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Radio Free Asia

This article is about the news outlet founded in the 1990s. For other organizations with a similar name, see Radio Free Asia (disambiguation).

Radio Free Asia
AbbreviationRFA
FormationMarch 12, 1996 (1996-03-12)[1]
Type501(c)(3) organization
52-1968145
PurposeBroadcast Media
HeadquartersWashington, D.C.
Official languages
Burmese, Cantonese, English, Khmer, Korean, Lao, Mandarin, Tibetan, Uyghur, and Vietnamese
OwnerU.S. Agency for Global Media (until 2025)
President
Bay Fang[2]
Carolyn Bartholomew (Chair), Michael J. Green, Michael Kempner, Keith Richburg, Shanthi Kalathil, Allison Hooker
Parent organization
U.S. Agency for Global Media
Budget$51.3 million (2023)
Staff253[3]
Websiterfa.org Edit this at Wikidata

Radio Free Asia (RFA) is a news service that publishes online news, information, commentary and broadcasts radio programs for its audiences in Asia.[4][5][6][7] The service, which provides editorially independent reporting,[5][6][7][8][9][10] has the stated mission of providing accurate and uncensored reporting to countries in Asia that have poor media environments and limited protections for speech and press freedom.[11][12][13]

RFA is American government-funded, operates as a non-profit corporation, headquartered in Washington, D.C, with news bureaus and journalists in Asia, Europe, and Australia.

RFA was established by the US International Broadcasting Act of 1994 with the stated aim of "promoting democratic values and human rights", and countering the narratives and monopoly on information distribution of the Chinese Communist Party, as well as providing media reports about the North Korean government.[14][15] It is funded and supervised by the U.S. Agency for Global Media[16] (formerly Broadcasting Board of Governors), an independent agency of the United States government. In March 2025, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) imposed a funding freeze on RFA.

RFA digitally publishes news articles, photos, videos, and podcasts on its website and social media channels including Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, X in ten Asian languages for audiences in Mainland China, Hong Kong, North Korea, Laos, Cambodia,[17] Vietnam and Myanmar.[18]

On March 15, 2025, the United States Agency for Global Media terminated grants to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Radio Free Asia following a directive from the Trump Administration.[19]

The station and its staff have defied the executive order and remained on the air while considering legal action to challenge the presidential directive.[20]

On March 27, Democracy Forward filed suit on behalf of Radio Free Asia to block the U.S. Agency for Global Media’s (USAGM) attempt to cancel federal funds appropriated by Congress[21]

  1. ^ "History". Radio Free Asia. Retrieved July 3, 2021.
  2. ^ "Bay Fang Named Radio Free Asia's New President". RFA. November 20, 2019. Archived from the original on December 22, 2019. Retrieved November 8, 2019.
  3. ^ "RFA – USAGM". Archived from the original on January 4, 2019. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
  4. ^ Wong, Edward (March 3, 2016). "Tibetan Monk, 18, Dies After Self-Immolation to Protest Chinese Rule". The New York Times. Archived from the original on June 16, 2022. Retrieved April 15, 2021.
  5. ^ a b Denyer, Simon (February 28, 2018). "China detains relatives of U.S. reporters in apparent punishment for Xinjiang coverage". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on January 28, 2023. Retrieved April 15, 2021. Their reporting for the U.S. government-funded news organization has offered one of the only independent sources of information about the crackdown in the province
  6. ^ a b Ball, Molly (December 16, 2017). "When the Presses Stop". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on February 23, 2022. Retrieved April 15, 2021.
  7. ^ a b Beitsch, Rebecca (April 6, 2021). "In departure from Trump, State affirms editorial freedom of Voice of America". The Hill. Archived from the original on July 1, 2022. Retrieved April 15, 2021. USAGM, which runs Radio Free Europe, Radio Free Asia, and other networks, is funded by the government but operates under an editorial "firewall" designed to block any interference in its coverage.
  8. ^ "Radio Free Asia shuts Hong Kong bureau over new security law – DW – 03/29/2024". dw.com. March 29, 2024. Archived from the original on July 22, 2024. Retrieved July 22, 2024. RFA is funded by the US Congress but with a mandate of editorial independence.
  9. ^ Yi, Joseph; Bahk, Junbeom (September 18, 2022). "Bounded Exit and Voice in North Korea". International Migration. doi:10.1111/imig.13053. ISSN 0020-7985.
  10. ^ Ward, Alex (June 18, 2020). "Trump and Steve Bannon want to turn a US-funded global media network into Breitbart 2.0". Vox. Archived from the original on July 22, 2024. Retrieved July 22, 2024.
  11. ^ "VOA, Radio Free Asia get editors back post-Trump but worry about damage". France 24. AFP. January 26, 2021. Archived from the original on February 23, 2022. Retrieved April 20, 2021.
  12. ^ "Mission". Radio Free Asia. Archived from the original on April 19, 2021. Retrieved April 20, 2021.
  13. ^ Folkenflik, David (January 15, 2021). "New Chief's Ties Shock Radio Free Asia, While Pompeo Visit To VOA Stirs Outcry". National Public Radio.
  14. ^ David Welch (November 27, 2013). "ch. 7; Radio Free Asia And China's Harmonious Society (Gary D. Rawnsley)". Propaganda, Power and Persuasion: From World War I to Wikileaks. I.B.Tauris. ISBN 978-0-85773-737-3. Archived from the original on August 19, 2020. Retrieved January 3, 2019.
  15. ^ Haggard, Stephan (May 9, 2012). "Radio Free Asia's Korea Service | PIIE". www.piie.com. Retrieved December 9, 2024.
  16. ^ "RFA". U.S. Agency for Global Media. Archived from the original on July 29, 2018. Retrieved July 3, 2021.
  17. ^ Multiple sources:
  18. ^ "Radio Free Asia | USAGov". Archived from the original on August 21, 2016. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  19. ^ "Voice of America staff put on leave, Trump ally says agency 'not salvageable'". March 15, 2025. Retrieved March 16, 2025.
  20. ^ "Defying Trump, several US-funded international broadcasters are still reporting the news". CNN. March 18, 2025. Retrieved March 18, 2025.
  21. ^ "Radio Free Asia Sues USAGM to Protect Critical Tool Against Propaganda". Democracy Forward. March 27, 2025. Retrieved March 27, 2025.
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