VOA Georgian Marks 65 Years on the Air

WASHINGTON D.C., May 27, 2016 -- The Georgian Service of the Voice of America celebrated its 65th anniversary on Thursday.

At a ceremony at VOA headquarters in Washington, Georgia's ambassador to the United States, Archil Gegeshidze, said his country's independence from the Soviet Union "was largely due to the positive influence of programs from broadcasters like the Voice of America."

VOA Georgian first aired on May 26, 1951. "During the Cold War, you played a critical role in helping Georgians understand the world beyond the Iron Curtain," added U.S. Ambassador to Georgia Ian Kelly. In a video message from the Georgian capital Tbilisi, Kelly said that "since Georgia's independence, VOA Georgian has helped build the foundation for a strong U.S.-Georgia relationship that we continue to enjoy today."

Other U.S. and Georgian diplomats as well as human rights experts, representatives of the Georgian-American community and past members of the Georgian Service joined VOA Director Amanda Bennett in honoring the service.

"VOA Georgian was an alternative voice speaking to and for Georgians during the Cold War, and it remains so today," said Bennett. "VOA is needed today more than ever. VOA is one of the few media outlets in the region that provide accurate and credible news and information as well as objective, free and fresh voices and perspectives."

VOA Georgian reaches 7.7 percent of adults in Georgia each week. In addition to radio programming distributed nationwide on FM via Georgia's Public Broadcasting Corporation, the service produces a weekly television magazine program, Washington Today, that is carried on Georgian Public TV. The show focuses on developments in the United States, American perspectives on major developments in the region, the Georgian diaspora, social issues, medicine, science, technology and culture.

"VOA Georgian audiences can always expect us to provide exclusive, reliable news and information," said VOA Georgian Chief Anna Kalandadze, adding that she is "honored to work with the service's dedicated journalists who continue to positively influence Georgia's traditional and new media environments."

The service also maintains a dynamic website, providing video reports on its YouTube channel and engaging the audiences through Facebook and other social media.  

VOA reaches a global weekly audience of more than 187 million people in over 40 languages. VOA programs are delivered on satellite, cable, shortwave, FM, medium wave, streaming audio and video and more than 2,350 media outlets worldwide. It is funded by the U.S. Congress through the Broadcasting Board of Governors.

(VOA Press Release)

VOA Georgian Service Marks 60th Anniversary

NewsletterWashington, D.C. — May 26, 2011
Voice of America's Georgian Service, which first went on the air May 26, 1951, is being hailed for the role it has played in helping bring democracy to the former Soviet republic.
In a message marking the 60th anniversary of the service's creation, Georgia's Ambassador to the United States, Temur Yakobashvili said, "Without any exaggeration I can say that the VOA Georgian Service has played a big role in spreading America's voice to the people of Georgia and making it possible for me to represent a sovereign nation here in the United States. VOA's Georgian Service is as relevant today as it has always been in the past."

VOA began broadcasting a one-half hour daily program to the Georgian people during the most frigid days of the cold war, when Georgia was still a Soviet Socialist Republic. For the past sixty years, through the country's transition to democracy, the service has continued to provide accurate, balanced and comprehensive news and information to the people of Georgia.
Among its many admirers is Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, who has praised the service as "unique and important in covering events in and around Georgia."
VOA's Georgian Service radio broadcasts were increased to one hour daily in August 2008 following Russia's military incursion into Georgian territory.
The Service broadcasts seven hours of original radio programming a week, reaching listeners via the FM network of Georgia's Public Broadcasting Corporation, the country's most powerful FM distribution facility. The broadcasts are also heard on shortwave frequencies.
Since November 2010, the VOA Georgian Service has also produced a weekly 15-minute TV program that is broadcast by Georgia's Public Broadcasting Corporation. The Service's video reports, along with its daily radio programs, are also available on its website and through Facebook, Youtube and Twitter.
Visit VOA's Georgian Service at www.voanews.com/georgian/news

(VOA Press Release)