The Business of Radio

30 / 48

THE BUSINESS OF RADIO | BROADCASTERS
30 | WORLD RADIO DAY 2016 | CELEBRATING RADIO
RADIO FREE ASIA
KEY CONTACT INFORMATION
LIBBY LIU
President
RADIO FREE ASIA
2025 M Street NW, Suite 300
Washington, DC 20036 USA
T +1 202-530-4900
IN BRIEF
RFA is a private, nonprofit corporation that broadcasts
news and information to listeners in Asian countries
where full, accurate, and timely news reports are
unavailable.
PROFILE
Launched in 1996, Radio Free Asia
(RFA) brings award-winning,
domestic journalism and uncensored
content to people in six Asian
countries that restrict free speech,
freedom of the press, and access to
reliable information beyond their
borders.
While rooted in radio, RFA has
continually expanded its efforts to
connect with audiences in China,
North Korea, Burma (Myanmar),
Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam
through online video, television,
satellite, and social media, in
addition to tried-and-true
shortwave and AM radio
broadcasts.
As well as accurate, in-depth
news, RFA provides educational
and cultural programming, and
forums for audiences to engage in
open dialogue and freely express
opinions.
Relying on input from its
audiences, RFA utilises an array of
digital formats, mobile apps and
social media to enable individuals
in its target countries to share
content, news tips, leads, and
thoughts with each other and RFA’s
news teams.
Global audience
Since many of RFA’s countries
have difficult media
environments, it is difficult to
establish audience numbers
based on research.
Our languages
Burmese; Cantonese; Khmer;
Korean; Lao; Mandarin;
Tibetan; Uyghur; Vietnamese
OPERATES UNDER A GRANT BY THE BROADCASTING BOARD OF GOVERNORS
Headquartered in Washington,
D.C., RFA has seven overseas
bureaux and an extensive network
of on-the-ground correspondents.
Its nine language services report on
in-country developments and local
issues and events that are censored
and ignored by state-controlled
media. RFA journalists break stories
that often serve as a starting point
for audiences to better understand
larger trends and events. RFA has
broken stories relating to the unrest
in China’s far western Uyghur
region, illegal logging in Cambodia,
Burma’s recent elections, and the
punishment of bloggers in Vietnam.
RFA is funded through, and
operates under, an annual grant
from the Broadcasting Board of
Governors. Following strict
journalistic standards of objectivity,
integrity, and balance, RFA also
serves as a model for its target
countries’ emerging journalistic
traditions. RFA’s reports are frequently
cited in reports in The Wall Street
Journal, New York Times, Washington
Post, Reuters, Associated Press,
Agence France Presse, Chosun Ilbo,
NHK, KBS, Al Jazeera, Ming Pao
and BBC, among numerous other
domestic and international outlets.