USAGM carries exclusive coverage of UNGA to its global audience
USAGM networks provided extensive coverage of the 73rd United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), as leaders from across the world came together to meet and discuss their ideas and strategies with their counterparts. In addition to covering important speeches and various meetings, USAGM networks scored several high profile interviews.
Live coverage & simultaneous translations
President Trump’s speech was broadcast live across all USAGM networks, with simultaneous translation in several languages. Excerpts from the speech were rebroadcast and posted on all platforms with analysis and commentary in more than 59 languages, reaching 339 million people.
President Trump’s speech was broadcast live across all USAGM networks, with simultaneous translation in several languages. Excerpts from the speech were rebroadcast and posted on all platforms with analysis and commentary in more than 59 languages, reaching 339 million people.
Alhurra offered comprehensive live coverage of the speeches made by:
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu,
- Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas and
- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
Additional coverage included the U.N. Security Council Meeting chaired by President Trump, as well as his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyhu. Alhurra & VOA Persian provided live coverage of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s remarks at the United Against Nuclear Iran Summit.
Interactives with affiliate stations included:
- VOA Spanish reporters providing at least 30 daily live affiliate interactions and Facebook Lives
- VOA Ukrainian held interactives with leading media outlets in Ukraine, including National TV Channel, Hromadske TV, Channel 24, and ICTV.
Noteworthy Interviews
Region: Middle East
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on the nuclear deal with Iran
- Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari
- Tunisian Foreign Minister Khemaies Jhinaoui
- Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu
- U.S. Ambassador to Yemen Matthew Tueller
- State Department Near Eastern Affairs spokesman Christiaan James
- Mark Lowcock, U.N. Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator
Region: Africa
- Namibian President Hage Geingob on Chinese investments in the continent
- Malian President Ibrahim Boubakar Keita on the much-needed support from the international community to combat extremists in the Sahel
- Equatorial Guinea President Teodoro Obiang who denied allegations of human rights abuses in his country
- Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa who said he is working to stabilize Guinea-Bissau
Region: East Asia
- Indonesian VP Jusuf Kalla on issues including the Middle East, Indonesia’s role at the UN and the growing intolerance in Indonesia
- Burmese Minister of International Cooperation (de facto foreign minister) U Kyaw Tin reacted to U.S. congressional efforts to designate Myanmar’s treatment of the Rohingya people as genocide
- Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina talked about the Rohingya refugee crisis and repatriation arrangements with Myanmar
Region: Eurasia
- Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili
- Montenegrin Foreign Minister Srdjan Darmanovich
- Macedonian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrej Zernovski
- Armenian Health Minister Arsen Torosyan
- Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan
- Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin
- Ukraine’s Deputy Speaker of Parliament Iryna Gerashenko
- Ukraine’s Navy Representative Vasyl Radchuk
Region: South Asia
- Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi
“Pakistan can facilitate the Afghan peace process. Pakistan will not allow its land to be used against other countries and now terrorist sanctuaries have moved across the border (to Afghanistan).”
- Afghanistan CEO Abdullah-Abdullah
“The agreement between the U.S. and Afghanistan has important parts and has had an impact on international cooperation with Afghanistan, support for Afghan national security and the fight against the Taliban who continue to put pressure on agreements that were approved by the Afghan people and the government.
Special Features & Additional Highlights
Alhurra’s daily talk show Free Hour hosted analysts from the U.S. and the region to discuss the event of each day of the UN General Assembly. While Alhurra’s primetime newscasts had recaps from each day’s events.
In partnership with the Global First Ladies Alliance, VOA’s Hayde Adams FitzPatrick moderated a Facebook Live discussion with the First Lady of Namibia. That program was picked up by the Africa Channel.
VOA Khmer reporters covered the protest against and a rally in support of Prime Minister Hun Sen’s first visit to the United Nation General Assembly, after his party won a widely condemned election in July. It was the first time ever that VOA Khmer was granted access to Prime Minister Hun Sen’s meeting with the Cambodian community from the U.S. and Canada. During the meeting, Hun Sen specifically called out VOA. He mentioned VOA interviews with opposition officials and he mocked opposition officials who suggested in their VOA interviews that Washington will not allow him to come to the U.S. and that the UN may remove Cambodia’s seat. He specifically pointed out that VOA is at the event (pointing his finger at reporter Sisovann Pin) and suggested that VOA should get a response from opposition officials about his New York visit.
VOA Spanish’s presence when Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro spoke to journalists at the UN headquarters and answered VOA Spanish’s questions, one of which was quoted by the U.S. publication The Hill, “Maduro indicated that he was open to meeting with Trump despite months of tensions between the two countries, according to a video posted to Twitter by Voice of America.”