Frequency change of VOA Radio Ashna via Woofferton

Frequency change of VOA Radio Ashna via Woofferton:

1430-1500 UTC NF  9835 WOF 300 kW / 075 deg to WeAs Pashto, ex 13860
1500-1630 UTC NF  9835 WOF 300 kW / 075 deg to WeAs Dari, ex 13860
// frequency 12075 KWT 250 kW / 070 deg to WeAs Pashto/Dari
// frequency 12140 KWT 250 kW / 070 deg to WeAs Pashto/Dari

(Via Ivo Ivanov)

Popular VOA Radio program to Afghanistan gets new sound

Washington, D.C., October 15, 2010 – Voice of America's popular Ashna Radio hits the airwaves in Afghanistan Monday with a refreshing new sound that will include more news, sports, music, call-in shows and features. VOA Executive Editor Steve Redisch says, "After years of coverage focused mainly on the day-to-day progress of the Afghan war, our listeners want to hear more about life for ordinary people, and to hear what they are saying about issues like health care, education, sports, the economy and entertainment."
Exciting new stories in production look at the shortage of playgrounds for children, a new ski resort in Bamiyan and life in a drug clinic, stories that describe Afghanistan's struggles and the way people are coping after decades of war and strife. An in-depth education series is planned that will look at the challenges and success stories that often go untold. Monday's program will feature an interview with former First Lady Laura Bush.
The new format for Ashna Radio, which is on the air two hours each morning and six hours each night, will also have more live coverage of breaking news and call-in programs. On Friday, satire will be introduced with a segment that will feature a well-known Afghan comedian.
VOA Afghanistan Service Chief Beth Mendelson says, "This is a new chapter for Ashna Radio, which plays an important role in Afghanistan because listeners and viewers place high trust in our broadcasts. Radio is an important vehicle to strengthen the relationship and understanding between the United States and the Afghan people."
Voice of America has a three-decade history in Afghanistan, and Ashna Radio, which broadcasts in both Dari and Pashto, reaches more than 50% of the country's people. Ashna is heard on 100.5 FM in Kabul, Herat, Kandahar, Mazar-e-Sharif, Jalalabad, Khost, Gardez and Kunar. They are also broadcast on 1 mediumwave and 3 shortwave. In addition to Afghanistan, Radio Ashna can be heard in Pakistan, Iran, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Visit VOA online at: www.voanews.com.

(VOA Press Release)

BBG Broadcasters Offer Afghans Unprecedented Access to Candidates in Advance of Presidential Election

Washington, DC, 08/11/2009

Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, reaching the largest combined audience of any radio broadcaster in Afghanistan, are helping Afghans engage with presidential candidates in the lead up to the August 20 presidential election.VOA and RFE/RL, overseen by the Broadcasting Board of Governors, both air in Dari and Pashto and will give audiences unprecedented access to the candidates. RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan is hosting call-in shows where presidential candidates take questions from the audience, and is airing interviews with each of the 41 contenders. VOA's Radio/TV Ashna will also interview the three top prospects, as well as Shahla Atta, one of two women in the running. The BBG broadcasters both produce programming in Dari and Pashto, the most widely spoken languages in Afghanistan.On August 16, RFE/RL plans to co-host with Afghan State TV a debate among presidential candidates including current president and leading contender Hamid Karzai, who has declined to appear in other debates. Radio Free Afghanistan Director Akbar Ayazi will moderate the debate, which will be seen and heard nationwide.Three days of live TV shows from Kabul will cap off VOA's extensive coverage, which also includes live radio shows, while RFE/RL plans 12 hours of live programming around the election, keeping voters informed of the latest developments and analyzing them as they happen.Broadcast media are critical sources of information for the largely rural and illiterate people of Afghanistan. TV has expanded dramatically since the fall of the Taliban in 2001, but radio remains the nationwide medium of choice for daily news. Only word of mouth, with Afghans turning to friends, family, and tribal elders, rivals radio as a source of information.VOA and RFE/RL are also highlighting the views and opinions of ordinary Afghans both within and outside the country. VOA will host a series of six talk shows broadcast from Kabul University and from a camp for internally displaced Afghans, and will feature reports from remote locations throughout Afghanistan. In-depth coverage has been examining topics from the role of religious leaders to the effect of young voters.In addition, VOA's Deewa Radio, targeted at the Afghan-Pakistan border region, will report the attitudes of the two million Afghan refugees in Pakistan who are ineligible to vote, as well as the perspectives of Afghans living in the United States.VOA's Persian News Network and Arabic-language Alhurra TV have sent reporters to Kabul to cover the election for viewers in the Middle East, and broadcasts in many other languages will also focus on the election.VOA and RFE/RL broadcast to Afghanistan a combined 24 hours a day on radio in Dari, Pashto and Special English, and VOA broadcasts an additional 6 hours a week on television. The programs are also available online. VOA and RFE/RL broadcasts reach over 56% of Afghans each week, almost 10 million people.VOA also operates Deewa Radio with nine hours daily of live Pashto-language programming targeted at the Afghan-Pakistan border region.

(BBG Press Release)