- External-List - mail.rfanews.org

by RFA communications

Contact: Rohit Mahajan | mahajanr(a)rfa.org FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 07/21/22 RFA Welcomes New Members to its Board <https://www.rfa.org/about/releases/rfa-welcomes-new-members-to-its-board> Shanthi Kalathil and Allison Hooker Join RFA’s Governing Body WASHINGTON -- Radio Free Asia <https://www.rfa.org/english/> (RFA), a private nonprofit corporation, today announced the additions of Shanthi Kalathil and Allison Hooker to its Board of Directors. Kalathil, who recently served on the National Security Council (NSC) as Deputy Assistant to the President and Coordinator for Democracy and Human Rights, and Hooker, who currently serves as senior vice president at American Global Strategies (AGS), were approved at the July board meeting. “We’re thrilled to expand RFA’s board with both Shanthi and Allison, who bring a wealth of knowledge and expertise,” said RFA President Bay Fang. “With Shanthi’s profound work on China and the information space, and Allison’s extensive background in North Korea and Asia foreign policy, RFA will benefit enormously. I’m delighted to work with them during this exciting time of growth for RFA.” “I have a deep admiration for RFA’s incisive brand of journalism and am honored to join its board,” Kalathil said. “RFA has filled a critical role in combating Chinese disinformation and providing timely news to millions in Asia who would otherwise be in the dark. I look forward to helping RFA achieve and accomplish more.” “It’s an immense privilege to join RFA’s board of directors,” Hooker said. “As malign actors in Asia relentlessly subvert democracy and human rights, RFA plays a leading role in pushing back on authoritarian propaganda. I am excited to help this organization tackle the challenges and opportunities ahead.” Prior to her appointment at the NSC, Kalathil served as the senior director of the International Forum for Democratic Studies at the National Endowment for Democracy. She also held various positions at other international affairs organizations such as the U.S. Agency for International Development, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University. Early in her career she worked as a reporter at the Asian Wall Street Journal before transitioning to policy and academia. Before her time at AGS, Hooker held senior positions within the White House, serving as the Deputy Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Asian Affairs at the NSC and as the Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for the Korean Peninsula. Previously, she was a senior analyst for North Korea in the Department of State’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research and worked as the Council on Foreign Relations International Affairs Fellow in South Korea. The two new board members join Chair Carolyn Bartholomew, Commissioner of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission; Michael J. Green, CEO of the United States Studies Centre (USSC); Michael Kempner, Founder, President and CEO of public relations firm MikeWorldWide (MWW); and Keith Richburg, Director of the Journalism and Media Studies Centre at the University of Hong Kong. # # # 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, 9 months

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RFA Expands Editorial Capacity and Reach with New Roles, Divisions

