS:

• VOA responded to the unprecedented global interest in the U.S. presidential election by providing unmatched multimedia and comprehensive coverage from the Iowa caucuses to the party conventions to the victory and concession speeches. The election provided rich opportunities to fulfill several key strategic goals for U.S. international broadcasting by engaging the world in conversation about America, explaining the democratic process to audiences in authoritarian or closed societies, and facilitating global discourse using interactive programs and technologies. VOA’s USAVotes2008 Web site epitomized the interactivity of election coverage, by using blogs, discussion boards and quizzes to create an online community. It successfully attracted visitors from over 150 countries within its first week. VOA, Radio and TV Marti, and Alhurra TV and Radio Sawa provided live daily coverage with simultaneous translation of key speeches.
• In March, VOA responded to the violent crackdown by Chinese authorities in Tibet by expanding broadcasts. VOA also provided compelling coverage of the Tibetan situation and regularly broke news stories including an exclusive interview with the Dalai Lama. The Associated Press and other news organizations picked up a VOA TV exclusive on Aku Jigme, an innocent monk who was detained and tortured following the unrest. VOA and RFA each expanded radio programs by two additional hours daily. VOA also doubled its weekly Tibetan-language television programming from one to two hours via the AsiaSat 3 satellite. Tibet's media is tightly controlled and most Tibetans are deeply suspicious of Chinese domestic media coverage. BBG audience research, while limited to Tibetan refugees in Nepal, indicates that VOA and RFA are among the most well known foreign broadcasters and an important source of information in a society where word of mouth is the top way to share news.
• In August, when Russia invaded Georgia’s breakaway region of South Ossetia, RFE/RL and VOA increased broadcasts to the region, dispatched correspondents and offered listeners interviews with high ranking officials. The Voice of America (VOA) doubled its Georgian language broadcasts in the wake of fighting between Georgia and Russia in the breakaway province of South Ossetia. VOA's Georgian Service produced a 60-minute program daily with news, information, interviews, analysis and reaction to the crisis in the former Soviet Republic, an increase from the former 30-minute program. The Georgian broadcasts are carried nationwide on a FM network as well as on shortwave frequencies. Reporters and stringers on the ground provided VOA with reports from inside the country, which is slightly smaller than the state of South Carolina and has about 4.6 million people.
• When a devastating earthquake killed more than 75,000 people and left millions more homeless in China’s Sichuan Province last May, VOA’s Mandarin and English reporters travelled to the most damaged regions to report on the aftermath. VOA reporters and photographers were on the first plane allowed to fly from Beijing to the scene, and among the first to broadcast the reality of the disaster. PBS’s Lehrer News Hour included VOA TV’s vivid reports in its coverage of the catastrophe. VOA broadcast extensive reports and photographs of damage from the earthquake, focusing on rescue efforts, the extent of the damage, the aftershocks, and poignant reactions of the many people directly affected by the tragedy.
• VOA’s Spanish television news and cultural program El Mundo al Dia (The World Today) premiered on the popular MGM channel, which reaches 20 million households in 19 countries across Central and South America. El Mundo al Dia brought the Voice of America's (VOA) television audiences in Venezuela, Colombia and other Andean nations a comprehensive new daily 30-minute Spanish-language news program. The show features news updates, exclusive interviews, and reports from Washington, D.C., and elsewhere in the United States. El Mundo al Dia replaced VOA Noticas, which had been on the air since June 2007.