VOA Afghan Service Chief at SAIS

http://www.sais-jhu.edu/news-and-events/index.htm#jawad


Voice of America’s Beth Mendelson, Chief of VOA’s Afghan Service, was a
panelist today at a John’s Hopkins University School of Advanced
International Studies discussion, “Afghanistan: Where Do We Go From Here?”
with keynote speaker Said Tayeb Jawad.

The event, sponsored by SAIS’s Center on Politics and Foreign Relations and
moderated by CPFR Director Robert Guttman, examined the Afghan perspective
on the Obama administration’s new war strategy for Afghanistan which
includes a major military surge of 30,000 additional U.S. troops and an 18
month timetable to drawdown American forces serving in Afghanistan.

Ambassador Jawad acknowledged his land-locked country will have a steep task
accommodating the arrival of 30,000 fresh troops, the first of which are set
to deploy within weeks. The ambassador added efforts to improve relations
with neighboring countries will help ensure there is support for the new
recruits.

The ambassador also said the U.S. success in Afghanistan will involve
efforts to engage and understand the needs of the Afghan people.

Along with Ambassador Jawad and Mr. Guttman, Mendelson was joined on the
panel by Daniel Dombey, diplomatic correspondent at the Financial Times. Video
and audio of the discussion can be seen at the SAIS Web site at
http://www.sais-jhu.edu/index.html.

VOA Expands Audience: The Washington Post

VOA's Expands Audience -- Nice piece that quotes me! in today's Front Section of the Washington Post. check it out

Voice of America expands audience
Latin America becomes a focus as leaders there criticize U.S.
Washington Post - November 24, 2009
MIAMI -- Facing a group of presidents loudly critical of Washington, the U.S. government's Voice of America broadcast is expanding its audience in Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador and Nicaragua, VOA officials said.
...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/23/AR2009112303863.html

Afghan Star

Just wanted to make sure people know that Afghan Star -- Daoud Sediqi -- who was the American Idol of Afghanistan is now working for VOA

Board To Death | The New Republic

Board To Death | The New Republic

Pakistan's Audience in NWFP Hears More VOA

Pasto-speaking Pakistanis are able to hear the popular Deewa Radio more effectively as of this week thanks to an arrangement that allows the broadcasts on AM radio. Already, the new transmission is getting a good reaction. People are calling the live call-in shows to report they are hearing the programs more clearly on AM 540 from Peshawar. Deewa produces 9 hours a day of high-quality programs.

Upcoming At VOA

August is generally a slow time in Washington, but we're gearing up for September. Please keep checking our website and other sites -- a Zimbabwe program, a VOA Photo Exhibit, Calendar. Stay tuned.

Kolkata Workshop on Avian/Swine Influenza

Am here in Kolkata to help organize a workshop on for journalists and others on covering avian and pandemic/swine flu. They are taking swine very seriously here. At the airport, they take a form, your temperature and your pulse before allowing you to proceed to Customs. Everyone wears masks. I was impressed with the level of concern in tracking people coming into the country. More later.

VOA on the Hill

House members were really supportive of VOA at a hearing of the Foreign Affairs' subcommittee on Europe. Rep. Robert Wexler, the chairman, said international broadcasting was a "top priority" for President Obama. He added: "It is imperative that Congress provide additional funding and resources to give U.S. international broadcasters the tools they need to ensure the free flow of information." Check out VOA Director Dan Austin's testimony
http://www.voanews.com/english/About/2009-07-23-austin-testimony.cfm

SMS in Kenya

VOA just launched an SMS project in Kenya. In Swahili! Safaricom users will not be able to get text messages on their phones. SMS is really taking off in Africa. We had an earlier project during the Zimbabwe elections. Stay tuned...

