VOA Broadcasting in Bangla (and Rohingya)
VOA's Bangla service reaches several million people daily via the web, social media, and its television programs. While the press in Bangladesh is becoming less restrictive, targeted violence occasionally limits the freedom of journalists. VOA’s main broadcasts reach Bangladesh, and the Bangla-speaking Indian states of West Bengal, Assam, and Tripura, as well as several Arab and Muslim countries in the Middle East, Southeast Asia and Africa, where Bangladeshi workers live. VOA Bangla programs also reach the diaspora community in the U.S. In addition, VOA Bangla manages radio programming in the Rohingya language for refugee camp dwellers in eastern Bangladesh. VOA Bangla has two weekly television programs, as well as a presence on the web and mobile.
Quick FactsDate Established: January 1958 Target Area: Bangladesh and the Bangla-speaking Indian States of West Bengal, Tripura, Assam, and the diaspora TV Programming: 15 min per week Programs available at: voabangla.com Facebook: VOA Bangla Twitter: @VOABangla YouTube: voabangla Instagram: voabangla |
Programs and Features
Radio
Lifeline – A 30-minute news and music program in the Rohingya language airs on short wave and medium wave at 7:30 a.m. EDT. Content is produced in both Washington, D.C. and the Rohingya camps in Bangladesh.
TV
Hello America – A weekly glimpse on international issues, as well as interviews with prominent Americans and Bangladeshis. It provides a bridge between two cultures, depicting real life experiences of ordinary Americans and Bangladeshi/South Asian immigrants in the U.S. It airs every Saturday at 11:20 p.m. and repeats Sundays at 11:40 a.m.
VOA 60 USA – A fast-paced one-minute weekly TV roundup of the latest news from the U.S. It airs five days a week at 7 p.m. and 11 p.m. local time during affiliate station DESH TV’s prime time newscast.