VOA’s Value-Added Coverage of the Ukraine War Continues to Generate Very High Viewership
VOA Ukrainian and Russian’s impactful coverage of the latest developments in the Ukraine war, featuring exclusive interviews with five U.S. lawmakers, Ukrainian medic and former prisoner Taira Paievska and a live broadcast of her powerful testimony to Congress, as well as Russian Behind Bars founder Olga Romanova, journalist Dmitry Slivny and President Zelenskyy’s former press secretary Iyulia Mendel, generated more than 4.6 million views and tens of thousands of interactions on digital platforms. Romanova said more than 10,000 Russian prisoners have already been sent to the front; Slivny spoke about mass graves, evidence of torture and mass destruction in Izyum; and Mendel talked about visiting frontline positions in Donbas with Zelenskyy and observing his negotiations with Putin. During the latest counteroffensive operation, VOA Ukrainian’s stringer was among the first reporters to travel to newly liberated Balakliya, where he spoke with local residents.
VOA Exclusive with Somalia President Generates Significant Viewership
Following his meeting with U.S. officials in Washington to discuss the famine crisis facing his country and plans to fight Al-Shabab, Somalia President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud sat down for an exclusive, on-camera interview with VOA Somali. The TV and radio versions of the interview, during which Mohamud said all U.S. officials pledged full support for his government, have attracted nearly 400k combined views on Facebook. An original VOA Somali video posted of President Mohamud addressing the Somali community in Washington has generated nearly 500k views, 4.6K comments and 4.5k shares.
VOA's Exclusive Interview With Belarusian Opposition Leader Engages the Audience
In an exclusive interview with VOA New York Bureau Chief Igor Tsikhanenka, Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya said her country should not be viewed as an "appendix to Russia," even though "Vladimir Putin wants to drag it back to the Soviet era." Tsikhanouskaya is attending this year's United Nations General Assembly in New York as a member of an unnamed European country's delegation. The interview generated more than 30,000 engagement actions and nearly 450,000 views across VOA’s social media accounts.
VOA Uzbek Coverage of SCO Summit Engages Audience, Reporter Interviewed by Local TV Station
VOA Uzbek service’s Navbahor Imamova was on the scene to provide in-depth, original reporting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization’s Summit from Samarkand, Uzbekistan, conducting live streams and on-site interviews with experts including UN Resident Coordinator in Uzbekistan. A local news network “UzReport TV” conducted a special interview with Imamova on the global attention given to the summit. Uzbek service’s reporters in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan also provided background of Chinese activities in Central Asia. VOA Uzbek coverage generated more than one million views in total on YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram.
VOA Mandarin's Social Media Posts on U.S.-Taiwan Legislation Draw Significant Digital Engagement
When the Senate Foreign Relations Committee passed the landmark Taiwan Policy Act of 2022, VOA Mandarin posted an infographic outlining the important policy changes on the most sensitive and consequential issue in U.S.- China relations. The service also posted a soundbite from U.S. Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) in which he explains how the bill aims to clarify congressional intent to strengthen the U.S. relationship with Taiwan, while meeting some of the concerns from the Biden administration. The postings received 316 impressions, 28,000 video views and more than 14,000 engagements.
VOA Persian's Coverage of the Future of JCPOA Engages the Audience
VOA Persian’s Special Program "JCPOA Negotiations in Congress" showed high audience interest. Iran experts Ali Vaez and Mehran Mostafavi discussed with VOA Persian's Kambiz Tavana concerns and expectations of House Foreign Relations Committee ranking member Michael McCaul (R-Texas) and member Tim Burchett (R-TN). Siamak Dehghanpour provided coverage of the 2022 World Summit on Counterterrorism in Herzliya, Israel, where international experts discussed the JCPOA, as well as terrorist networks and proxy groups of the Islamic Republic. Prominent leaders and defense experts included Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid and Benny Gantz, Israel's Minister of Defense. Audience engagement on digital platforms for this programming surpassed 1.92 million.
Coverage of Plight of Bussed Migrants Used as Political Leverage in the U.S. Engages Viewers
VOA Spanish coverage of buses with migrants sent from Texas to Vice President Kamala Harris’ official D.C. residence and flights with Venezuelan migrants transported to Martha’s Vineyard, attracted more than 40K views on Instagram, where the digital team has created custom-tailored content to attract younger audiences.
VOA Programming Highlights are compiled based on information available from multiple sources at the time of posting. This information constantly evolves. If you intend to cite to information posted in VOA Highlights, please consult VOA Public Relations at publicrelations@voanews.com to ensure it is accurate and current.