by RFA Communications

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE : June 16, 2022 Contact: Rohit Mahajan | 202.530.4976 | [ mailto:mahajanr@rfa.org | mahajanr(a)rfa.org ] [ https://www.rfa.org/about/releases/rfa-expands-editorial-capacity-and-reach… | RFA Expands Editorial Capacity and Reach with New Roles, Divisions ] Veteran journalist Matthew Pennington named Senior Managing Editor, as investigative and fact-check units added WASHINGTON – [ https://www.rfa.org/english/ | Radio Free Asia ] (RFA) today announced changes to its editorial team, and the department as a whole, as part of a broader strategic expansion that includes the creation of new journalistic investigative and fact-check units. With the changes, veteran journalist Matthew Pennington, formerly RFA’s Managing Editor of Southeast Asia, will serve as Senior Managing Editor, a newly created role. Pennington will lead daily newsroom operations, reporting to Executive Editor Min Mitchell. He also will directly oversee RFA’s digital affiliate [ https://www.benarnews.org/english | BenarNews ] , as well as the investigative unit, which will work with RFA’s language services to produce in-depth, long-form reports. These initiatives are part of a wider set of shifts to realize RFA’s strategic vision to sharpen its editorial capacity covering China, Hong Kong, North Korea, Myanmar, Cambodia and other places in Asia with restricted media environments that are inundated with authoritarian disinformation. “We are thrilled to take these key steps that will strengthen RFA’s incisive brand of journalism,” Mitchell said. “In leading many of these efforts, Matthew brings more than 20 years of invaluable newsroom experience and a deep Asia expertise. Those qualities and his incredible track record at RFA make him the right person to help us accomplish even more than we have to date.” “It’s a tremendous privilege to step into this exciting role, which offers a unique opportunity to take RFA’s reporting to a new level,” Pennington said. “I look forward to helping RFA meet this crucial moment in history and be best equipped for the challenges ahead.” Additionally, Paul Eckert, who served as Director of English News, will now be the English Editor-at-Large where he will oversee RFA’s English commentary section. Nadia Tsao, Managing Editor of East Asia, will lead the fact checking unit, which will map Chinese media influence worldwide and counter falsehoods in real time. With its expansion underway, RFA is in the process of recruiting for new positions within its language services and global Mandarin brand [ https://www.wainao.me/ | 歪脑 | WHYNOT ] , and to enhance its digital storytelling presentation, as well as filling Pennington’s and Eckert’s previous roles. Matthew Pennington joined RFA in December 2018, after a 19-year career with The Associated Press as a reporter and editor. He began his career in Southeast Asia as a U.N. volunteer in Laos, raising awareness about the problem of unexploded ordnance left over from the Vietnam War. He worked as a correspondent for Agence France-Presse and then the AP, covering Thailand, Burma, Laos and Cambodia, and spent five years based in Islamabad, where he became AP bureau chief for Pakistan and Afghanistan. He was born and educated in England and holds a BA in Ancient History from the University of Bristol and an MA in Political Philosophy from the University of York. # # # 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, 10 months

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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, 11 months

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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, 11 months

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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

3 years

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Radio Free Asia Wins Gracie for Korean Defector Project

by RFA Communications

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE : April 11, 2022 Contact : Rohit Mahajan | 202.530.4976 | mahajanr(a)rfa.org Radio Free Asia Wins Gracie for Korean Defector Project WASHINGTON - [ https://www.rfa.org/english/ | Radio Free Asia ] (RFA)’s Korean Service was today named among the winners at this year’s [ https://allwomeninmedia.org/gracies/ | Gracie Awards ] for its report [ https://www.rfa.org/korean/in_focus/news_indepth/defectorwomensp-1209202115… | Rerouting: defying the given path, paving a new one - North Korean female defectors' journey ] . The project, which follows two female North Korean refugees and documents their perspectives on leaving their homeland’s heavily male-dominated society, won in the Alliance for Women in Media Foundation-sponsored contest’s category for Foreign Language Individual Achievement. “RFA’s Korean Service has the crucial and challenging job of reporting news out of North Korea on a daily basis, while keeping informed a population especially vulnerable to disinformation,” RFA President Bay Fang said. “A compelling story through the years has been that of the defectors – who face incredible odds in their quest to realize the dream of freedom.” “RFA’s winning piece is another episode in that saga, documenting the journey of two brave women yearning for a better life in neighboring South Korea.” The winning report, which premiered in December 2021, follows the journey of two North Korean women refugees who fled their repressive homeland to start new lives in South Korea. The report contains testimonies from various age groups of North Korean defectors from their 20s to 50s. It also includes a testimony of a foreigner who lived in Pyongyang for two years as a diplomat's wife. These accounts underscore North Korean women’s lack of human rights and provide insight into a possible feminist movement percolating within the country. Other winners at this year’s competition include The Washington Post , NPR, CBS News, and VICE Media. They will be honored at the 47th Annual Gracie Awards Gala in Los Angeles on May 24. Alliance for Women in Media Foundation (AWMF) is a non-profit that creates educational programs and scholarship initiatives to benefit the public and women in the media. # # # 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.

