Editing Voice of America (section)

== Operations ==
[[File:Voice of America (18183).jpg|thumb|Voice of America building front in Washington, DC]]
=== List of directors ===
* &nbsp;&nbsp;1941–1942 [[Robert E. Sherwood]] (Foreign Information Service)
{{div col|colwidth=20em}}
# 1942–1943: [[John Houseman]]
# 1943–1945: Louis G. Cowan
# 1945–1946: John Ogilvie
# 1948–1949: [[Charles W. Thayer]]
# 1949–1952: [[Foy D. Kohler]]
# 1952–1953: Alfred H. Morton
# 1953–1954: Leonard Erikson
# 1954–1956: John R. Poppele
# 1956–1958: Robert E. Burton
# 1958–1965: [[Henry Loomis (broadcasting executive)|Henry Loomis]]
# 1965–1967: [[John Chancellor]]
# 1967–1968: [[John Charles Daly]]
# 1969–1977: [[Kenneth R. Giddens]]
# 1977–1979: R. Peter Straus
# 1980–1981: [[Mary G. F. Bitterman]]
# 1981–1982: James B. Conkling
# 1982: John Hughes
# 1982–1984: [[Kenneth Tomlinson]]
# 1985: Gene Pell
# 1986–1991: [[Dick Carlson]]
# 1991–1993: [[Chase Untermeyer]]
# 1994–1996: [[Geoffrey Cowan]]
# 1997–1999: [[Evelyn S. Lieberman]]
# 1999–2001: [[Sanford J. Ungar]]
# 2001–2002: [[Robert R. Reilly]]
# 2002–2006: David S. Jackson
# 2006–2011: Danforth W. Austin
# 2011–2015: [[David Ensor (journalist)|David Ensor]]
# 2016–2020: [[Amanda Bennett]]
# 2020–2021: [[Robert R. Reilly]]
# 2021–2024: ''vacant''
# 2024–present: Michael Abramowitz
{{end div col}}

The current director, Michael Abramowitz, assumed the position in July 2024. He previously served as president of [[Freedom House]] and spent nearly 25 years as a reporter and editor for [[The Washington Post]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Robertson |first=Katie |date=2024-04-19 |title=Voice of America Will Get a New Director |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/19/business/media/voice-of-america-director.html |access-date=2024-07-23 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

In December 2024, president-elect Trump announced he would name former news anchor [[Kari Lake]] to be the director of VOA.<ref>{{Cite web |date=December 12, 2024 |title=Trump picks hardline Republican Kari Lake to lead Voice of America |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-picks-hardline-republican-kari-lake-lead-voice-america-2024-12-12/ |website=Reuters}}</ref> Under the International Broadcasting Act only the [[U.S. Agency for Global Media#International_Broadcasting_Advisory_Board|International Broadcasting Advisory Board]] has the authority to approve the appointment or removal of the VOA Director.<ref name="auto4" /><ref name="auto3" />

=== Agencies ===
Voice of America has been a part of several agencies. From its founding in 1942 to 1945, it was part of the [[Office of War Information]], and then from 1945 to 1953 as a function of the State Department. VOA was placed under the [[U.S. Information Agency]] in 1953. When the USIA was abolished in 1999, VOA was placed under the BBG which is an autonomous U.S. government agency, with bipartisan membership. The Secretary of State has a seat on the BBG.<ref>{{harvp|Rugh|2006|p=14}}</ref> The BBG was established as a buffer to protect VOA and other U.S.-sponsored, non-military, international broadcasters from political interference. It replaced the Board for International Broadcasting (BIB) that oversaw the funding and operation of [[Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty]], a branch of VOA.<ref name="Raghavan" />

=== Editorial policies ===
Voice of America's editorial policies are intended to cultivate a reputation for accuracy. It serves a propaganda function for the United States not by manipulating listeners or through always presenting the US in a positive light, but by embodying and demonstrating one of its core values: the freedom of the press. Aimed at people living in places where the government tightly controls what the press can say, it aims to become a trusted source of objective information rather than a channel for more traditional propaganda that only serves state interests.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Voice of America Goes Quiet. And, Apocalypse Now? {{!}} On the Media |url=https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/otm/articles/voice-of-america-goes-quiet-and-apocalypse-now?tab=transcript |access-date=2025-03-26 |website=WNYC Studios |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-01-17 |title=Voice of America is required by law to report the news accurately. Could Donald Trump change that? |url=https://apnews.com/article/voice-america-democracy-trump-lake-fake-news-90039c76a8915d7906f5d7608c9e05f4 |access-date=2025-03-26 |website=AP News |language=en}}</ref> For these reasons, it has enacted several policies over time to avoid interference by politicians. 

