By Guido Lanfranchi.
The United States Agency for Global Media is launching VOA 365, a 24×7 Persian language global network to better reach out to Iranians all over the world.
As the tensions between the United States and Iran remain high, the U.S. Agency for Global Media is set to launch a new initiative, VOA 365, a 24×7 Persian language global network aimed at providing better information to Iranians living in their country as well as abroad. “Given the dynamic political situation, it’s more important than ever that Iranian citizens get the facts about U.S. positions, responsible analysis and discussion about important developments bilaterally and regionally” – USAGM Director Mr. John Lansig said.
This new initiative is set to build upon the current activities of VOA Persian and RFE/RL Radio Farda. These two networks already have a measured weekly audience of over 23%, and the majority of this audience does trust the information relayed by these channels – Mr. Lansig said, also explaining how the interned freedom tools provided by USAGM allow Iranian citizens to “circumvent Iranian government censorship”.
The content broadcasted by the VOA 365 network will be organized around four pillars: news and information, long form talk debate, programs on culture and science, and breaking news coverage of U.S. news. The network will take advantage of all platforms available and, differently from previous initiatives, it will target not only people living in Iran, but all Persian speaking people across the world, thus including the large diaspora communities of Iranians.
Mr. Lansig also stressed that, while the U.S. Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy is represented in the board of directors of USAGM, the Agency is “by law and by statute protected from any government interference”.
