Washington, D.C., September 28, 2004 — The Voice of America's (VOA) Macedonian Service has launched a new 5-minute TV news summary called NewsFlash for its affiliates in Macedonia, broadcast Monday through Friday. The first show yesterday included an interview with Macedonian President Branko Crvenkovski during the United Nations General Assembly in New York, plus the latest news on Iraq and Hurricane Jeanne, and a feature on the opening of the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C.
"The people of Macedonia want the latest news from around the world, and this new TV package will give them that," said VOA Director David S. Jackson. "VOA is able to offer an authoritative and unique perspective from Washington. Our international reporting focuses on major stories and developments affecting Macedonian citizens during the current democratic transition of the country."
Early feedback from the show has already been positive. The government-subsidized national Macedonian Television and the privately-owned nationwide broadcaster TV Sitel both aired the first show. The new VOA program is also being offered to local TV stations and cable operators in the country. The programs are transmitted via satellite Monday through Friday at 1530 UTC for rebroadcast by affiliates during the peak evening hours.
VOA Macedonian also airs one 15-minute special feed at 0800 UTC for the nationwide Macedonian Radio. In addition, a VOA Macedonian feed can be heard nationwide exclusively on Kanal 77 FM at 0700 UTC. Another 15-minute show airs at 1500 UTC and is carried by many local FM affiliates throughout Macedonia.
The Service places audio, video and text items on its website www.voanews.com/macedonian. The site also features a free subscription to text copies of radio and TV scripts. VOA Macedonian began broadcasting in 1999 with a 15-minute radio show.
The Voice of America, which first went on the air in 1942, is a multimedia international broadcasting service funded by the U.S. government. VOA broadcasts 1,000 hours of news, information, educational, and cultural programming every week to an estimated worldwide audience of 96 million people. Programs are produced in 44 languages, including English and Macedonian.
For more information, call the Office of Public Affairs at (202) 401-7000, or E-mail publicaffairs@voa.gov.
