Category: Press Releases

Source: Voice of America – Press Statements

Headline: VOA’s Midwest Correspondent Wins Three Awards from Chicago Chapter of Society of Professional Journalists

On Friday, May 10, Voice of America’s Midwest correspondent, Kane Farabaugh, picked up three Peter Lisagor awards from the Chicago Headline Club, the Chicago chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists — the oldest chapter of this national organization. The ceremony took place at the Union League Club of Chicago.

 

Farabaugh won the top prize in the Best News Specialty/Business/Consumer News – Feature or Series category for his TV series “Between Trade Agreements and Tariffs”; in the Best News Specialty/Religious category for his TV piece “Tahera’s American Hijab”; and in the Best Video Journalist category for his work throughout the year.

 

“Covering America’s heartland and bringing its stories to the world is an important part of VOA’s mission,” said VOA Director Amanda Bennett. “I’m so pleased that this body of work has been recognized by our peers in the region.”

 

The Peter Lisagor Awards are an annual celebration of the best journalism produced throughout the Midwest, spanning all mediums including print, radio, television and digital. As the Chicago Daily News Washington bureau chief from 1959 to 1976, Peter Lisagor was one of the nation’s most respected and well-known journalists.

 

The Chicago Headline Club established the Lisagor Awards in 1977 to inspire Chicago-area journalists to follow his example and to recognize truly superior contributions to journalism.

Source: Voice of America – Press Statements

Headline: Voice of America Marks World Press Freedom Day with New Initiative

Today the Voice of America launched its press freedom project in observation of World Press Freedom Day. The campaign will document the challenges, threats and intimidation facing journalists worldwide, and the creative and courageous ways that journalists are using to deliver news despite serious risks.  

 

The campaign’s tag line “A Free Press Matters” is now a permanent part of VOA’s brand identify. A new press freedom microsite on the agency’s English language news site, www.voanews.com, will feature relevant content contributed by VOA’s global broadcasting teams. A new press freedom beat in VOA’s News Center will curate and showcase press freedom stories with a particular emphasis on the regions where its audiences are based.   

 

Video reports such as VOA Africa division director Negussie Mengesha’s reflections on the emergence of new press freedoms in his native Ethiopia during his first visit to the country in more than 40 years after being forced out by censorship, and a profile of three news outlets in Caracas, Venezuela, reporting the news while the country is crumbling around them, are just some examples of the stories found on this new site.

 

“Given that press freedom is on the decline globally, VOA is embarking on an agency-wide effort to highlight the importance of the issue and expand our journalism about press freedom,” said VOA Director, Amanda Bennett.

 

A number of other initiatives, such as press freedom training opportunities, are still in the planning stages.