Under the Eisenhower administration in 1959, VOA Director [[Henry Loomis (broadcasting executive)|Henry Loomis]] commissioned a formal statement of principles to protect the integrity of VOA programming and define the organization's mission, and was issued by Director [[George V. Allen]] as a directive in 1960 and was endorsed in 1962 by USIA director [[Edward R. Murrow]].<ref>{{harvp|Rugh|2006|pp=13–14}}</ref> VOA's charter was signed into law by President [[Gerald Ford]].<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|page=218}} The charter requires it to "present the policies of the United States clearly and effectively."<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Workneh |first=Téwodros W. |date=2019-06-26 |title=Journalistic Autonomy in Voice of America's Amharic Service: Actors, Deterrents, and Safeguards |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1461670x.2019.1634484 |journal=Journalism Studies |volume=21 |issue=2 |pages=217–235 |doi=10.1080/1461670x.2019.1634484 |issn=1461-670X}}</ref>{{Rp|page=218}} Academics including Téwodros W. Workneh have described this as a [[public diplomacy]] function.<ref name=":1" />{{Rp|page=218}} VOA's charter also requires it to be "a reliable and authoritative source of news" which "shall be accurate, objective, and comprehensive".<ref name=":1" />{{Rp|page=218}} According to former VOA correspondent Alan Heil, the internal policy of VOA News is that any story broadcast must have two independently corroborating sources or have a staff correspondent witness an event.<ref>Columbia University Press. [http://www.columbia.edu/cu/cup/publicity/heilinterview.html Interview with Alan Heil, author of ''Voice of America''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070706051252/http://www.columbia.edu/cu/cup/publicity/heilinterview.html|date=July 6, 2007}}</ref>

The Voice of America "Firewall" was put in place with the 1976 VOA Charter and laws passed in 1994 and 2016 as a way of ensuring the integrity of VOA's journalism. This policy fights against propaganda and promotes unbiased and objective journalistic standards in the agency. The charter is one part of this firewall and the other laws assist in ensuring high standards of journalism.<ref>{{Cite web |date=July 2, 2019 |title=VOA and the Firewall – Law for More than 40 Years |url=https://docs.voanews.eu/en-US-INSIDE/2019/07/02/a2cdade1-ffb3-41b5-a086-2a09861ae452.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190723154331/https://docs.voanews.eu/en-US-INSIDE/2019/07/02/a2cdade1-ffb3-41b5-a086-2a09861ae452.pdf |archive-date=July 23, 2019 |access-date=July 23, 2019 |website=VOA}}</ref><ref name="Beitsch 4-6-2021">{{Cite news |last=Beitsch |first=Rebecca |date=April 6, 2021 |title=In departure from Trump, State affirms editorial freedom of Voice of America |url=https://thehill.com/policy/international/546793-in-departure-from-trump-state-affirms-editorial-freedom-of-voice-of |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220701170614/https://thehill.com/policy/international/546793-in-departure-from-trump-state-affirms-editorial-freedom-of-voice-of/ |archive-date=July 1, 2022 |access-date=23 October 2021 |work=[[The Hill (newspaper)|The Hill]]}}</ref>

Voice of America is generally seen by scholars and listeners as having a positive impact and serving as [[Foreign policy of the United States|US diplomacy]], while others see it as [[American propaganda]].<ref name="Zhang-2002" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Robinson |first=Dan |date=March 30, 2017 |title=Spare the indignation: Voice of America has never been independent |url=https://www.cjr.org/opinion/broadcasting_board_of_governors_house_trump.php |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220520112752/https://www.cjr.org/opinion/broadcasting_board_of_governors_house_trump.php |archive-date=May 20, 2022 |access-date=June 25, 2022 |website=[[Columbia Journalism Review]]}}</ref>