3 years

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RFA online affiliate 歪脑 | WHYNOT wins at 43rd Society of News Design awards

by Rohit Mahajan

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE : Mar. 23, 2022 Contact : Rohit Mahajan | 202.530.4976 | mahajanr(a)rfa.org [ https://www.rfa.org/about/releases/whynot-wins-at-43rd-society-of-news-desi… | RFA online affiliate 歪脑 | WHYNOT wins at 43rd Society of News Design awards ] WASHINGTON - Radio Free Asia’s (RFA) online affiliate [ https://www.wainao.me/ | 歪脑 | WHYNOT ] is among the winners at this year’s [ https://snd.org/ | Society of News Design ] (SND) competition in its Best of Digital Design category. 歪脑 | WHYNOT’s special report [ https://www.wainao.me/wainao-reads/fea-en-AIDs-in-China | Between Vision and Reality: the Gap in China’s Fight Against HIV ] won the bronze award for Design in Health, while its reports [ https://www.wainao.me/wainao-reads/preserving-erased-decade-chinese-feminis… | Preserving the Erased Decade of the Chinese Feminist Movement ] and [ https://www.wainao.me/wainao-reads/A-Guide-to-New-Hong-Kong-Under-CCP#/ | A Guide To the New Hong Kong Under the Chinese Communist Party ] both received an Award of Excellence for Use of Commissioned Illustration. “ All credit for this recognition goes to the incredible 歪脑 | WHYNOT design team ,” said Min Mitchell, Executive Editor of RFA. “ Visual storytelling is an essential part of 21st century journalism, helping to ensure that excellent content epitomized in 歪脑 | WHYNOT’s features resonate with mobile audiences around the world .” “We are especially thrilled to be honored in a year when the SND received a record number of contest entries,” said Alex Zhang, Director of 歪脑 | WHYNOT. “As 歪脑 | WHYNOT enters its second year, this achievement encourages us to push our creativity as we develop new and engaging journalistic content.” The three recognized reports examine the continuous spread of HIV in China due the inaccessibility of medication under its health care system, the “lost” decade of the modern Chinese feminist movement, and Hong Kong under the draconian national security law. These are 歪脑 | WHYNOT’s first awards of the year, having recently [ https://www.rfa.org/about/awards/6b6a8111-whynot-an-rfa-affiliate-wins-onli… | won ] an Online News Association Award in October of last year. Other winners at the 43rd edition of the contest, which had 1,984 entries – an all-time high – include The New York Times , Reuters, The Washington Post and ProPublica. The SND is an international organization for news media professionals and visual communicators – specifically those who create print/web/mobile publications and products. # # # 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

3 years, 1 month

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RFA focus in WaPo Editorial (3/23)

by Rohit Mahajan

Friends -- The Washington Post ran an [ https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/03/22/radio-free-europe-congre… | editorial ] in today's paper underscoring vital roles of Radio Free Asia and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty as "... Russia and China as well as many smaller nations, are slamming the door on independent news and information[.] " With the crises in Burma and Ukraine, RFA and RFE/RL face challenges as audiences turn to them as a back stop for accurate and timely news and information, the piece notes. "T heir mission now seems more urgent than ever -- and they will need ingenuity to overcome hurdles to fulfilling it," the ed board writes, as "beaming the truth into these shut-in corners of the world is becoming more and more difficult." Read the full piece here >> " [ https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/03/22/radio-free-europe-congre… | These radio stations are far from obsolete. They’re vital. ] " Kind regards, Rohit Rohit Mahajan Chief Communications Officer Radio Free Asia

3 years, 1 month

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RFA Welcomes Carolyn Bartholomew as New Board Chair

