The Foreign Service Journal, January 2004

38 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / J A N U A R Y 2 0 0 4 OANews.com, which serves up news and information for about two million visitors a month, is VOA’s newest media element. Launched in November 2000, the Web site now averages more than 60,000 visits a day, with six million pages viewed every month. When the Iraq War started, traffic to VOANews.com almost doubled as users around the world rushed to get the lat- est news and U.S. perspective on world events. Usage has remained high — so visitors must like what they see. VOA has Web pages for more than 50 language ser- vices, all of which stream their daily audio programs on the Web. Nearly 40 services also produce regular unique text and news content on the Web. VOANews.com uses the VOA Charter as its guiding mission statement. Because VOA’s target audience is entirely outside the United States, VOANews.com has had to take accessibility and other factors into consideration more than commercial American news organizations like CNN or MSNBC. Most of its users don’t have access to broadband connections, and are paying per minute for both telephone time and dial-up Internet service. Therefore, VOANews.com offers its Web material as a “full bandwidth” option with pictures, graphics and audio and video links, as well as a “low bandwidth” option in text only. Future options might also include wireless applica- tions or other formats for handheld devices, as these become the preferred Web-surfing method in countries where mobile phones outnumber landlines. Why the Web? VOA has a 61-year history as a broadcaster, with its tra- ditional audience sometimes seen as the shepherd in the tent or the migrant in the refugee camp, who has no other access to accurate news and information. But VOA wanted a way to reach a different audience, one that includes government and NGO officials, university stu- dents and urban professionals who are comfortable with technology and have access to computers at school and work. These are the current and future leaders, activists and decision-makers of the world; they are Web users but not necessarily radio listeners, and include many whose parents listened to the Voice of America but who may not listen to it themselves. These are the people who can make a difference in their own countries, based on the information they get from the Voice of America. They increasingly get their news online. Busy people with tight schedules that may not match the times that VOA broadcasts locally, they may travel frequently, or no longer live in the “footprint” of the VOA broadcast. They need to get their news and information at their own convenience, and at a pace they VOA’ S NEWEST MEDIA ELEMENT AIMS TO REACH OFFICIALS AND PRIVATE INDIVIDUALS WITH ACCESS TO COMPUTERS WHO CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN THEIR OWN COUNTRIES . B Y M OLLIE M. K ING F O C U S O N U . S . B R O A D C A S T I N G V G OING O NLINE AT VOAN EWS . COM