VOA in Iran

VOA's continuing to broadcast into Iran. The government is trying to shut down Internet sites and jam broadcasts. We're still getting the news into Iran, however. We've even set up a special page to honor Neda, the 26-year-old woman who was slain during the demonstations.
http://www.voanews.com/persian/2009-06-24-voa16.cfm

And if you want to see VOA in action, check ohttp://bbgtunein.blogspot.com/2009/06/wusa-highlights-voas-pnn.htmlut this:

The role of women in Iran

This week has been exciting as VOA dominates the air waves going into Tehran. Thousands of Iranians are sending videos, emails and making calls -- up to one email a second -- as the post-election turmoil continues. One interesting observation: the number of women involved in the protests. VOA's show "Today's Woman" has been focusing on that. Check out www.voanews.com for the latest, and here's a story quoting me in the LA Times. Stay tuned. Joan http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iNjRcVeBG7x0QZ8p-AQIVSBuFKQwD98TTTP80

Iranians Watched Obama Speech on VOA

As Christiane Amanpour pointed out on CNN, Iranians were watching President Obama's spech on VOA -- which is illegal in Iran! There's a lot people breaking the law out there! Our surveys show one in four adults in Iran watches VOA. More later..

Also moderated a terrific panel at the Center for International Media Assistance (www.cima.ned.org) It looked at Radio's Role in Democracy and Development. Three of the most inspiring journalists ever -- Santoso of Indonesia, Tasneem Ahmar of Pakistan and Grace Githaiga of Kenya talked about their work. More to come

More on VOA Broadcasting in Pakistan

I'd like to pass along Kim Andrew Elliott's comments (http://kimelli.nfshost.com) about Rep. Mark Kirk's call for an investigation of VOA quotes from Taliban officials. Kim has succinctly defined VOA's role:

"Broadcasts that provide only the non-Taliban side of the story would not be "counter-programming." They would just be more propaganda. Real counter-programming is accurate, reliable, balanced news, which must necessarily include coverage of what opponents are doing and saying. If decision makers want to use broadcast media to transmit one-sided broadcasts into Afghanistan and Pakistan, they can do so. They can be public diplomacy under State, or information operations under Defense, as long as they are not part of or confused with US international broadcasting under the Broadcasting Board of Governors. While Taliban one-sided broadcasting might appeal to local prejudices and ideologies, US one-sided broadcasting would not (unless it is an uncommonly clever "black" clandestine operation). The latter would therefore probably not have much of an audience.

Washington Times Doesn't Tell the Whole VOA Story

Today's Washington Times (http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jun/02/voice-of-taliban-on-voa-queried/) features a story about VOA's coverage of Pakistan. REp. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., has called for an investigation of VOA for quoting the Taliban in stories. I think VOA Director Dan Austin says it all when he points out that in order to be a credible news source, VOA does have to quote sides. But VOA doesn't provide a platform for terrorists, has strict editorial guidelines and puts interviews in context. In sum: We are a news organization -- not a propaganda machine. And some people-- particularly those in the U.S. Government -- have a hard time getting their head around this notion that U.S. taxpayers fund news. That, by the way, is exactly how BBC's World Service works. Austin also points out that the Deewa stringers in the region -- there are about 20 of them -- are often threatened by the Taliban. They are brave journalists who we admire and respect.

And by the way, don't take my word for it. Please visit www.voanews.com to see the kind of work we are doing. and I invite everyone to take the VOA Studio Tour in Washington.

Meantime, please post your comments about the Washington Times story --call let me know your thoughts.

VOA in Iran

Roxana Saberi came to VOA last week to talk -- in Farsi --about her time in a jail in Iran on trumped up charges of spying. Saberi lived in Iran for six years --and worked for VOA some of that time -- and she knows the impact VOA's Persian News Network has. In fact, one in four adult Iranians is listening to PNN. PNN anchor Setareh Derakhshesh is no doubt as well-known in Iran as any of the American network anchors are in the United States.

But don't take it from me -- Haleh Vazeri, who studies media for the survey research company, Intermedia, told a conference at the Center for International Media Assistance last week that PNN is the the most successful example she knows about in reaching young people. (Intermedia does research for the Broadcasting Board of Governors.)

Finally, Jim Glassman's blog -- he's got it right. VOA is not in the image-building business -- we're in the news and information business!

