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VOA Launches New TV Program to Afghanistan


Dual-language program premieres Friday

Washington, D.C., September 9, 2010 - A groundbreaking new Voice of America television program, Karwan (Caravan), premiers in Afghanistan Friday, with an exciting and youthful approach to critical issues facing the country. <!-- IMAGE -->

The 30-minute dual-language weekly program, broadcast in both Dari and Pashto, will tackle social and political issues, culture, health, education and other topics, highlighting what young people are doing in Afghanistan and the United States.

The program is hosted by the easygoing Daoud Sediqi, who has been called the “Ryan Seacrest of Afghanistan.” Before coming to the United States Daoud was the moderator of Afghan Star, the wildly popular Afghan talent show modeled on American Idol.

With a creative mix of off-site remotes, in-studio discussion and direct audience feedback through social media sites, Karwan will offer viewers in Afghanistan a chance to comment on what is important to them.

The program, which is funded by the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, plans to develop ways for viewers to send in web-based videos to expand the dialogue. It will also draw on a network of Afghan-based journalists to give the show a strong regional presence.

In addition to Karwan, VOA reaches millions of people daily in Afghanistan through its popular radio programs and TV Ashna (which means friend in Dari and Pashto) as well as the Internet. Check the VOA Dari website at http://www.voanews.com/dari/news/, and the VOA Pashto website at http://www.voanews.com/pashto/news/.

The Voice of America, which first went on the air in 1942, is a multimedia international broadcasting service funded by the U.S. Government through the Broadcasting Board of Governors. VOA broadcasts approximately 1,500 hours of news, information, educational, and cultural programming every week to an estimated worldwide audience of more than 125 million people. Programs are produced in 44 languages and are intended exclusively for audiences outside of the United States.

For more information, call VOA Public Relations at (202) 203-4959, or e-mail askvoa@voanews.com.

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