Eurasians Tune into VOA for Value-added Coverage of Anti-War Protests in Russia and at UNGA
Millions tuned in to VOA’s extensive coverage of President Putin’s mobilization announcement, featuring anti-war protests in the United States and Russia, where hundreds of thousands of people signed a petition against conscription, skyrocketing searches for how to flee Russia, the flight of thousands of Russian men to neighboring countries, as well as at UNGA, where President Biden decried Putin's brutal war against Ukraine. VOA Russian and Ukrainian provided live, simultaneous translation of Biden’s speech, President Zelenskyy’s address and the three-hour U.N. Security Council meeting on Ukraine, as well as exclusive interviews with Ukraine’s permanent representative to the U.N., foreign affairs minister, prime minister and first lady. VOA Russian and Ukrainian content garnered more than 3 million views and tens of thousands of interactions on social media, and was restreamed by at least nine affiliates in Ukraine.
Nationwide Protests in Iran Result in Considerable Increases in VOA Persian Audience's Engagement
VOA Persian’s broadcast and digital team has been covering the deadly protests in Iran and the global response. Mahtab Vahidirad hosted a special on Mahsa Amini’s death and the anti-government protests. Rozita Irandoost reported that women were burning hijabs and cutting their hair. Shahram Bahraminejad reported that #MahsaAmini is trending on Twitter. As a result, views of VOA Persian’s YouTube channel jumped 676%; 461% on Facebook, and 304% on the VOA Persian website. Before internet access was cut, VOA Persian gained more than 51,000 new Instagram followers in one week and videos were viewed 49.4 million times.
VOA Kurdish Coverage of Iran Protests Generates Two Million Views on Facebook
VOA Kurdish service’s comprehensive reporting on the unrest in Iran following the death of Mahsa Amini generated significant audience interest across social media platforms. In addition to live Facebook coverage of protests in Washington, New York and Sulaymaniyah, the coverage featured interviews with political figures, human rights activists, and regional observers. “The Islamic Republic is no longer the regime before Mahsa,” analyst Soran Palani told VOA. A total of 48 TV packages, TV programs, and video segments on the issue on Facebook generated more than 2,283,900 views and 315,783 reactions, comments, and shares.
VOA Interviews with African Leaders During UNGA Week Generate Significant Audience Interest
VOA reporters set out to find answers to difficult questions in the context of the international forum from African leaders, including Senegal’s, Botswana’s, Cape Verde’s, Gambia’s, Malawi’s and Somalia’s presidents, in addition to an interview with Mali’s Foreign Affairs Minister, which alone generated more than 100K views in less than 24 hours. Senegalese President Macky Sall’s interview, during which he talked about his role as mediator in the Mali/Ivory Coast crisis, has received more than 150k video views in French and Bambara.
Latin America Division's UNGA Coverage Boosts Digital Engagement
VOA Spanish and Creole’s extensive UN General Assembly coverage included producing several TV programs like El Mundo al Día, FORO, Venezuela 360 live from New York and conducting 70+ daily live hits and reports for affiliates. Original content about Cuba, Nicaragua,Venezuela, explainers, Facebook lives, speeches from Presidents Gustavo Petro andPedro Castillo, high-profile interviews with Argentina’s foreign relations minister, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Brian Nichols, as well as Colombia and Perú's UN ambassadors, reached more than 300K views across social media. In addition, VOA Creole's Facebook Live about the Haitian delegation got 527K views. Haitian Foreign Minister's UN speech got 409K views. The service also streamed President Biden’s speech on the web, YouTube (18.9K views) and Facebook (4.2K views).
VOA Khmer Provides In Depth Coverage of Protesters’ Grievances at UNGA
VOA Khmer’s on-site, live reporting on the UN General Assembly drew significant audience numbers, generating 640,000 views on Facebook alone. Amid vocal protests outside the UN headquarters in New York, Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen touted his government's successes in UN peacekeeping missions, controlling COVID-19, prosecuting Khmer Rouge leaders and progress towards democracy. But for many of the Cambodian-American protesters, it was an opportunity to speak with VOA Khmer on camera to denounce the corruption, nepotism and crackdown on dissidents back home.
Significant Audience Engagement for VOA's Interview with State Department Counselor on Myanmar
VOA’s News Center scored a remote interview with a senior State Department official on U.S. policy towards Myanmar, which led to robust audience engagement. State Department counsellor Derek Chollet's phone interview with VOA State Department Bureau Chief Nike Ching attracted more than 197,000 interactions on Burmese Facebook and social media pages. Derek Chollet's interview was included in this story on voanews.com.
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