Engnews May 2022

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Four wins for RFA digital brand 歪脑 | WHYNOT at Telly Awards

by RFA Communications

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE : May 24, 2022 Contact : Rohit Mahajan | 202.530.4976 | mahajanr(a)rfa.org [ https://www.rfa.org/about/awards/four-wins-for-rfa-digital-brand-waynot-at-… | Four wins for RFA digital brand 歪脑 | WHYNOT at Telly Awards ] WASHINGTON - Radio Free Asia’s (RFA) online affiliate [ https://www.wainao.me/ | 歪脑 | WHYNOT ] won four prizes at the 43rd annual [ https://www.tellyawards.com/ | Telly Awards ] – earning one silver award for its special report “ [ https://www.wainao.me/wainao-reads/preserving-erased-decade-chinese-feminis… | Preserving the Erased Decade of the Chinese Feminist Movement ] ” and three for its docu-series “ [ https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMad6trRX62yrRaLdcVIw2R1Amsg7jWeR | Caught in the Crossfire ] .” The two entries won across four of the Telly Awards’ [ https://www.tellyawards.com/?s=WHYNOT | categories ] , which judge the best work created within television and video, including Online Documentary and Non-scripted Web Series. “All the credit for this great achievement goes to the 歪脑 | WHYNOT team, whose superb reporting continues to earn well-deserved recognition,” RFA President Bay Fang said. “True to RFA’s core mission, 歪脑 | WHYNOT’s unique brand of story-telling provides young Mandarin-speakers around the world answers and accountability. These awards are a testament to its continued excellent work.” “We want to thank the Telly Awards for this incredible honor,” said Alex Zhang, Director of 歪脑 | WHYNOT. “In the two years since 歪脑 | WHYNOT launched, it’s very encouraging to continue to be recognized for our work to bring a fresh, often-missing journalistic perspective to our global audience.” “Caught in the Crossfire” is a three-episode project that investigates the ordinary people impacted by the U.S.-China big-power rivalry, from scientists who were wrongly accused of being spies, to journalists caught up in the U.S.-China media war, and to activists fighting hog waste pollution in North Carolina at a Chinese-owned meat processing plant. “Preserving the Erased Decade of the Chinese Feminist Movement,” which [ https://www.rfa.org/about/awards/6b6a8111-whynot-an-rfa-affiliate-wins-onli… | won ] an Online News Association (ONA) award last year, examines the “lost” decade of the modern Chinese feminist movement. These awards mark the second instance 歪脑 | WHYNOT has won this year, having [ https://www.rfa.org/about/releases/whynot-wins-at-43rd-society-of-news-desi… | earned ] an Award of Excellence for “Preserving the Erased Decade of the Chinese Feminist Movement” at the 2022 Society of News Design competion. Since launching in the fall of 2020, the digital brand has won three major [ https://www.rfa.org/about/awards | awards ] , while also earning a finalist status at this year’s New York Festivals Radio Awards and being named an honoree at the most recent Webby Awards. Other winners at the international contest, which received 11,000 entries from all over the world, include NBC, Al Jazeera, Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, and PBS Newshour. Founded in 1979, the Telly Awards annual competition showcases the best work in video and television across all screens. # # # Radio Free Asia is a private, nonprofit corporation broadcasting and publishing online news, information, and commentary in nine East Asian languages to listeners who do not have access to full and free news media. 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.” RFA is funded by an annual grant from the United States Agency for Global Media.

2 years, 7 months

RFA Names Kataryna DeLisle its New General Counsel

by RFA Communications

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE : May 23, 2022 Contact : Rohit Mahajan | 202.530.4976 | mahajanr(a)rfa.org [ https://www.rfa.org/about/releases/rfa-names-kataryna-delisle-its-new-gener… | RFA Names Kataryna DeLisle its New General Counsel ] WASHINGTON - [ https://www.rfa.org/english | Radio Free Asia ] (RFA), a nonprofit news corporation that brings accurate and timely journalism to populations in Asian countries under authoritarian rule, today named Kataryna DeLisle as its new General Counsel. DeLisle brings 17 years of legal professional experience working across the nonprofit, private, and public sectors, having previously served in senior roles at RFA’s parent federal agency and sister networks. Additionally, her background includes earning her undergraduate degree in journalism and starting her post-college career as a video journalist with CNN. At RFA, DeLisle will manage overall legal affairs relating to the company’s governance, employment, global operations, and contracts, in addition to serving as Secretary to RFA’s Board of Directors. “We are delighted to welcome Kataryna to Radio Free Asia. Our organization will greatly benefit from her unique professional background – a rare combination of extensive legal expertise and journalistic knowledge,” RFA President Bay Fang said. “She joins RFA at a critical time in our growth and is an exceptional addition to our leadership team.” “RFA plays a pivotal role in informing publics with little or no access to accurate news and information,” DeLisle said. “I’m thrilled to begin a new chapter in my career that returns me to my roots in leading the legal operations of a journalistic operation on which so many rely.” Prior to joining RFA, DeLisle worked for 7 years at National Geographic Partners and National Geographic Society, where she worked in a number of positions including Assistant Chief Counsel, Assistant Chief Compliance Officer, Senior Vice President and Associate General Counsel. From 2008-2015 DeLisle served as the Assistant General Counsel for the BBG, the independent federal agency later renamed as the United States Agency for Global Media ( [ https://www.usagm.gov/ | USAGM ] ), where she was the lead counsel for [ https://www.voanews.com/ | Voice of America ] (VOA) and [ https://www.radiotelevisionmarti.com/ | Radio and TV Martí ] (OCB). She began her professional career as a video journalist at CNN. DeLisle earned her Juris Doctor at American University, Washington College of Law and her Bachelor of Science in Journalism at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. # # # Radio Free Asia is a private, nonprofit corporation broadcasting and publishing online news, information, and commentary in nine East Asian languages to listeners who do not have access to full and free news media. 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.” RFA is funded by an annual grant from the United States Agency for Global Media.