=== Transmission facilities ===
[[File:VOA SiteB building.JPG|thumb|180px|[[International Broadcasting Bureau Greenville Transmitting Station|Edward R. Murrow Greenville Transmitting Station]], the VOA broadcasting station in North Carolina's [[Inner Banks]]]]
[[File:2009-0725-CA-Delano-VOArelay.jpg|thumb|180px|The [[Delano, California|Delano]] Transmitting Station was closed in 2007.]]
The [[Voice of America Bethany Relay Station|Bethany Relay Station]], operational from 1944 to 1994, was based on a {{convert|625|acre|km2|adj=on}} site in [[West Chester Township, Butler County, Ohio|Union Township]] (now West Chester Township) in [[Butler County, Ohio]], near [[Cincinnati]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Voice of America – Ohio History Central |url=http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/w/Voice_of_America |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181202155050/http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/w/Voice_of_America |archive-date=December 2, 2018 |access-date=December 2, 2018 |website=ohiohistorycentral.org |language=en}}</ref> Major transmitter upgrades first were undertaken around 1963, when shortwave and medium-wave transmitters were built, upgraded, or rebuilt.<ref name="Central European University Press-2010" /> The site is now a recreational park with a Voice of America museum.  Other former sites include California ([[Dixon, California|Dixon]] and [[Delano, California|Delano]]), Hawaii, [[Okinawa Prefecture|Okinawa]], Liberia (Monrovia), Costa Rica, Belize, and at least two in Greece ([[Kavala (regional unit)|Kavala]] and Rhodos).

Between 1983 and 1990, VOA made significant upgrades to transmission facilities in Botswana ([[Selebi-Phikwe]]), Morocco, Thailand ([[Udon Thani Province|Udon Thani]]), Kuwait, and [[São Tomé]]  ([[Almas, São Tomé and Príncipe|Almas]]).<ref>{{Cite news |title=VOA Through the Years |url=https://www.insidevoa.com/a/3794247.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220513105818/https://www.insidevoa.com/a/3794247.html |archive-date=May 13, 2022 |access-date=December 2, 2018 |work=VOA |language=en}}</ref> Some of them are shared with [[Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty|Radio Liberty]] and [[Radio Free Asia]].

VOA and USAGM continue to operate shortwave radio transmitters and [[antenna farm]]s at [[International Broadcasting Bureau Greenville Transmitting Station]] (known as "Site B") in the United States, close to [[Greenville, North Carolina]]. They do not use [[FCC]]-issued [[call sign]]s, since the FCC does not regulate communications by other federal government agencies. The [[International Broadcasting Bureau]] also operates transmission facilities on São Tomé and Tinang, [[Concepcion, Tarlac]], Philippines, for VOA.<ref>{{Cite web |date=September 2007 |title=Report of Inspection: The International Broadcasting Bureau's Philippines Transmitting Station |url=https://www.stateoig.gov/system/files/104117.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210617071115/https://www.stateoig.gov/system/files/104117.pdf |archive-date=June 17, 2021 |access-date=August 27, 2021 |publisher=United States Department of State and the Broadcasting Board of Governors Office of Inspector General}}</ref>

=== Languages ===
The Voice of America website had five English-language broadcasts as of 2014 (worldwide, [[Learning English (version of English)|Learning English]], [[Cambodia]], [[Zimbabwe]], and [[Tibet]]). Additionally, the VOA website has versions in 48 foreign languages.<ref>{{Cite web |title=USAGM |url=https://www.usagm.gov/networks/voa/ |website=USAGM}}</ref><ref name="usagm.gov" />

Radio programs are marked with an "R"; television programs with a "T":

