Voice of America’s Persian Service is airing a full day of live coverage and analysis of the United Nations General Assembly Session in New York today (Tuesday), including long-anticipated speeches by President Obama and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.
The TV special, running from 9:30 a.m. to about 6:30 p.m. Eastern Time, is being broadcast to Iran on direct-to-home satellite, social media sites, streamed on the Internet, and on proxy servers designed to circumvent Iranian Internet blocking.
“This broadcast will provide our audience in Iran with comprehensive coverage of this important event, with perspectives and viewpoints that are simply not available on state-run media,” says VOA Director David Ensor.
In addition to live simultaneous translation of President Obama’s UN address, the coverage includes interviews with Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi, a former member of the Iranian parliament, and other guests and academics speaking from inside Iran.
VOA correspondents in Washington, New York and London will provide updates and analyses of the day’s events, and interview leading experts. Social media platforms, including a live Twitter feed, offer audience members a way to pose questions and make comments.
Special extended editions of VOA’s prime time interview show Horizon (Ofog) and the audience participation program Straight Talk will also focus on the activities at the UN, including discussion of long-strained U.S.-Iranian relations and the possibility of a thaw following the recent election of Iran’s new president.
Additional live analysis programs will air on Wednesday and throughout the week. For a complete list of guests and programs visit the VOA Persian website.
The most recent audience surveys indicate Voice of America’s Persian Service is one of the leading international news sources inside Iran, despite efforts to block the programs. Surveys show one-in-five adult Iranians watch a VOA TV program each week.
In addition to the special Persian Service programs, Voice of America broadcast President Obama’s speech around the world on radio and television satellite streams, the Internet and mobile platforms and streamed it live.
For more information about this release contact Kyle King at the VOA Public Relations office in Washington at (202) 203-4959, or write [email protected]. Additional information can be found at the VOA Public Relations website www.insidevoa.com, or the main news site www.voanews.com.
(This release published first on www.insidevoa.com)
Originally published at https://www.insidevoa.com/a/voa-live-tv-coverage-of-us-iran-presidents-at-un/1756191.html