Reaching Pakistanis on Radio in the NWFP

I hope everyone has been following what's been going on in the northwest of Pakistan. The army is trying to root out Taliban militants -- and civilians, as usual, are the collateral damage. More than 1 million people have displaced in the northwest region -- and it's hot. Temperatures are up to 114 degrees, sanitation is poor. BUT AT LEAST PEOPLE HAVE DEEWA. VOA's Deewa is a radio program that broadcasts 6 hours a day. News and information -- and culture. Here's the press release we put out today.

Washington, D.C., May 20, 2009 – Pakistanis calling in to the Voice of America’s (VOA) Deewa Radio today from camps in the country’s war-torn northwest praised the United States for providing aid and urged transparency in its distribution.

Callers to Deewa’s news and current affairs show said they were grateful for the U.S. decision, announced by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Tuesday, to give Pakistan $110 million in assistance, including food, tents, water and radios. They said the aid must be channeled to the most deserving people in an open manner.

Lt. Gen. Nadeem Ahmad, who is heading Pakistan’s relief effort, called the U.S. relief “significant.” And Iftikhar Hussain, information minister for Pakistan’s Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP) said in an interview with Deewa that he hoped other countries will follow the U.S. lead by giving assistance.

U.N. officials say more than 1.1 million people have been displaced in the northwest since Pakistan’s military launched an offensive against Taliban militants in the region. Many people are living in Internally Displaced People’s (IDP) camps where sanitation is poor.

Deewa, which broadcasts in the Pashto language, can be heard on shortwave, FM and the Internet (www.voanews.com/Deewa) throughout the affected region. With 20 stringers in the Pashto-speaking part of Pakistan and 15 staff members here, Deewa broadcasts six hours daily of original programs that feature news, current affairs and call-in shows.
Started in September 2006, Deewa regularly engages with young people, women and artists in the region. It also airs shows on Muslims in America, youth, health, culture and literature.

VOA Broadcasting to Pakistan

A couple of years ago, VOA started Deewa Radio -- it's aimed at people who live in Pakistan's Northwest Frontier Province where there's fighting between the Taliban and the Pakistan Army. Deewa is terrific. Most people in Pakistan speak Urdu, but people living in NWFP speak Pashto. Deewa has been doing a great job of covering the area -- examining the Taliban's efforts to disrupt life including shutting down schools for girls. If you speak -- I don't -- you can listen to Deewa at www.voanews.com. Deewa has a staff of 13 with some 21 stringers in the region. If you are in Washington, let me introduce Deewa to you.

Town Hall at the Newseum/

We're getting ready for a really cool program at the Newseum on May 5 -- it's a Town Hall bringing in people from around the world. And everyone can participate -- advance. You can send questions to obama100days@voanews.com
Or you can log onto www.voanews.com and send a video.

Check it out!

Somali Interviews

VOA's Somali Service had a terrific scoop -- interviewed the father of the 16-year-old Somali pirate who is in U.S. custody. The Dad, who calls himself a nomad, says he can't believe his son would do such a thing as piracy. Check out www.voanews.com

Also, wanted to mention we've just run a terrific training program in Haiti for journalists -- teaching them how to cover drug resistance and avian influenza.

Please make sure you follow my blog! And let me know the kinds of things you want to know about.

VOA's Persian News Network

There have been a lot of stories out there about
VOA's Persian News Network. Here's the REAL story: The State Department’s Office of Inspector General has issued a report that, overall, praises the Voice of America’s (VOA) Persian News Network (PNN). “VOA successfully built PNN into its first full-fledged network in an extraordinarily short period of time,” said the report, which is posted on the State Department’s website, http://oig.state.gov/documents/organization/121748.pdf. “Given the U.S. strategic interest in communicating with Iranians, PNN represents a major achievement in setting up a network that reaches approximately 29 percent of Iranians in Iran," the report said. Started in July 2007, PNN now reaches more than 13 million people weekly in a country with no press freedom. That's huge. Of course, there have been some hiccups in creating a network -- and the State Department report points those out. But, VOA has embraced the recommendations in the report and moved to make changes already.

