Voice of America
As Georgian diaspora communities formed across the US, the Voice of America became a salient organizing force for networks of Georgian-Americans.
Explore various topics and find a brief history below!
With the establishment of the United States International Information Administration in 1952, the Department of State and the Truman administration had a particular goal in mind: enforce the Smith-Mundt Act of 1948 to promote “better understanding of the United States among the peoples of the world” [1]. Wilson Compton’s “Waging the Campaign of Truth,” published in 1952, reiterated the U.S. government’s commitment to “defense plans of another kind – those concerned with the less tangible but equally important field of public opinion in other countries.” Compton reiterated Truman’s vision for American journalism:
“In the Soviet Union… any crack in this hard core that can be widened is to the advantage of the free world. In the satellites, … captive peoples look to the free world with hope of eventual liberation. … [2].
The exiled national government of Georgia, led by Noe Jordania, believed it represented a “captive nation.” In 1948, it released a statement “Le Problème Géorgien” which focused on Georgia’s claim to liberty from Soviet communism:
“The qualified representatives of the Allied countries have several times proclaimed, among the aims of the war, the emancipation of the oppressed. The following question arises here: will the Georgian nation be included among the nations whose liberation is the condition of peace? The Georgian question deserves to be put on the agenda of the international conference…We know that the Georgian nation has longed to be free and has waged a fierce struggle for its freedom. During its long existence, Georgia obtained all the necessary foundations for a national state…”
In 1951 several foreign language broadcasts were established at the Voice of America. One was VOA Georgian, along with VOA Azerbaijani, VOA Estonian, VOA Latvian, VOA Lithuanian, VOA Tatar and VOA Turkestani. That same year, Noe Jordania proposed a “Mémorandum sur la situation de la Géorgie, 1951” to the United Nations, asking the organization uphold Georgia’s right to freedom:
“The Georgian Nation is convinced that the United Nations, which guides the efforts of humanity for world peace, for the "fundamental rights" of people and of nations large and small, …will seize, as the League of Nations once recommended to its Council, all opportunities to help restore Georgia its inalienable rights: political independence and national sovereignty.”
VOA Georgian’s first radio broadcast was in 1951, on a very special and historic date for the Georgian people. On May 26th, VOA Georgia commemorated the day the Democratic Republic of Georgia declared its independence in 1918. Erekle Orbeliani (1901 – 1954) was the first Director of the Georgian Service, and Dean Acheson, the U.S. Secretary of State addressed the Georgian people under Soviet occupation. He announced the inauguration of VOA Georgia and declared to Georgians living within the USSR:
“You have been able, through the ages, to preserve your national personality, and you have never lost the will to stand up for human rights. We Americans admire you for this enduring spirit” [3].
The Georgian translation of Acheson’s address was published in the Georgian journal “Chveni Droeba” in 1951. The full Georgian version is available on the VOA website [4].
VOA’s program listings to Europe and Middle East of November-December of 1951 [5] included the following programs in Georgian:
When Radio Free Europe became available in Russian and 17 other USSR languages in 1953, the VOA foreign language service experienced a decline in listening audiences. In the early 1950s, several VOA foreign language services were discontinued, including VOA Finnish, VOA Spanish, VOA Italian, and VOA French, and VOA German in 1960s. The Georgian Association in the USA, the major Georgian Diaspora body, issued an appeal for preserving VOA Georgian on August 24th, 1958. In the appeal, Vano Kobakhidze and Petre Khvedelidze write:
“Dear Fellow Georgians,
Washington has informed us that the Georgian branch of Voice of America will be closed in the near future. A few months ago, word circulated that except for the Russian branch, all the other language branches would be closed. In Washington’s opinion, for the inhabitants of fifteen USSR republics, Russian language “is fully understandable.”
…The Georgian people condemn this decision fiercely, oppressed by “Bolsheviks” and always considered a most promising nation, today we are dismissed as insignificant ….
We have decided to address Georgian diasporas in the free nations to ask them, along with their foreign friends and supporters of the Georgian people to send letters and telegrams of protest to President Eisenhower, Foster Dulles and Senators in the Committee of Foreign Affairs of the United States.
Due to the severity of the issue, we do not have much time; please utilize all of your influence and networks to act in a united spirit ...
