A little
more than seven weeks after the United States officially entered World War II,
a live, 15-minute shortwave radio broadcast was transmitted into Germany from a
small studio in New York City on February 1, 1942.
It was
introduced by the American patriotic song "The Battle Hymn of the
Republic." Then, announcer William Harlan Hale's voice could be heard
saying: “We bring you Voices from America. Today, and daily from now on, we
shall speak to you about America and the war. The news may be good for us. The
news may be bad. But we shall tell you the truth.”
That was the
very first broadcast from what, 75 years later, is now the
Washington-headquartered Voice of America.
By the end
of the war, VOA was broadcasting in 40 languages, with programming consisting
of music, news and commentary.
Since then,
VOA has grown into a multimedia international broadcasting service, with
programming and content in 47 languages on multiple platforms, including radio,
television and mobile.
On that
first broadcast, announcer Hale's words set the standard for future programs.
And since
1976, his words have carried the weight of the VOA Charter, which by law
requires VOA to “serve as a consistently reliable and authoritative source of
news.” What’s more, it says VOA news must “be accurate, objective and
comprehensive.”
“It’s been
75 years since we first began broadcasting objective news and information
around the world,” said VOA Director Amanda Bennett. “And now, I think what we
do here is more important than ever.”
Over the
years, VOA correspondents and freelance reporters in many parts of the world
have been on the scene to cover major world events.
Today, VOA
broadcasts news and other programming through 2,500 television and radio
affiliates around the world. At the same time, it provides content for mobile
devices and interacts with audiences through social media.
As of 2016,
VOA's weekly audience across all platforms averaged more than 236 million
people worldwide.
(VOANews)
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