Rfe-Rl Inc

RFE/RL PROMOTES DEMOCRATIC VALUES BY REPORTING THE NEWS IN COUNTRIES LACKING A FREE PRESS.

THE CURRENT TIME TV AND DIGITAL NETWORK PROVIDES RUSSIAN SPEAKERS ACROSS RUSSIA, UKRAINE, CENTRAL ASIA, THE CAUCASUS, THE BALTICS, AND EASTERN EUROPE WITH ACCESS TO FACTUAL, ACCURATE, TOPICAL, AND TRUSTWORTHY INFORMATION. CURRENT TIME ALSO SERVES AS A MUCH NEEDED REALITY CHECK ON DISINFORMATION NARRATIVES THAT DRIVE CONFLICT IN THE REGION, INCLUDING RUSSIA'S 2022 INVASION OF UKRAINE. CURRENT TIME SERVES AS A BIAS-FREE NEWS SOURCE FOR ALL RUSSIAN SPEAKERS, WHO ARE OFTEN LIMITED TO KREMLIN-CONTROLLED NEWS AND INFORMATION OPTIONS EVEN WHEN LIVING FAR BEYOND RUSSIA'S BORDERS. CURRENT TIME PLACES A PREMIUM ON LIVE NEWS COVERAGE THAT ALLOWS SKEPTICAL AUDIENCES NUMBED BY DISINFORMATION AND KREMLIN NARRATIVES TO JUDGE EVENTS FOR THEMSELVES. CURRENT TIME ALSO OFFERS GROUNDBREAKING FEATURE PROGRAMMING AND AWARD-WINNING DOCUMENTARIES, PROVIDING RUSSIAN-SPEAKING AUDIENCES WITH RARE ACCESS TO FILMS BARRED FROM MAINSTREAM DISTRIBUTION IN RUSSIA BECAUSE OF THEIR POLITICAL CONTENT. CURRENT TIME IS CARRIED BY 279 DISTRIBUTORS IN 23 COUNTRIES, AND IS AVAILABLE ON HOTEL TV PLATFORMS IN NEARLY 450 HOTELS AND OVER 58,000 HOTEL ROOMS IN THE UK, EUROPE, AUSTRALIA, AFRICA, MALDIVES, UAE, AND SAUDI ARABIA. ACCORDING TO THE LATEST USAGM RESEARCH, ACROSS THE TARGET AREA, 8.5 MILLION ADULTS USE CURRENT TIME EACH WEEK. ONLINE, CURRENT TIME DIGITAL ENGAGES AUDIENCES WITH ITS REPORTING VIA ITS WEBSITE, FACEBOOK, YOUTUBE, VKONTAKTE, TWITTER, INSTAGRAM, ODNOKLASSNIKI AND TELEGRAM. IN FY 2021, THE NETWORK SAW NEARLY 680,000 AVERAGE WEEKLY WEBSITE VISITS AND 24.4 MILLION WEEKLY VIDEO VIEWS ACROSS DIGITAL PLATFORMS.