With the hope of victory and with Georgian greetings:
Vano Kobakhidze
Chairman of the Georgian Association in the USA
Petre Khvedelidze
Secretary of the Georgian Association in the USA” [6].
VOA Georgia was reprieved. Since its foundation, VOA Georgia has continued to serve Georgian Diasporas around the world. The number of languages in VOA broadcasting has vastly increased. In 1984, out of 986 hours of weekly programming in 42 languages, 399 programs targeted the USSR and Eastern Europe, double the broadcasting in all other parts of the world [7]. In 1994, The Broadcasting Board of Governors (known as The United States Agency for Global Media since 2018) was formed in response to the International Broadcasting Act. Signed by President Bill Clinton, it established broadcasting standards for Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/ Radio Liberty and Radio Marti.
VOA services, including VOA Georgian, are committed to communicating evidence-based and objective news to Georgian-speaking communities around the world. Initially limited to one half-hour daily program, VOA Georgian radio broadcasts increased to a full hour in 2008, following Russia’s war and occupation of the Georgian territory. Since 2010, VOA Georgian produces a weekly 15-minute TV program broadcast by Georgia’s Public Broadcasting Corporation [8]. In a partnership with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in 2013, VOA Georgian initiated a program to broadcast 8:00am – 2:00am along with Radio Tavisupleba (Radio Liberty) and the Russian-language Ekho Kavkaza (“Echo of the Caucasus”) [9].
Today, VOA Georgia features news from Georgia, the USA, and the rest of the world. It covers US elections, includes videos and broadcasts from Washington DC, covers international events as well as a variety of topics covering politics, economics, health, science, interviews, culture, and issues of disinformation. VOA Georgian broadcasts scientific discoveries on medicine, health policy, anthropology and much more. As the “window on the United States,” VOA Georgian provides additional analyses on Georgia’s democratic trajectory and its Euro-Atlantic aspirations [10].
Check out our timeline of VOA Georgia!
[1] Smith-Mundt Act, 1948. U.S. Agency for Global Media. https://www.usagm.gov/who-we-are/oversight/legislation/smith-mundt/
[2] Waging the Campaign of Truth, 1952. The Department of State. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.d0004680286&seq=2.
[3] Section géorgienne de “Voice of America,” 2013. Première République de Géorgie. Christine Pagava-Boulez.
https://premiererepubliquedegeorgie.wordpress.com/2013/05/17/section-georgienne-de-voice-of-america/
[4] დინ აჩესონი: ხშირად ყოფილა საქართველო დაპყრობილი, მაგრამ არასოდეს დამორჩილებული - 26.05.1951. Voice of America. https://www.amerikiskhma.com/a/secretary-dean-acheson-first-speech-at-voice-of-america-georgian-service-in-may-26-1951/5905689.html
[5] The Voice of America World Program Schedules – November-December 1951 – A Year of Changes at VOA, 2023. Cold War Radio Museum. https://www.coldwarradiomuseum.com/the-voice-of-america-world-program-schedules-november-december-1951-a-year-of-changes-at-voa/#easy-footnote-15-18213
[6] The Appeal of the Georgian Association in the United States of America, 1958. Georgian Association in the USA. https://georgianassociation.org/celebrating-73-years-of-voice-of-america-georgian-service/
[7] Edward Mainland, Mark Pomar and Kurt Carlson.
Chapter: Western Broadcasting over the Iron Curtain (p.113-136). The Voice Present and Future: VOA, the USSR and Communist Europe, 1986.
Routledge. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003458630-7/voice-present-future-voa-ussr-communist-europe-edward-mainland-mark-pomar-kurt-carlson
[8] VOA Georgian Service Marks 60th Anniversary, 2011. U.S. Agency for Global Media. https://www.usagm.gov/2011/05/27/voa-georgian-service-marks-60th-anniversary/
[9] RFE/RL, VOA Partnership Boosts Georgian Broadcasts, 2014. U.S. Agency for Global Media. https://www.usagm.gov/2014/05/07/rferl-voa-partnership-boosts-georgian-broadcasts/
[10] VOA Broadcasting in Georgian, VOA Public Relations. https://www.insidevoa.com/p/6429.html