The Voice of America (VOA) will add an additional half-hour morning radio news program in Amharic to cover the crisis in Somalia. The programme will be heard via shortwave in Ethiopia and the region, beginning Thursday, 28 December at 0300 UTC, with a repeat at 0400 UTC.
“We know VOA’s broadcasts are vital to our audience in Ethiopia,” said Gwen Dillard, Director of VOA’s Africa Division. “They rely on our trustworthy and objective news to get the straight story on the mounting crisis there.”
VOA’s Horn of Africa Service broadcasts 12 hours a week, in the Amharic, Afan Oromo and Tigrina languages. News and information in Amharic is currently broadcast seven days a week via shortwave on 9320, 9860, 11675, 11905, 13870 kHz from 1800-1900 UTC and will be on 13815 and 15610 kHz from 0300-0330 UTC with a repeat at 0400-0430 UTC. Programs are also available online.
Amharic is the official language of Ethiopia, a country with an estimated population of 70 million people. According to recent surveys, VOA Amharic attracts 18% of the adult population on a weekly basis.
(Source: Voice of America/R Netherlands Media Network Weblog)
