Voice of Russia Radio Launches New U.S. Stations, Delivering Russian News & Perspective to Americans

Voice of Russia Radio Launches New U.S. Stations, Delivering Russian News & Perspective to Americans

Washington, D.C. Station Announces Launch with Panel Discussion Focusing on the Changing Face of Public Diplomacy in Russia-U.S. Relations

WASHINGTON, June 9, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today, Voice of Russia (VOR) Radio announces the launch of two U.S. stations in New York and Washington, D.C. The new stations will air live programming with the Russian perspective on international news, culture, arts and events over 1430 AM and 1390 AM frequency, respectively. The stations mark the first time VOR will produce programming directly from the United States rather than broadcasting news from the Moscow-based radio program.

"This is a very significant move for Voice of Russia because it is the first time in the history of the station that material being broadcast to the North American market will actually originate and be produced locally," said Andrei Bystritsky, Chairman of VOR. VOR has been broadcasting since October 29, 1929, and was the first radio station to broadcast internationally to provide a Russian perspective on news and culture. VOR currently broadcasts to 160 countries in 38 languages for a total of 151 hours per day, on short and medium waves, in the FM band, via satellite and through a global mobile communications network. The Washington, D.C. station will employ over 15 correspondents throughout the U.S. who will cover stories on culture, sports, science and politics.

To kick-off the Washington, D.C. station, Mr. Bystritsky is hosting a panel discussion on Thursday, June 9 that will focus on the changes of Russian and U.S. approaches to public diplomacy since the end of the Cold War more than two decades ago; the impact of an American broadcast on attitudes and perceptions toward U.S.-Russian relations; and, the value of international broadcast programs.

The panel will be moderated by Angela Stent, the Director for the Center for Eurasian, Russian and East European Studies at Georgetown University and feature as panelists Andrei Bystritsky, VOR Chairman; Joseph Duffey, former Director of the United States Information Agency; Thomas Graham, former senior director at the National Security Council for Russia; Rudiger Lentz, former Washington Bureau Chief and Senior Diplomatic Correspondent for Deutsche Welle; and, Dr. Elez Biberaj, Director of the Eurasia Division for Voice of America.

The event also pays tribute to Russia Day, a day of national celebrating commemorating the Declaration of State Sovereignty of the Russia Federation on June 12, 1990. The holiday was established in 1992, and is considered Russia's Independence Day.

The panel discussion will be held this morning, Thursday, June 9, 2011 from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. at the National Press Club in the Lisagor Room.

For further information, visit http://english.ruvr.ru/.

SOURCE Voice of Russia Radio

Voice of Russia Radio

CONTACT: Christy Moran, Weber Merritt, +1-703-299-2602, cmoran@webermerritt.com

Web Site: http://english.ruvr.ru/

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