Voice of America

The Voice of America (VOA), headquartered in Washington, D.C., is the international broadcaster for the United States to the rest of the world, to the citizens of countries either friendly or hostile to America, in times of peace and in times of war. Since its founding in 1942, it has broadcast news and feature programming over the radio, and it has more recently broadcast as well over television and the Internet. VOA has advanced American interests abroad by broadcasting information about U.S. culture and institutions to audiences around the world.

VOA's charter, which has the force of law, mandates that the agency adhere to principles of accuracy, objectivity, balance, and comprehensiveness. More informally, the agency has characterized at least part of its job as “telling America's story to the world,” as broadcaster Edward R. Murrow described it. VOA thus provides a global audience with information it could not otherwise get. Many societies lack access to critical, trustworthy, accurate information about America or even information about human rights abuses, for example, in their own countries. VOA has sought to ensure that people around the world receive reliable information about America, even if it reflects poorly on the United States, in the conviction that such openness would serve America's highest diplomatic interests by demonstrating the value of a free press.

The Voice of America's founding came just months after the United States entered World War II. Its mission was clear from the first VOA broadcast on February 25, 1942, when William Harlan Hale proclaimed, in German, “The Voice of America speaks. Today, America has been at war for 79 days. Daily, at this time, we shall speak to you about America and the war. The news may be good, the news may be bad—we shall tell you the truth.”

VOA broadcasts editorials representing the views of the American government, though always clearly labeling them as such. Editorials are the only part of the programming not produced by VOA, but by a separate policy office, which clears the editorials it writes with the State Department. The rest of VOA programming consists of news and information about the United States as well as international and regional news. It also aims to provide alternative views of world events to peoples who may be living in societies where the government monopolizes the media. For example, VOA broadcast detailed coverage from Tiananmen Square in 1989 to its large audience in China. That practice has often put VOA at odds with some individuals and governments overseas, prompting responses ranging from denunciations of VOA as a propaganda organ for the American government to elaborate efforts to block and jam VOA radio and television signals.

VOA's influence around the world has not come exclusively from its news coverage and editorials. During the Cold War, for example, VOA built a huge following in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe for its broadcasting of American jazz, through programming hosted by long-time VOA music broadcaster Willis Conover. VOA Africa Division's programs for many years featured broadcaster Leo Sarkisian's unique treasury of field-recorded African music.

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