Voice of America’s reporting now reaches 326 million adults per week across all broadcast and digital platforms. Voice of America’s measured weekly audience continues to grow, according to the latest research results announced today by the U.S. Agency for Global Media, VOA’s parent agency. This figure comes from national surveys measuring the number of adults in target areas listening to, reading, or viewing VOA programming or online content in a given week. This figure represents an increase of more than 14 million weekly global users of VOA’s content in 2022.
Notable increases to VOA’s audience were found in Nigeria, Angola, and several markets in Latin America. A gain of 1.7 million is a result of the ability to conduct a survey in Rwanda for the first time since 2013. The gains in measured audiences more than offset the loss of 2.4 million in Afghanistan, after VOA was forced off local television platforms as a result of the Taliban takeover.
“2022 was a challenging year for journalists around the globe. Nevertheless, VOA reporters and programmers continued to offer information-deprived audiences accurate and balanced journalism,” said Acting VOA Director Yolanda Lόpez. “As freedom of the press is under attack worldwide, the increase in the millions of people that consume our content is proof of the need for reliable sources of news that counters abundant disinformation from authoritarian regimes in countries where VOA is present.
Though impact cannot be reduced to a single quantitative factor, like audience growth, it is notable that VOA exceeded its fiscal year 2022 target to further increase program credibility. Eighty-three percent of VOA’s audience finds the network’s programming trustworthy. The same figure was 81 percent in FY 2021.
In addition, VOA considerably exceeded its FY 2022 target to provide programming influential with audiences. Seventy-one percent of VOA’s audience said that the network’s content helped them form their own opinions on important topics. The same figure was 64 percent in FY 2021.
The U.S. Agency for Global Media’s 2022 Performance and Accountability Report can be viewed here.
