Sec. Clinton Salutes Radio Sawa on its 10th Anniversary
Springfield, Va. — Today, Radio Sawa marks its 10th anniversary of broadcasting to millions of listeners across the Middle East. Since its launch in 2002, Radio Sawa’s innovative style of mixing accurate and objective news with popular music has gained the appreciation of its Arab audience and produced numerous imitators throughout the region.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, in a letter to the Radio Sawa staff, praised the radio station’s success and popularity saying “its team of dedicated journalists across the Middle East and the United States provides millions of listeners with an invaluable source of news.” Sec. Clinton added that mixing popular music and public affairs made an immediate impact in the region.
Radio Sawa achieved tremendous success by creating a format that provides news and localized music to the Arab audience through different media platforms including FM radio, mobile devices and the Internet. Since the beginning of Arab Spring, Radio Sawa has been one of the leading Arabic-language news outlets that provide its audience with breaking news and up-to-the-minute reports. Both Radio Sawa and its all-news-website RadioSawa.com are frequently cited in the Arab press.
“At this critical time of political transition in the Middle East, Radio Sawa is more important than ever. It provides on-the-ground reports from the region’s hotspots to reach its Arab audience,” stated Brian Conniff, President of MBN.
Radio Sawa continues to engage its audience and interact with it. On its 10th anniversary, it invites all its listeners to visit its anniversary’s Facebook page, where they can upload pictures, audio and video greetings.
Radio Sawa broadcasts on FM to Libya, Morocco, Jordan, the Palestinian territories, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, U.A.E., Lebanon, Iraq, Sudan and Djibouti. Radio Sawa broadcasts on medium wave to Egypt, Yemen, Saudi Arabia and Syria. The radio networks can also be heard on Arabsat and Nilesat as well as Radio Sawa’s website.
Recent surveys by international research companies such as ACNielsen show that Radio Sawa has an unduplicated weekly reach of an estimated 14 million adults. Radio Sawa is operated by the non-profit corporation “The Middle East Broadcasting Networks, Inc.” (MBN). MBN is financed by the U.S. Government through a grant from the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), an independent federal agency. The BBG serves oversight and as a firewall to protect the professional independence and integrity of the broadcasters.