Voice of America
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|---|---|
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| Radio station ( State Broadcasting ) | |
| reception | Livestream (Internet) shortwave broadcasting satellite |
| Reception area | Worldwide |
| Start of transmission | 1942 |
| owner | United States government |
| List of radio stations | |
| Website | |
The Voice of America ( VOA ; German also Voice of America ) is the official state foreign broadcaster of the USA based in Washington, DC and is financed by Congress. In addition to English , the VOA broadcasts in 43 other languages and produces news, information and cultural programs.
history
The VOA was founded in 1942 by the War Reporting Office and was supposed to produce radio programs for Germany- occupied Europe and North Africa . The VOA used shortwave transmitters provided by CBS and NBC . On February 24, 1942, the “Voice of America” started a German-language program via facilities in England, from which the RIAS Berlin later emerged. This date has now turned out to be out of date; in fact, the first program in German was broadcast on February 1, 1942. There were German broadcasts in 1942–60 and 1991–93. 1945 transmitters in Ismaning near Munich were taken over by the VOA. On February 17, 1947, the VOA started broadcasting for the Soviet Union .
From 1948 to 1953, the United States Department of State published a program brochure in several languages, including German. These approximately DIN A 5 large The Voice of America books had a volume of around 20 pages from 1950 onwards. The front pages showed high-quality photographs of American public figures, cropped on white, such as the initiator of the Marshall Plan , US Secretary of State George C. Marshall . The editorial part drew seamlessly positive scenes from the inner workings of a modern democratic society, always in connection with the radio. This ranged from a report on the new studio electronics presented in New York (a color television camera weighing only 13.5 kg) to an interview with the writer Upton Sinclair for the series “In the broadcast car through America” to portraits of employees of the Voice of America (approx "Miss Alice Thomas", the shorthand typist in the editorial office, with a transcription speed of 200 words per minute). "Listeners' voices" showed largely positive post from listeners; However, from some letters there was also a skepticism towards the war winners USA:
“Although I am immune to your verbal and written propaganda, I would like to ask you not to send me your text 'Voice of America' in the future, because as a peace-loving person I must be ashamed of being in correspondence with you. "
"[I came to] the realization that I was politically on the wrong track ... Because of your explanations [...] I detest my ignorantly trodden path, because as an electrical engineer I was only devoted to my profession - blind and ignorant, without to have ever belonged to a political direction - succumbed to the influence of the CP. "
About half of the booklet made up program lists and reception frequencies. At the end of 1950, you could receive "In the broadcast vehicle through America" directly from the USA via shortwave 25, 19, 16 and 13 meters, or via local German transmitters on medium and long wave, above all the RIAS on the wavelength 303 meters. The focus on the newly founded GDR was striking here, demonstratively called " East Zone " in the program booklet :
“The Voice of America also broadcasts“ America calls Berlin and the East Zone ”every day from 00.05 to 00.20 German time (23.05 to 23.20 GMT ) via RIAS Berlin on medium wave. The most important parts of this broadcast will be repeated on the following morning from 5.35 to 5.40 (4.35 to 4.40 GMT) also via RIAS-Berlin. "
The station stopped the program in the spring of 1953.
In 1954 the VoA headquarters was relocated from New York to Washington DC.
program
Broadcasting began in German on February 1, 1942. A spokesman for the newly founded government broadcaster announced in the language of the enemy:
“Every day at this time, we will be talking to you about America and the war.
The news may be good or bad, we want to tell you the truth. "
At the height of the world war it was broadcast in 40 languages. In the French-speaking department of the station z. B. André Breton , Pierre Lazareff, Claude Lévi-Strauss , Yul Brynner , Klaus Mann . After May 8, 1945 it was broadcast in 24 languages. The Korean War brought the program to 46 languages, followed by a reduction to 34 languages as early as 1953.
"Finding people who speak exotic languages and who are also suitable for broadcasting is the great feat ..."
once said Hans N. Tuch from the broadcaster's supervisory board. As a result of the Iran crisis , a public discussion in the United States began about the usefulness of the “voice of America”, which had not broadcast programs in Persian during the years of the friendly Shah regime.
Today's program mandate is set out in 22 USC § 6202 (c) .
The English-language programs mainly consist of a news program VOA - News Now . Some programs in Special English (English as a foreign language) with a smaller vocabulary and lighter sentence structure are also on offer. There are no more programs in German since the German service, which emerged from the Berlin RIAS correspondent office in 1991, ceased its programs on October 1, 1993. Most recently, a half-hour program was broadcast which was broadcast on shortwave in the 49- and 75-meter bands and which carried exclusively word programs with news and reports about the United States.
