When Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif visited Washington recently, VOA Urdu was there from start to finish. As the only news network sending live analysis reports and updates to Pakistan directly from the White House lawn, VOA Urdu provided its audience with extensive coverage of the meetings between Prime Minister Sharif, President Obama and Secretary of State Kerry.
In-depth coverage of the meetings included three hours of special television programming with Pakistani channels Dawn TV and News One. In addition, VOA Urdu reporters and producers provided more than a dozen live radio reports to Pakistani news services throughout the region.
“This is one of the core values of VOA: to provide comprehensive coverage and analysis on US policy and relations, and a clear testament of VOA’s importance to our audiences and affiliates,” said Urdu Service Chief Faiz Rehman.
Rehman explained that the unique collaboration among the Pakistani channels and VOA Urdu came about “due to increasing engagement efforts by the Service in the target area.” VOA offers training programs that bring journalists from around the world to its Washington, D.C. headquarters to learn from our seasoned reporters. “This program has been instrumental in cultivating and nourishing these relationships,” concluded Rehman.
VOA’s Urdu Service provides a wide variety of programs on multiple platforms including radio, television and the web, with content distributed to 14 affiliates, reaching 5.6 million adults weekly in Pakistan.
