Voices from the Field: Gordon Burnett

RFA’s Gordon Burnett demonstrates how to use a video camera to colleagues in Cambodia

“I went to Cambodia in 2000 for the Millennial celebration.  There was going to be a party at Angkor Wat.  We were doing a live, remote feed of the celebration at Angkor Wat and sending it back to Washington, D.C.  I started traveling to do technical work in Cambodia in 1988, but this trip was unfortunate from the start.  First, they put me next to a kid from Philadelphia who had the flu.  By the time we reached our stop-over I was sick and by the time we reached Cambodia I was out.

Once I arrived, I had to go to a meeting.  I had forgotten that the ceilings can be very low in Cambodia, and I walked straight into a beam. Instant knockout! When I woke up, I had a mild concussion and the flu.

Later, I retired to my hotel and thought I would just sleep it all off.   After about 30 minutes in bed I got a call from my boss in D.C. asking me to get on the first plane to Siem Reap.  Apparently, the people organizing the party at Angkor Wat were distressed about the looming Millennium bug and needed some support.

With extensive experience in Cambodia, Gordon Burnett travels through the country via motorbike.

I got to Siem Reap on New Year’s Eve.  We did our set-up and testing.  All of a sudden, the cellphone that I had always used in Cambodia didn’t work and the satellites we were using to broadcast signal didn’t work. The Y2K bug started kicking in. I had to think quickly about what to do.  I had a mixer, two microphones, headphones, and a land line telephone.

I hooked the two microphones into the mixer to collect sound from the party, hooked the headphones into the mixer to receive the sound, and then duck taped the headphones to the telephone receiver.  I then called Washington, D.C., and they listened to the sound through the telephone call.  D.C. got the signal and told me it was the best signal they ever received from Cambodia! It worked!”

 

Gordon Burnett is a Production Engineer III at Radio Free Asia.  He has been with the service for nearly two decades, has done extensive work for RFA in Cambodia, and assisted in the design and implementation of RFA’s current video capability. Gordon also functions as Video Production Coordinator and Lead Trainer.

Today is Radio Free Asia’s anniversary! On March 12, 1994 Radio Free Asia was founded under the provisions of the 1994 International Broadcasting Act, as a private non-profit corporation. The original legislation called on RFA to carrying out radio broadcasting to the People’s Republic of China, Burma, Cambodia, Laos, North Korea, Tibet and Vietnam.

The functions of RFA were established to:

1) Provide accurate and timely information, news and commentary about events in the respective countries of Asia and elsewhere; and
2) To be a forum for a variety of opinions and voices from within Asian nations.

The original legislation also expressly obligated the government to “respect the professional independence and journalistic integrity of the broadcasters.” The Broadcasting Board of Governors implemented the firewall policies that remain in place to this day.

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Take an RPCV to Work Day!

Last week marked 52 years since the Peace Corps’ inception in 1961, and it celebrated with a week-long series of activities carried out around the world. Three recently returned volunteers (RPCVs) – Alayna Garvin (Romania 2007-2009), Debra Howe (Malawi 2010-2012), and Kathryn Jacoby (Ghana 2008-2011) visited the BBG headquarters and Voice of America for “Take an RPCV to Work Day.”

RPCV Debra Howe and IBB Deputy Director Jeff Trimble

Kathryn Jacoby shared with us this account of her visit:

“The bustling energy of a major news agency in the morning is invigorating. We met and greeted RPCVs and VOA staff before attending the morning editorial meeting, where major news items were discussed and each department presented their stories for the day—an unusual opportunity to hear top professionals in the field discuss a day’s worth of news topics in 30 minutes.

The experience had a two-fold importance for me: I saw a bit of the around-the-clock work and the dedication to VOA’s mission that goes into producing the broadcasts that I listened to in the field; and I also saw some of the daily activities of a job in international journalism, and received warm smiles and sage advice from RPCVs who had been in my position in the past. This was a fantastic experience!

The RPCVs spent time with individuals across the BBG and VOA who had also previously served in the Peace Corps, including Connie Stephens (Niger), Kristy Hays (Belize), Stephen McGinley (Tonga), Kelsey Marsh (Lesotho), and Nancy Coviello (Namibia).

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Behind the Scenes: April Deibert

April tours Voice of America headquarters in the Wilbur J. Cohen Building,  Washington, D.C.

 

“When I first started working for the Office of Digital & Design Innovation, I was given a tour of VOA headquarters by one of my supervisors.  It was great to get a historical perspective of the agency and to see the Cold War-era building it is housed in (that still has rooms that were used as potential nuclear fallout shelters and beautiful vintage brass escalators), and to meet and interview interesting on-air staff, editors and producers.

Getting an overall feeling for how each department operated separately and then together helped shape my perspective on what ODDI’s role is to facilitate the use of innovative technologies to reach different global populations. I’ve learned that the strategy behind what appears to be a simple production to the public can go far deeper and be far more intellectual than what an information consumer may realize.  The BBG is unique because it uses research to localize social media for its many global audiences.”

April Deibert is a contractor working on multimedia blogging and production for the Office of Digital and Design Innovation.  You can find some of her work on their website.

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Arirang-Korea Foundation Global Media Forum

Bruce Sherman, Director of Strategy & Development at the BBG, speaks at the Arirang-Korea Foundation Global Media Forum.

Bruce Sherman, Director of Strategy & Development at the BBG, speaks at the Arirang-Korea Foundation Global Media Forum. Photo by VOA’s Steve Herman.

 

“We in U.S. government-funded international media believe strongly not just in our mission but equally in the methods we employ to carry out our mission. Credible, comprehensive, fact-based journalism is our stock in trade. We believe in its robust practice worldwide to ensure unfettered flows of news and information.” — Bruce Sherman, Director, BBG Office of Strategy and Development

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Happy Chinese New Year!

Chinese New Year celebration at VOA

L-R: Fangfang Zhang (Congressional Reporter), Xiaobei Zhang (Teaching English Show), Wancheng Chao (Tiger Mom Show host). Photo by Xiao Chang

Last week the Chinese Service of the Voice of America hosted a Chinese New Year celebration. The festivities included the opportunity for visitors from inside and outside VOA to get to know individuals working in the service and to see the shows that they produce. The event also featured traditional homemade food, which helped engage guests across all offices and divisions of the Voice of America and the International Broadcasting Bureau through some delicious culinary diplomacy.

“We wanted to make it traditional but also creative,” said Fangfang Zhang, a Congressional Reporter for VOA, “We arranged our classic Chinese dishes throughout the service.  Every dish was named according to a show of the Chinese service or a current issue we are dealing with. Wancheng, who hosts the Tiger Mom show, hosted her food stand to celebrate her show and called her salad Tiger Mom Salad.  It was so much fun!”

新年好

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