Voice of Russia wholeheartedly congratulated for glorious 80th anniversary!

"Dear participants and guests of the First International festival of Russian Language Radio Stations! On behalf of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs I wholeheartedly congratulate you on a glorious anniversary – the 80th jubilee of the Voice of Russia. The legendary international broadcasting, the high standards of which received well-deserved recognition around the world, is still memorable for us, many diplomats. We can rightfully pride ourselves on being a country that pioneered broadcasting abroad. October 29, 1929, saw the first German broadcast of Radio Moscow International, which several decades later began to be called the Voice of Russia. The BBC went on air only three and the Voice of America seven years later. Today the Voice of Russia, which broadcasts to 160 countries in 38 languages, is one of the top five most listened to international radio stations, whose audience consists of more than 100 million people. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has long been closely working with the radio company. In the conditions when information wars have become one of the tools for achieving foreign policy objectives, the Voice of Russia plays an important role in creating a truthful image of our country abroad and conveying to millions of people objective and reliable information about present-day Russia." Russian deputy foreign minister Alexander Yakovenko, Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs press release, 2 November 2009. Credibility is the most important ingredient of successful international radio. Accordingly, references to "working closely" with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and to "achieving foreign policy objectives" are perhaps not what VOR needed to hear. See previous post about same subject.
     "Vladimir Putin sent a message of greetings to participants and guests of the 1st International Festival of Russian-language Radio Stations. The message reads, in part: 'The festival, hosted by Voice of Russia radio broadcasting station, is the first event to gather Russian-language mass media and radio stations from Russia and the rest of the world. The event provides a wonderful opportunity to discuss Russian-language broadcasting and its promotion round the world.'" Government of the Russian Federation announcement, 2 November 2009.
     "Symbolically, the festival coincides with the Voice of Russia celebrating 80 years of broadcasting to foreign audiences. Today the Voice of Russia is one of the world’s largest radio stations and ranks among the top five most popular international broadcasters. It is hard to overestimate the importance of its work for shaping and promoting an objective image of Russia globally, for providing topical information to Russian compatriots and for strengthening their links with the historical Homeland. Taking this opportunity, I congratulate the whole VOR team on this significant event." Russian minister of foreign affairs Sergey Lavrov, Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs press release, 2 November 2009.
     "A delegation from Radio the Voice of Vietnam (VOV) was among 136 others attending the first international festival for radio outfits broadcasting opened in Moscow on November 2. ... VOV Vice General Director Dao Duy Hua discussed measures to boost cooperation between VOV and VOR." Voice of Vietnam, 3 November 2009. Posted: 06 Nov 2009 Permalink Print