International Broadcasting Advisory Board Welcomes new VOA Director Michael Abramowitz

International Broadcasting Advisory Board Welcomes VOA Director Michael Abramowitz

WASHINGTON – The International Broadcasting Advisory Board (IBAB) is eager to begin working with Michael Abramowitz as the new director of the Voice of America, following the U.S. Agency for Global Media's ceremonial swearing in of Abramowitz at its Wilbur J. Cohen Building headquarters on Tuesday, September 17, in Washington, D.C.

"The IBAB is thrilled to welcome Michael Abramowitz as the new director of Voice of America," said IBAB Chair Kenneth Jarin. "Michael brings a wealth of world knowledge, compassion and journalistic expertise to the USAGM family. This is especially important at a time when oppressed people living under authoritarian regimes around the world do not have access to independent reporting of the issues that affect their daily lives and future. Hundreds of millions of people around the world depend on Voice of America for its credibility, and with Michael at the helm, we are going to keep carrying the torch of press freedom and delivering objective news and information in the years to come. IBAB and USAGM are happy to have him on board!"

USAGM CEO Amanda Bennett swore in Director Abramowitz on a U.S. Constitution, and the ceremony was followed by a fireside chat during which CEO Bennett and Director Abramowitz discussed the urgency of VOA's charter, as well as the challenges facing journalists and emerging threats to press freedom around the world.

Abramowitz joined VOA in June 2024 from Freedom House, where he served as President to the Washington, D.C.-based non-profit organization which provides research, analysis, advocacy, and direct support to journalists and defenders of human rights. A skilled and respected journalist, Abramowitz previously directed the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum's Levine Institute for Holocaust Education, where he led the museum's genocide prevention efforts. For nearly 25 years prior, Abramowitz worked at The Washington Post, rising to national editor and then White House correspondent. A graduate of Harvard College, Abramowitz is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the George W. Bush Institute Advisory Council. He was formerly a Marshall Memorial fellow at the German Marshall Fund and Berlin Prize Fellow at the American Academy in Berlin.

(Press Release)