Voice of America
The Voice of America (VOA) is an international multimedia broadcasting service funded by the U.S. government. VOA broadcasts more than 1,000 hours of news, informational, educational, and cultural programs every week to an audience of some 94 million people worldwide. VOA programs are produced and broadcast in 45 languages through radio, satellite television, and the Internet.
Languages: VOA produces programming in 45 languages: Afan Oromo, Cantonese, Hindi, Mandarin, Swahili, Albanian, Creole, Indonesian, Ndebele, Thai, Amharic, Croatian, Khmer, Pashto, Tibetan, Arabic, Dari, Kinyarwanda, Persian, Tigrigna, Armenian, English, Kirundi, Portuguese, Turkish, Azerbaijani, French, Korean, Russian, Ukrainian, Bangla, Georgian, Kurdish, Serbian, Urdu, Bosnian, Greek, Lao, Shona, Uzbek, Burmese, Hausa, Macedonian, Spanish, Vietnamese.
Budget: For Fiscal Year 2003, the U.S. Congress appropriated $160 million for VOA, including funds for radio and television, exclusive of transmission and other support activities.
Employees: The Voice of America employs more than 1,200 employees who are posted in the U.S. and overseas.
VOA Correspondents: VOA has more than 30 correspondents at 22 news bureaus in the U.S. and many other countries along with several hundred freelance writers, known as "stringers," around the world.
Tuning in to VOA: VOA broadcasts via shortwave, AM, and FM radio, satellite television and the Internet via www.voanews.com. Section 501 of the Smith-Mundt Act of 1948 prohibits VOA from broadcasting into the United States.
Schedule Information: A VOA Program Guide is available online. It includes schedules, frequencies, and articles. Shortwave frequencies are also available separately. To receive print versions, you can send an e-mail to letters@VOA.gov or write to the Audience Mail Unit, Voice of America, 330 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20237.
VOA Television: Television programs are produced in English and other languages, including Arabic, Albanian, Bosnian, English, French, Indonesian, Mandarin, Persian, Russian, Serbian, Spanish, and Ukrainian.
Transmitting Stations: A global network of transmitting stations (including three domestic) operated by the International Broadcasting Bureau, along with some leased stations, send VOA's programs to its international audience via satellite, shortwave, and medium wave.
VOA Headquarters: VOA is headquartered in Washington, D.C., at the foot of Capitol Hill on Independence Avenue, between 3rd and 4th Streets, S.W. Most programming is produced at this location and broadcast to listeners, viewers, and affiliate stations around the world. The building is equipped with more than 40 radio studios and four television studios, a digital stereo master control with 432 incoming circuits and 360 outgoing circuits, and two centers to record reports from VOA correspondents around the world.
History: VOA began in response to the need of peoples in closed and war-torn societies for a consistently reliable and authoritative source of news. The first VOA broadcast originated from New York City on February 24, 1942, just 79 days after the United States entered World War II. Speaking in German, announcer William Harlan Hale told his listeners, "Here speaks a voice from America. Every day at this time we will bring you the news of the war. The news may be good. The news may be bad. We shall tell you the truth."
QSL Card or Reception Report: In order to receive a QSL card or a reception report please send your request to VOA and include the time in UTC, the date of the broadcast, the frequency and a short comment about the program. Reception reports can be sent via email to letters@VOA.gov or to the Audience Mail unit at the Voice of America, 330 Independence Ave., S.W., Washington, D.C. 20237. The information will then be verified, and VOA will respond with a signed QSL.
Employment Opportunities: VOA job listings and information on internship opportunities can be accessed online, or you may call VOA’s job hotline at (202) 619-0909, or inquire about an internship at (202) 619-3117. Didn't find what you need? Please email your question to publicaffairs@voa.gov, or call us at (202) 401-7000.
VOA Charter
To protect the integrity of VOA programming and define the organization's mission, the VOA Charter was drafted in 1960 and later signed into law on July 12, 1976, by President Gerald Ford.
The long-range interests of the United States are served by communicating directly with the peoples of the world by radio. To be effective, the Voice of America must win the attention and respect of listeners. These principles will therefore govern Voice of America (VOA) broadcasts.
(Public Law 94-350)
- VOA will serve as a consistently reliable and authoritative source of news. VOA news will be accurate, objective, and comprehensive.
- 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.
- VOA will present the policies of the United States clearly and effectively, and will also present responsible discussions and opinion on these policies.