The road to the White House gets a little steeper over the next several weeks as the political parties gather for their quadrennial conventions, and journalists from U.S. international broadcasting stations will be there to cover the proceedings for audiences in dozens of languages and across multiple platforms.
The Republicans gather in Tampa, Fla., Aug. 27-30, to nominate former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney as their standard-bearer. The Democrats follow Sept. 4-6 in Charlotte, N.C., where President Barack Obama is to be nominated to run for a second term.
Voice of America, Alhurra TV and Radio Sawa, and Radio and TV Martí will share workspace and live positions at both conventions, bringing comprehensive coverage of political America’s showcase gatherings to millions worldwide. In addition to broadcasts, journalists will be posting to Facebook, Twitter and blogs.
Voice of America is sending a team of writers, producers, correspondents, VJs, editors, and technicians to both cities. Twenty VOA language services will be represented: The Horn of Africa, French to Africa, Swahili, Central Africa; Indonesian, Khmer, Mandarin; Russian, Ukrainian, Serbian, Albanian; Turkish, Armenian; Spanish, Creole; Persian; Dari, Pashto, Deewa and Urdu.
At the same time, VOA will be providing live remote feeds from the conventions to affiliate stations, including the acceptance speeches of both candidates and other proceedings.
Alhurra TV will broadcast a nightly program, “Road to the White House,” from 7-11 p.m. each night of both conventions. The show will feature key speeches live with simultaneous translations along with expert analysis and packages on a range of topics, including the impact of Arab-Americans on the upcoming election. Radio Sawa will broadcast the keynote speeches and the addresses by Obama and Romney live with simultaneous translations.
The Office of Cuba Broadcasting is sending a team of reporters, two anchors, producers, technicians and others to cover the conventions. Antena Live, a TV Martí half-hour magazine style show, will broadcast live for four consecutive nights at 6:30 p.m. during both conventions. On the last two nights of each convention there will be programming from 9 to 11 p.m., including live speeches from Obama, Romney and others with translation, interviews with Hispanic political leaders, community representatives and expert analysis.
