Voice of America (VOA) is the United States’ international public broadcaster — a radio, television and digital service that broadcasts in 48 languages to an estimated weekly audience of 354 million people worldwide. It has been on the air since 1942, when it launched to counter Nazi propaganda during World War II. Its history is the history of American soft power, Cold War media strategy, and the ambiguous role of state-funded international broadcasting.
Origins in wartime
VOA’s first broadcast, on 24 February 1942, opened with the words: “The news may be good or bad. We shall tell you the truth.” This commitment to factual reporting, even when the facts were unfavourable to US interests, has been the stated editorial principle of VOA ever since — and the source of ongoing tension with the US government agencies that fund it. The broadcaster is funded by Congress but governed by a firewall separating it from government editorial control, a model similar to the BBC’s relationship with the British government.
The Cold War shortwave era
At its Cold War peak, VOA broadcast into the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, China, and other countries where domestic media was state-controlled. Shortwave radios became essential tools for people who wanted uncensored news. The shortwave radio guide covers this era and the technology in more detail. VOA competed with Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty (which targeted Soviet-bloc audiences specifically) and with competing international broadcasters including the BBC World Service, Deutsche Welle, and Radio Moscow.
VOA today
VOA now reaches most of its audience through FM relays, satellite, and online streaming rather than shortwave. Its services in Farsi, Mandarin, Russian, Ukrainian, and dozens of African languages continue to serve audiences where independent journalism is restricted. The Ukrainian service, ramped up during the 2022 Russian invasion, became a critical information source for audiences inside Russia as well as Ukraine.