The 24-hour program in Arabic under the name Radio Sawa is not produced by VOA, but by Middle East Broadcasting Networks . It is aimed specifically at a younger audience and is broadcast on local stations on FM and AM in most Arabic-speaking countries . A program in Persian for Iran is broadcast in cooperation with Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty under the name Radio Farda ( German : Radio Morgen).
Other international channels in the USA that are related to the VOA are:
- Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty (RFE / RL) (also produce Radio Free Afghanistan and Radio Free Iraq )
- Radio Free Asia (RFA)
- Radio Farda (broadcasts for Iran, cooperation with RFE / RL)
- Radio and TV Martí (broadcasts for Cuba by the Office of Cuba Broadcasting )
Administration and supervision
As the 28th Director ( Intendant ) of Voice of America, David Ensor has been at the helm of the six-person management since June 2011 .
During the Cold War, the VOA broadcast under the auspices of the United States Information Agency (USIA).
VOA is subordinate to the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) and is therefore subject to the funding and program supervision of the budget committees of the House of Representatives and the Senate .
technology
Before the invention of the Internet, programs from Washington headquarters were sent by satellite or radio waves to 101 stations, 68 of which were abroad - for example near Munich, Greece, Liberia, the Philippines and Sri Lanka. The programs were broadcast directly to the target areas by the broadcasters. The transmission facilities and their technical support are, as with all non-military US foreign channels, the responsibility of the International Broadcasting Bureau (IBB), which the Broadcasting Board of Governors is (BBG) was assumed. This always led to discussions and speculations about the influence of the US government on the content of the programs. Transmission order of the VOA is to produce a comprehensive information program for foreign countries. There are no domestic programs for the USA, but the VOA can also be received within the USA via shortwave and the Internet .
During the Cold War , broadcasts were severely affected by jammers in the Soviet Union (so-called jamming ). Today the VOA rents broadcasting equipment in the CIS countries for the transmission of its programs.
The VOA uses shortwave transmission systems of the IBB in Delano / California and Greenville / North Carolina in the USA and has a worldwide network of relay stations on Ascension , in Botswana , Germany , Great Britain , Greece , Morocco , on the Northern Mariana Islands , the Philippines , Russia , São Tomé and Príncipe , Sri Lanka , Tajikistan and Thailand .
On April 8, 2014, in connection with the crisis in Ukraine , Russia switched off the broadcast of the radio station on the frequencies of the Voice of Russia . It was said to end all cooperation. The Radio Liberty program will continue to be broadcast on Radio Swoboda in Russia.
Web links
- Official site of the VOA (English)
- Old VOA programs (German)
Individual evidence
- ^ Mission and Values. Retrieved February 14, 2020 .
- ↑ a b "Voice of America" discontinues a German program ( memento of the original from October 2, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on radiojournal.de, accessed on August 22, 2009. Offline on September 8, 2011.
- ^ The Voice of America Origins and Recollections II. In: American Diplomacy. January 2011, accessed January 31, 2012 .
- ^ Ted Lipien: Voice of America History
- ↑ Ismaning transmitter near Munich . See also the agreement between the Federal Republic of Germany and the United States of America on the operation of certain radio systems within the Federal Republic of June 11, 1952 ( Federal Law Gazette 1953 II p. 515 ); BT-Drs. 1/3726 .
- ↑ The other language versions of the magazine were Spanish, English, French, Italian, Portuguese, Chinese, and Korean.
- ↑ means the Communist Party of Germany KPD.
- ↑ ADDX archive , accessed 13 April 2012
- ↑ a b Hour of the Propagandists . In: Der Spiegel . No. 12 , 1980, pp. 156-157 ( online ).
- ↑ Kai Ludwig. In: Glenn Hauser. DX Listening Digest 11-15 . April 14, 2011. Retrieved April 18, 2011: “VOA has nothing to do with this. Radio Sawa is produced by yet another US international broadcasting entity, called Middle East Broadcasting Networks to which VOA had to surrender all Arabic-language activities after this entity had been founded in 2002. "
- ↑ Key Executives, website of VOA, accessed on May 6, 2014 (English)
- ↑ Russia switched off Voice of America . In: Tiroler Tageszeitung , April 8, 2014