2 years, 7 months

RFA President Affirms Urgency of Global Press Freedom amid Rising Authoritarianism: ‘Choice Couldn’t Be Clearer’

by Rohit Mahajan

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE : May 3, 2022 Contact : Rohit Mahajan | 202.530.4976 | mahajanr(a)rfa.org [ https://www.rfa.org/about/releases/rfa-president-affirms-urgency-of-global-… | RFA President Affirms Urgency of Global Press Freedom amid Rising Authoritarianism: ‘Choice Couldn’t Be Clearer’ ] WASHINGTON - Marking World Press Freedom Day amid rising authoritarianism and escalating dangers facing journalists, Radio Free Asia (RFA) President Bay Fang pledged RFA’s steadfast commitment to informing publics in Asia deprived of a free press and free expression. “On World Press Freedom Day, the choice couldn’t be clearer: Whether we allow authoritarians to define this era, letting them have the last word, or whether we challenge their false narratives and propaganda in pursuit of the truth,” Fang said. “ As we witness the collapse of independent media in Burma and Hong Kong, in addition to its deterioration throughout Asia, we at RFA recognize the urgency of our mission-driven responsibility to those seeking answers, accountability, and empowerment. “This crucial moment in history demands nothing less of us than doing everything in our power to advance the cause of press freedom in the face of ever-growing threats.” In RFA’s media region, where press freedom groups have monitored continuous decline over the last decade, reliably semi-open markets in [ https://www.rfa.org/english/news/special/myanmar-unrest/ | Burma ] and [ https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/jimmy-lai-04122022110537.html | Hong Kong ] dramatically transformed overnight into closed environments within the past year. Nevertheless, audiences – estimated to be nearly 60 million on a weekly basis – turn to RFA as a trusted source of accurate on-the-ground news and information. This is evidenced in soaring engagement across its platforms, including on its Burmese and Cantonese social media channels – which recently have seen quadruple- and triple-digit percentage growth. RFA has also made significant impacts monitoring the on-the-ground fallout of China’s “zero-Covid” policy in [ https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/extension-04122022140143.html | Shanghai ] and [ https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/deleted-04252022141933.html | Beijing ] , exposing [ https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/taiwan-disinformation-04012022153858… | China’s role in spreading Russian disinformation ] on Ukraine in Taiwan, providing continuous coverage and analysis of the [ https://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/tribunal-ruling-12092021063715.html | Uyghur tribunal ] in 2021, reporting on South China Sea territorial [ https://www.rfa.org/english/news/special/dangerous-dance/ | disputes ] , and alerting the world to North Korea’s enforced ban on outside media, including breaking the news about severe punishments for individuals caught sharing video files of the viral South Korean series, ‘ [ https://www.rfa.org/english/news/korea/squidgame-11232021180155.html | Squid Game ] .’ In addition, to aid its journalistic efforts to push back on authoritarian propaganda, RFA will utilize a late-year budget increase to expand its programming and content in China, Southeast Asia, and globally. Plans include launching an investigative unit to expose malfeasance and ensure accountability; creating a fact-checking unit to counter falsehoods in real time, initially focusing on Chinese social media; and expanding RFA's China services, particularly RFA Uyghur and Cantonese. RFA also plans to grow its [ https://www.rfa.org/about/releases/6b6a8111-whynot-an-rfa-affiliate-wins-on… | award-winning ] global Mandarin digital brand, [ https://www.wainao.me/ | 歪脑 | WHYNOT ] ; increase capacity to cover Chinese activities in Southeast Asia; provide more up-to-the-minute English content; and expand RFA’s Creative Team for multimedia storytelling. These enhancements also include upgrading critical digital infrastructure and technology to support newsroom operations. # # # Radio Free Asia is a private, nonprofit corporation broadcasting and publishing online news, information, and commentary in nine East Asian languages to listeners who do not have access to full and free news media. 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.” RFA is funded by an annual grant from the United States Agency for Global Media. Rohit Mahajan Chief Communications Officer Radio Free Asia

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Engnews May 2022