And, if you want to see for yourself, just come visit VOA and take a Studio Tour where we watch Farsi broadcasting. You can also check it out at www.voanews.com/Persian.

Lots of VOA News ...

VOA is a busy place these days...
1. First, VOA's Radio Deewa -- the vibrant, popular 24-hour-a-day Pashto-language program that reaches into Pakistan's Northwest Frontier Province. VOA Director Dan Austin -- in a letter published in the New York Times(http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/06/opinion/106voice.html
talked about the reporting Deewa is doing. Dan's letter was a rebuttal of a piece former Pentagon official Doug Feith published in the NYT. Feith claimed that U.S. broadcasting was not around to cover the bombing of the Shrine of Rahman Baba on March 5. Not only did Deewa cover it -- we had three journalists there!

Then, there was Ahmad Babeti's story on CBS's 60 Minutes. Anderson Cooper interviewed Batebi about his time in an Iranian prison. Chilling stuff! Check out the piece on Ahmad's website. http://www.ahmadbatebi.us/

Oh yes -- and check out the new VOA homepage at www.voanews.com

And our coverage of Obama's Town Hall in Turkey.
Meantime, VOA is planning a big Town Hall meeting on May 5 at the Newseum. We're doing this with George Washington University -- more later...

I'm off this week, but checking in remotely. Joan

VOA's Outreach to Iran

I forgot to post this earlier in the week, but here's VOA's response to John Brown’s blog “A Note to Obama and YouTube.” (http://publicdiplomacypressandblogreview.blogspot/com/
John:
"Your blog post of Friday, March 20 implies President Obama, in his address to the Iranian people on Nowruz, bypassed U.S. international broadcasting, including the Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), the two U.S. government broadcasters that provide news and information directly to Iran.

In fact, nothing could be further from the truth. The White House provided VOA, the largest Persian-language broadcaster, with Obama’s three-minute taped address in advance, embargoed for release at 11:30 p.m. Thursday EDT. VOA provided the tape to its sister broadcastes, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL); Radio Free Asia (RFA); Middle East Broadcasting Network (Al Hurra TV and Radio Sawa) and Radio/TV Marti.

By the time the embargo was lifted, the Obama video was posted on www.voanews.com, www.voanews.com/persian/, and VOA’s partner YouTube channels as well as on other U.S. international broadcasting sites.

VOA reaches more than 29 people million people weekly with its Persian News Network – satellite television, radio and Internet. RFE/RL runs Radio Farda which broadcasts into Iran."

VOA Briefing From IFES

VOA reporters just had terrific briefing from staffers at IFES -- The International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES). The non-partisan, non-profit organization, which works in about 60 countries and is supported by the U.S. Government, among others. IFES provides provides countries with technical advice and tools to run democratic elections. Chris Hennemyer, vice president for communications and compliance, said IFES doesn't view elections as isolated events but rather as processes that unfold over time." IFES is working all over the world -- including places like Sudan.

VOA Visits UVA

Here is Beth Mendelson (left), Henna Ayub (middle) and me (right)

This weekend, I visited the University of Virginia where a wonderful senior named Henna Ayub, head of UVA's Afghan Students Association, organized a discussion about drug trafficking in Afghanistan. Henna, whose family came to the United States from Kandahar, Afghanistan put the event together after she saw VOA's documentary "A Fateful Harvest" on YouTube. (check it out!) More than 30 people came out to discuss how VOA covers Afghanistan -- particularly the war on drugs. Beth Mendelson, chief of VOA's Afghan Service, talked about VOA's ability to gain access to health clinics and drug busts -- and capture it all on tape.

Henna, who wants to be a doctor, brought her family, including her wonderful mother, who cooked delicious Afghan food for the occasion.

Visiting schools and colleges is one of the best parts of working in public relations for VOA. When you meet energetic, resourceful, engaged students like Henna and her friends, you realize how many talented people live in this country.