{{div col|colwidth=10em}}
# [[Oromo language|Afan Oromo]] <sup>{{small|R}}</sup>
# [[Albanian language|Albanian]] <sup>{{small|R, T}}</sup>
# [[Amharic language|Amharic]] <sup>{{small|R}}</sup>
# [[Armenian language|Armenian]] <sup>{{small|T}}</sup>
# [[Azerbaijani language|Azerbaijani]] <sup>{{small|T}}</sup>
# [[Bambara language|Bambara]] <sup>{{small|R}}</sup>
# [[Bengali language|Bangla]] <sup>{{small|R, T}}</sup>
# [[Bosnian language|Bosnian]] <sup>{{small|T}}</sup>
# [[Burmese language|Burmese]] <sup>{{small|R, T}}</sup>
# [[Cantonese Chinese|Cantonese]] <sup>{{small|R, T}}</sup>
# [[Dari (Eastern Persian)|Dari Persian]] <sup>{{small|R, T}}</sup>
# [[English language|English]] <sup>{{small|R, T}}</sup>
# [[French language|French]] <sup>{{small|R, T}}</sup>
# [[Georgian language|Georgian]] <sup>{{small|R}}</sup>
# [[Haitian Creole]] <sup>{{small|R}}</sup>
# [[Hausa language|Hausa]] <sup>{{small|R}}</sup>
# [[Indonesian language|Indonesian]] <sup>{{small|R, T}}</sup>
# [[Khmer language|Khmer]] <sup>{{small|R, T}}</sup>
# [[Kinyarwanda]] <sup>{{small|R}}</sup>
# [[Kirundi]]
# [[Korean language|Korean]] <sup>{{small|R}}</sup>
# [[Kurdish language|Kurdish]] <sup>{{small|R}}</sup>
# [[Lao language|Lao]] <sup>{{small|R}}</sup>
# [[Lingala]] <sup>{{small|R}}</sup>
# [[Macedonian language|Macedonian]] <sup>{{small|T}}</sup>
# [[Mandarin Chinese|Mandarin]] <sup>{{small|R, T}}</sup>
# [[Ndebele language (Zimbabwe)|Ndebele]]
# [[Pashto language|Pashto]] <sup>{{small|T}}</sup>
# [[Persian language|Persian]] <sup>{{small|R, T}}</sup>
# [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]] <sup>{{small|R}}</sup>
# [[Rohingya language|Rohingya]]
# [[Russian language|Russian]] <sup>{{small|T}}</sup>
# [[Sango language|Sango]] <sup>{{small|R}}</sup>
# [[Serbian language|Serbian]] <sup>{{small|T}}</sup>
# [[Shona language|Shona]] <sup>{{small|R}}</sup>
# [[Sindhi language|Sindhi]]
# [[Somali language|Somali]] <sup>{{small|R}}</sup>
# [[Spanish language|Spanish]] <sup>{{small|R, T}}</sup>
# [[Swahili language|Swahili]] <sup>{{small|R}}</sup>
# [[Thai language|Thai]] <sup>{{small|R}}</sup>
# [[Standard Tibetan|Tibetan]] <sup>{{small|R, T}}</sup>
# [[Tigrinya language|Tigrinya]] <sup>{{small|R}}</sup>
# [[Turkish language|Turkish]] <sup>{{small|T}}</sup>
# [[Ukrainian language|Ukrainian]] <sup>{{small|T}}</sup>
# [[Urdu language|Urdu]] <sup>{{small|R, T}}</sup>
# [[Uzbek language|Uzbek]] <sup>{{small|R, T}}</sup>
# [[Vietnamese language|Vietnamese]] <sup>{{small|R, T}}</sup>
# [[Wolof language|Wolof]]
{{div col end}}

The number of languages varies according to the priorities of the United States government and the world situation.<ref>{{Cite web |title=FAQs, How do you make decisions to cut or add languages or programs? |url=http://www.bbg.gov/about-the-agency/history/faqs/#q8 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141201064438/http://www.bbg.gov/about-the-agency/history/faqs/#q8 |archive-date=December 1, 2014 |access-date=December 3, 2014 |publisher=bbg.gov}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=VOA Languages |url=https://docs.voanews.eu/en-US-INSIDE/2019/06/25/7719dfbe-792c-4f43-9759-f24100444dca.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211125045325/https://docs.voanews.eu/en-US-INSIDE/2019/06/25/7719dfbe-792c-4f43-9759-f24100444dca.pdf |archive-date=November 25, 2021 |access-date=August 27, 2021 |publisher=Voice of America}}</ref>