RFE/RL'S RUSSIAN SERVICE, RADIO SVOBODA, IS A TRUSTED SOURCE OF BALANCED INFORMATION ABOUT POLITICAL, SOCIAL, CIVIC, CULTURAL, AND HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUES THAT ARE UNREPORTED OR UNDER-REPORTED IN RUSSIA. IT ALSO PROVIDES A FORUM FOR DISCUSSION AND DEBATE ON THESE TOPICS. RADIO SVOBODA FOCUSES ON PRODUCING A RANGE OF INTEGRATED MULTIMEDIA CONTENT--AUDIO, VIDEO, AND SOCIAL MEDIA--THAT CONNECTS TARGET AUDIENCES ACROSS RUSSIA AND ENHANCES THE IMPACT OF ITS JOURNALISM. THE SERVICE RUNS TWO REGIONAL REPORTING PROJECTS: SIBERIA.REALITIES (SIBREAL.ORG) IS AIMED AT RESIDENTS OF THE TRANS-URALS REGION OF RUSSIA AND NORTH.REALITIES (SEVERREAL.ORG) AIMED AT NORTHWESTERN RUSSIA WAS LAUNCHED IN SEPTEMBER 2019. IN MARCH 2022, AFTER THE START OF RUSSIA'S INVASION OF UKRAINE, RADIO SVOBODA WAS FORCED TO SUSPEND OPERATIONS WITHIN RUSSIA AND MOVE ITS JOURNALISTS OUTSIDE OF THE COUNTRY; THE SERVICE WAS DESIGNATED A "FOREIGN AGENT" BY THE RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT IN 2017. OWING TO LONGSTANDING POLITICAL PRESSURES WITHIN RUSSIA, RFE/RL IS RESTRICTED FROM LOCAL RADIO AND TV REBROADCASTING AND THEREFORE PRIMARILY RELIES ON DIGITAL DISTRIBUTION PLATFORMS. ACCORDING TO RESULTS FROM A NATIONWIDE SURVEY COMMISSIONED BY USAGM IN 2018, 3.8% OF ADULTS IN RUSSIA CONSUME RADIO SVOBODA CONTENT EACH WEEK.

RFE/RL'S IRANIAN SERVICE, KNOWN AS RADIO FARDA, OFFERS A PERSIAN-LANGUAGE ALTERNATIVE TO GOVERNMENT-CONTROLLED MEDIA IN IRAN, REPORTING ON LOCAL, NATIONAL, AND WORLD EVENTS. RADIO FARDA BREAKS THROUGH GOVERNMENT CENSORSHIP, PROVIDING ACCURATE NEWS AND A PLATFORM FOR INFORMED DISCUSSION AND DEBATE TO AUDIENCES IN IRAN. THE SERVICE STANDS OUT FOR ITS COVERAGE OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND POLITICAL AND SOCIETAL ISSUES OTHERWISE UNDERREPORTED OR TABOO IN IRAN. RADIO FARDA'S WEBSITE HAS BEEN BLOCKED IN IRAN SINCE 2003, BUT IRANIAN USERS ARE ABLE TO ACCESS IT USING CIRCUMVENTION TECHNOLOGY. ADDITIONALLY, DESPITE A GOVERNMENT BAN BLOCKING FACEBOOK AND YOUTUBE IN IRAN, RADIO FARDA HAS SEEN SIGNIFICANT ONLINE AUDIENCES ON THOSE PLATFORMS AS WELL AS INSTAGRAM. ACCORDING TO THE RESULTS OF A USAGM-SPONSORED NATIONALLY REPRESENTATIVE SURVEY IN 2021, 9.8% OF IRANIAN ADULTS USE RADIO FARDA JOURNALISM EACH WEEK; IN FY2021, RADIO FARDA'S WEBSITE AND APPS WERE VISITED MORE THAN 176 MILLION TIMES AND EARNED AN UNPRECEDENTED 600 MILLION VIDEO VIEWS ACROSS SOCIAL PLATFORMS.

OTHER PROGRAM SERVICES:RFE/RL JOURNALISTS REPORT THE NEWS IN 23 COUNTRIES WHERE FREE PRESS IS BANNED BY THE GOVERNMENT OR NOT FULLY ESTABLISHED. WE PROVIDE WHAT MANY PEOPLE CANNOT GET LOCALLY: UNCENSORED NEWS, RESPONSIBLE DISCUSSION AND OPEN DEBATE. WE BROADCAST IN 27 LANGUAGES TO 23 COUNTRIES WITH OVER 600 FULL-TIME JOURNALISTS, 1300 FREELANCERS AND 21 LOCAL BUREAUS. RFE/RL IS ONE OF THE MOST COMPREHENSIVE NEWS OPERATIONS IN THE WORLD. OUR JOURNALISTS ARE ON THE FRONT LINES IN THE FIGHT FOR MEDIA FREEDOM IN THEIR COUNTRIES AND OFTEN PUT THEMSELVES AT GREAT RISK TO DO THEIR JOBS.