If you'd like VOA to visit your school, please email me at jmower@voanews.com

VOA response to Daniel Pipes

If anyone has read the Daniel Pipes piece, here's our response. Thanks! The Voice of America (VOA) regularly provides guidance to our journalists on style and usage to enable writers to communicate with audiences clearly, precisely and consistently. It was in this context that Jennifer Janin wrote to the Urdu Service, reinforcing guidelines in the VOA News Stylebook, which is updated regularly. What Mr. Pipes' readers may not know is that VOA is governed by the VOA Charter, which became a law in July 12, 1976 was reiterated in the more recent U.S. International Broadcasting Act of 1994. It mandates the U.S. international broadcaster “will serve as a consistently reliable and authoritative source of news. VOA news will be accurate, objective, and comprehensive.”

VOA reaches an estimated 134 million people around the world in 45 languages by radio, television and Internet. A major reason for our success is our credibility, which reflects our vigorous adherence to the Charter and VOA’s Journalistic
Code, calling for reliable and unbiased reporting.

Finally, Mr. Pipes' comments about Spozhmai Maiwandi are unacceptable.
Ms. Maiwandi, director of VOA's Southeast Asia Division, is a professional journalist, a loyal American citizen and a longtime, valued employee of the Voice of America.

Joan Mower

Director, public relations

Voice of America

VOA Scoops!

Although I'm in VOA public relations, I'll always be a journalist at heart. That's why I'm always thrilled when I hear about scoops by VOA reporters.

Here's a good one:
Last Friday (Feb. 27), Mariam Kurtz, who a journalist from Tanzania who worked in our office while in school, called to say she knew the name of the main who was auctioning off glasses and sandals that used to belong to Mahatma Gandhi. The owner, James Otis of California, would be willing to talk with a VOA reporter, Mariam said. (Mariam's husband, Lester Kurtz, and Otis are working on a documentary film about non-violence.)

Shortly after the call, Niharika Acharya, a broadcaster with VOA's Hindi's service, called Otis who told her the whole story. A peace activist, Otis never imagined the auction would cause a controversy. He hoped the artifacts would go on tour to help teach non-violence.

Nelson Lopes, another VOA staffer with the Portuguese, has excellent connections in Guinea Bissau. So good that after the country's president and the army chief of staff were killed, Lopes reached the Minster of Defense to confirm the killings.

That's the kind of access VOA reporters have -- around the world. We're broadcasting in 45 languages -- and we've got people in every corner. Literally.

VOA on Inauguration Day

It's a thrilling day at VOA. Millions of people are streaming through the streets, pressing against our building which is only about two blocks from the Capitol where Barack Obama is about to become our 44th president, the first African American to lead the United States. Right now Aretha Franklin is singing, "My Country Tis of Thee," and I can hear it through the loudspeakers. Sirens are howling down Independence Avenue.
In the VOA studios, in the newsroom and on the rooftop -- where you can see the inaugural stands -- hundreds of VOA broadcasters are filing stories, telling the people across the world what it feels like to be here at a time history is being made. Deepak Dobhal of the VOA Hindi service is on the roof. He's in an enclosed tent, broadcasting to millions of people in India through the VOA partnership with Zee TV. Inna Dubinsky of VOA's Russian service has been Video blogging -- vlogging -- from the roof, and the service is keeping it's Russian audience informed by Twitter. VOA's Swahili service is extra busy with a long show -- people in Kenya, where Obama as relatives, are extremely interested in these events.
Yes, it's exciting -- and it's cold! Several degrees below freezing. The crowds made getting to world challenging. Many VOA staffers like Beth Mendelson of the Afghan service spent the night here. Others got up early -- at 2 am or 3 am in order to get to work. I live about four miles away. I tried to take the subway, but the trains were packed and no one could get on. So I walked.
We're all waiting for the new president to take the oath of office. They just announced on TV that it's 12-noon Then we'll listen to the new President's inaugural address and watch the parade.
Tomorrow, it's back to work as usual. We'll be here at VOA -- reaching out around the world. Please stay in touch