by Rohit Mahajan

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE : Jan. 27, 2022 Contact : Rohit Mahajan | 202.530.4976 | [ mailto:mahajanr@rfa.org | mahajanr(a)rfa.org ] RFA Welcomes Carolyn Bartholomew as New Board Chair WASHINGTON -- [ https://www.rfa.org/english/ | Radio Free Asia ] (RFA) today announced that Carolyn Bartholomew, a member of RFA’s [ https://www.rfa.org/about/info/governance_leadership-10032010211820.html | board of directors ] , will serve as its Chair. Bartholomew, a Commissioner on the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission and its current Chairman, succeeds Ambassador Karen Kornbluh, who announced that she would be stepping down from the board after serving a tenure that began in 2014 . Bartholomew was unanimously approved at the January meeting of RFA’s board of directors. “Carolyn brings a deep knowledge base of China and Asia, as well as valuable experience serving on nonprofit and commercial boards,” said RFA President Bay Fang. “RFA will benefit immeasurably from her forward-thinking expertise. I could not be more thrilled to work with her and our board to achieve RFA's goals and congressionally-mandated mission.” “It’s an incredible honor to serve as RFA’s board chair,” Bartholomew said. “I have long admired RFA for its incisive brand of journalism that provides accountability and accurate information for millions in Asia who are in desperate need of a free press. I’m grateful for this opportunity to take over from the outstanding Karen Kornbluh and pledge to work tirelessly to help this organization, which just marked its 25th anniversary, be best positioned for the challenges that lie ahead.” Bartholomew joined RFA’s board in Fall 2021, along with Asia policy expert Michael J. Green, the senior vice president for Asia and Japan Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and veteran journalist Keith Richburg, the Director of the Journalism and Media Studies Centre at the University of Hong Kong. Prior to her service on the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission, Bartholomew held senior-level positions in Congress, including on key committees overseeing Asia foreign policy and funding foreign aid, and congressional leadership, as a long-time counsel, legislative director, and chief of staff. She has particular policy expertise on U.S.-China trade relations, security issues, and human rights, and has led efforts on the promotion of human rights and strengthening civil society in countries around the world. In addition, Bartholomew brings almost two decades of experience on nonprofit and corporate boards. Ambassador Kornbluh and Ambassador Ryan Crocker both departed RFA’s board of directors after serving tenures that began in 2014 and 2013 respectively. They served until June 2020 and were reinstated in January of 2021. Michael Kempner, Founder, President and CEO of public relations firm MikeWorldWide (MWW), whose tenure began in 2014 and was reinstated in January 2021, remains on RFA’s board. RFA celebrated its [ https://www.rfa.org/about/releases/rfa-celebrates-its-25th-anniversary | 25th anniversary ] last fall, when its first broadcast in Mandarin Chinese was aired in 1996. # # # 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

3 years, 3 months

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Radio Free Asia Wins Journalism Award in Taiwan

by Rohit Mahajan

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE : November 24, 2021 Contact : Rohit Mahajan | 202.530.4976 | mahajanr(a)rfa.org [ https://www.rfa.org/about/awards/rfa-mandarin-wins-journalism-award-in-taiw… | RFA Mandarin Wins Journalism Award in Taiwan ] WASHINGTON -- [ https://www.rfa.org/english/ | Radio Free Asia ] (RFA)’s Mandarin Service was named the winner of the arts and cultural news award for its [ https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/duomeiti/tebiejiemu/hkwenhua/ | video series ] on Hong Kong's resistance art community, which is using their pens, brushes and creativity to advocate for Hong Kong’s autonomy and freedom. The award was presented by the [ https://www.feja.org.tw/category/media-award/award1 | Excellent Journalism Award Foundation ] at its 20th annual ceremony in Taipei, Taiwan yesterday. “Full credit for this award belongs to the team of reporters in RFA Mandarin behind this series,” Nadia Tsao, RFA’s Managing Editor for East Asia, said. “As authorities in Hong Kong intensify their crackdown on independent media and voices, it is ever more important to showcase free expression’s unique power and role. This timely project on the expatriate resistance art movement in Taiwan does just that.” The winning submission, which included three videos that were part of an RFA Mandarin series published throughout 2020 on Hong Kong’s resistance art movement, profiles an actor, the writers of a banned book and a [ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_63llpKQX9Y | group of political cartoonists ] who are using their art to fight for Hong Kong’s freedom after a 2019 national security law imposed by the CCP cracked down on free speech. Fearing the CCP would wipe out Hong Kong’s history of freedom, the Hong Kong arts community at home and abroad in Taiwan are fighting back, hoping to change the narrative as they remember. This is RFA Mandarin’s first Excellent Journalism award, with its video series being selected unanimously as the winner among more than 105 other submissions in the arts and cultural news category, a testament to the essential role RFA plays providing unique journalism to audiences around Asia living in closed societies. Other winners at this year’s Excellent Journalism Awards include Apple Daily, United Daily, Taiwan’s Public Television Service, The Reporter, Central News Agency and Commonwealth Magazine. # # # 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

3 years, 5 months

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