Earlier Highlights
- Young-Ran Jeon won the 2010 New York Festivals Gold World Trophy for National/International Affairs for her three-part radio series on North Korean migrant workers in Vladivostok, Russia. Jeon’s reports provided rare insight into the hardships that the workers endure in order to earn a higher income than is possible in North Korea.
- Reporter Jessica Beinecke was “highly commended” by the Association of International Broadcasters in the category of Best Creative TV feature for her Mandarin program Bai Jie Speaks English.
- VOA’s Thai Service received an honorary award from Bangkok’s Thammasat University, a top institution of higher learning in Thailand, in recognition of 15 years of teaching classes.
- Myroslava Gangadze, the host of Chas-Time, was named one of the 100 Most Influential Women in Ukraine by Focus Magazine, a popular newsweekly, for the second year in a row.
- The Bedirxan Cultural Foundation, based in northern Iraq, held its 7th annual festival in Washington, DC, under the theme of “Cultural Bridges between Kurds and Americans.” The foundation gave VOA’s Kurdish Service an award for its exceptional contribution to the local media.
- Haitians, cut off from the world by a devastating earthquake in January 2010, tuned in to special shortwave and satellite radio broadcasts from the Voice of America’s Creole Service to learn the latest news and information. “In times of crises, VOA is a lifeline of information,” said VOA Director Danforth Austin. “Because of our technologies, we are able to reach people in their own languages when disasters strike.” ”
- VOA’s Russian service continues to keep consumers up-to-date using the latest technology. In March 2010, the service launched a new website for cell phone users in the Russian Federation’s rapidly expanding web market. The new URL automatically adapts to a user’s mobile phone – allowing easy and convenient access to the VOA Russian-language Internet site. “With Russia’s quickly evolving new media landscape, we are constantly adapting to new realities,” said Elez Biberaj, VOA Eurasia Division Director.
- VOA’s Persian News Network continues to cover events inside Iran, following the controversial election in June 2009 of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. In June of 2010, VOA was granted rights to air the HBO documentary For Neda, the tragic story of the young Iranian woman, Neda Agha-Soltan, who was shot and killed during the turmoil that followed the election. The program tells Neda’s personal story, and features previously unseen footage. VOA’s PNN has the largest combined television and radio audience in Iran of all international broadcasters, with nearly 20% of adult Iranians watching a VOA program at least once a week.
- VOA was on the scene in South Africa, boosting its multimedia coverage of the World Cup with daily reports, special features, videos, and photos. Among the broadcasters covering the tournament- hosts from the Persian News Network, Spanish-language VOANoticias, and popular English host Sonny Young. VOA Executive Editor Steve Redisch said: “People all over the globe are passionate about football, and VOA is determined to provide our worldwide audience with as much coverage, analysis and color as possible.”
