America greets the world
Seventy-four years ago in February 1942, with countries across the globe in the throes of the Second World War, American writer and journalist William Harlan Hale initiated the first VOA radio show in German with these now-immortal words:
“We bring you voices from America. Today, and daily from now on, we shall speak to you about America and the war. The news may be good for us. The news may be bad. But we shall tell you the truth.”
The first German programs accompanied broadcasts in French, Italian and English. By 1944, VOA had broadcast hundreds of hours of programming in more than 40 languages.
I’m proud to say decades later VOA and the four other BBG networks still live up to the highest standards of professional journalism on radio, TV, on-line, mobile and social platforms.
