Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) Chairman Walter Isaacson released the following statement concerning coverage of recent events in the Middle East:
“As Chairman of the BBG, I have been regularly updated on developments across the Middle East by our Arabic-language broadcasters Alhurra TV and Radio Sawa. I am impressed by the results, and the commitment from the reporters, editors and managers at MBN to consistently uphold the highest journalistic standards, to compete with other outlets to get the story first, to get it accurately, and to provide the rich content the public deserves. They are playing a crucial role in reporting the developing story by providing live coverage from Cairo and other key cities, pre-empting regularly scheduled programming to cover breaking news, and incorporating video clips, photos and online comments from protesters as well as commentary from U.S. policymakers and analysts. Alhurra TV and Radio Sawa are important media players in the Middle East during these tumultuous days, contributing to international broadcasting in significant ways, utilizing all means of communications available, and with dedicated commitment to the mission.”
The Broadcasting Board of Governors is an independent federal agency, supervising all U.S. government-supported, civilian international broadcasting, whose mission is to promote freedom and democracy and to enhance understanding through multimedia communication of accurate, objective, and balanced news, information, and other programming about America and the world to audiences overseas. BBG broadcasts reach an audience of 165 million in 100 countries. BBG broadcasting organizations include the Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, the Middle East Broadcasting Networks (Alhurra TV and Radio Sawa), Radio Free Asia, and the Office of Cuba Broadcasting (Radio and TV Marti).
(Leticia King)
