Radio Free Asia (RFA) is a private, nonprofit corporation broadcasting and publishing online news, information, and commentary to listeners in Asian countries where full, accurate, and timely news reports are unavailable. Founded in 1996, RFA broadcasts in nine languages to China, Tibet, Burma, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and North Korea. RFA broadcasts 301 hours per week, primarily on short wave, and also audio streams broadcasts in all nine languages over the Internet.

RFA's broadcasts seek to promote the rights of freedom of opinion and expression, including the freedom to "seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers."

RECENT HIGHLIGHTS:

• In April 2008, RFA added surge broadcasts to Burma intended to cover the junta's upcoming referendum that, in turn, also provided a platform for in-depth reporting when Cyclone Nargis hit Burma in May. RFA started broadcasting reports of the storm three days before it hit Burma and a full 24 hours before the Burmese media made even passing reference to it. RFA’s cyclone warnings were followed by health and safety information essential to Burmese listeners about rescue efforts and available water and power supplies. Coverage of the destruction and rescue efforts included remarks by President Bush and an appeal by First Lady Laura Bush urging Burma's military leaders to accept U.S. humanitarian aid for cyclone victims. Along with its exhaustive coverage of cyclone Nargis, RFA’s Burmese Service reported on the draconian sentences given to activists involved in the “Saffron Revolution.”
• In March 2008, RFA responded to the violent crackdown by Chinese authorities in Tibet by expanding broadcasts. RFA's Tibetan service was one of the first to report about the peaceful protests by monks in Lhasa that were interrupted by Chinese police, provoking riots. RFA Tibetan led international media in reporting the deadly crackdown by Chinese forces on Tibetan protesters demonstrating in the Tibetan capital and elsewhere. As The Wall Street Journal said in its April profile of RFA: “the earliest reports of unrest in Tibet last month didn’t come from a major newspaper, wire service or TV station. They came from ...Washington-based Radio Free Asia.” RFA’s Tibetan Service broadcasted news of the unrest in three Tibetan dialects – Uke, Amke and Khamke.
• RFA Mandarin and Cantonese extensively covered the devastating May 2008 Sichuan earthquake that killed over 70,000 people and left millions homeless. Coverage included on-site reporting on recovery efforts and the deaths of school children caused by faulty and illegal school construction. In addition to earthquake coverage, RFA's Mandarin and Cantonese services reported on the Chinese government's crackdown on media and dissent in the run-up to the summer Beijing Olympics. Dissidents were harassed, detained, beaten, and tried, as authorities pledged greater openness for the 2008 games. RFA also tracked the post-Olympic tightening of media restrictions and the crackdown on civil liberty groups, such as Charter 08.
• RFA Khmer service increased its broadcasts from two to three hours to cover the July 2008 Cambodian national elections. The service arranged two live debates, in addition to special programs on the political platforms of all 11 parties. RFA reported on reaction to the election results, including condemnation from international election monitors regarding severe voting irregularities. Also, RFA ran special programs on the 11 political party platforms and hosted leaders of each party in a series of 45-minute live call-in programs with voters.
• A number of RFA language services were recognized for their outstanding news coverage in 2008. The Mandarin service won the American Women in Radio and Television Gracie Allen Award for Most Outstanding Series for its segment on “The Internet and Civil Rights in China.” The Cantonese Service won an award from Amnesty International, the Hong Kong Foreign Correspondents’ Club and the Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA) for its reporting on forced abortions that led to riots and an official investigation in southwest China. Also the Cantonese service won a silver medal presented by the Hong Kong Consumer Council and HKJA for its excellent consumer rights coverage. The Burmese service won a gold medal in the New York Festivals Radio Programming Competition for its coverage of the September 2007 “Saffron Revolution” in Burma. The Vietnamese service was also honored at the same festival with a bronze medal for a human trafficking story on Vietnamese girl forced into the Cambodian sex trade.

Awards:

• June 2008: RFA Cantonese Service was awarded a silver medal on June 27th by the Hong Kong Consumer Council and the Hong Kong Journalists Association in the radio category for consumer rights reporting. The Cantonese Service's investigative reporting uncovered unsafe restaurant practices in Shenzhen restaurants.
• June 2008: RFA's Burmese service was awarded a gold medal on June 19th by the prestigious New York Festivals Radio Broadcasting Awards for its coverage of the September 2007 "saffron revolution." RFA's Vietnamese service was also honored with a bronze medal for Gwen Ha's coverage of a Vietnamese girl involved in the sex trade in Cambodia.
• March 2008: Fung Pui Shan of RFA Cantonese won an award in the category of Chinese-language radio broadcast. Presented on March 29, the prize was given by Amnesty International Hong Kong, the Foreign Correspondents' Club, and the Hong Kong Journalists Association for its reporting on forced abortions that led to riots and an official investigation in the southwestern Chinese province of Guangxi.
• February 2008: American Women in Radio and Television (AWRT) today announced that Mandarin broadcaster Wu Jing won this year's Gracie Allen Award for Most Outstanding Series. Wu Jing's eight-part series, "The Internet and Civil Rights in China," was recognized for its "superior quality in writing, production, and programming."