Voice of America

Virginia Gunawan is a multimedia journalist at VOA Indonesian, where she covers U.S. and global politics to millions of viewers in Indonesia, through comprehensively produced stories and live reports. Her work extends from reporting on the intricacies of America’s stories to U.S. democracy, breaking news and sociocultural issues. She is also in the forefront of reporting on disinformation and the impact of social media in developing countries. Prior to joining VOA, she worked as a journalist in Indonesia covering Indonesian politics, regional security matters, and a wide range of in-depth reporting including the Hong Kong protest, South China Sea dispute, Indonesia election, among other stories, in audio visual format. She holds a bachelor’s degree in communication from Petra Christian University. She was awarded the Fulbright Master’s Scholarship and obtained her Master of Arts in Journalism from New York University.

Gonzalo Abarca is the anchor of “Foro Interamericano,” one of VOA’s most successful TV shows in the Western Hemisphere. Gonzalo is known for his international political expertise. A seasoned reporter with deep, well-rounded experience on U.S. and Latin America relations, he is also known for his in depth one-on-one interviews with dignitaries and personalities. Abarca began his career in Telemundo Network as reporter, editor and executive producer. He has also worked as language editor for the Discovery Channel, as senior editor for Univision.com and as a producer and reporter for the BBC World Service. Abarca holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications from Pace University of New York and has done some graduate studies on International Relations and International Law at Florida International University.

Arben Xhixho joined VOA in 1992 serving as a reporter, writer, editor and lead anchor. Xhixho has covered significant events, including Albanian-Serbian talks in Rambouillet, France; NATO’s air campaign against Serbia in 1999; the Kosovar refugee crisis; and the 2000 and 2004 Republican and Democratic political conventions. He has interviewed many leading politicians in Albania and Kosovo. Xhixho played a critical role in VOA Albanian’s transition from radio to a multimedia environment, including the launch of the service’s daily television news program, “Ditari.” He became Service Chief in June 2006, overseeing a steady increase in the weekly audience of VOA Albanian’s program. He previously worked for Radio Tirana from 1986 to 1991, and as liaison officer for the International Media Fund from 1991 to 1992, working closely with the independent media that emerged after the fall of the Albania’s communist regime. Xhixho is a graduate of the School of History and Philology of Tirana University in Albania.

The chief of VOA Vietnamese, Giao Pham, joined the Voice of America in 2017. Prior to his current post, Pham worked at Radio Free Asia’s Vietnamese Service as an international broadcaster for almost 2 years, and at the California-based Nguoi Viet (Vietnamese People) Daily News, the first and largest Vietnamese language daily in the U.S. as the editor for more than 7 years. Pham holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the Polytechnique University of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, and a Master of Arts in economics from California State University, Fullerton.

Sandra Lemaire is the chief of VOA Creole broadcasting to Haiti. She joined the Voice of America in 1986 as a Creole radio broadcaster. She co-anchored the service’s daily broadcasts with journalist Lyonel Desmarrates from 1986 – 2000, when she left the service as Senior Editor to join the VOA central newsroom’s pilot English website program. As a member of the web team, Lemaire helped design and launch VOA’s first English web site and as dayside VOA English home page editor from 2000 – 2021, Lemaire has been responsible for selecting VOA English’s best content to showcase to the world. In addition, she wrote news stories on Haiti and translated original and noteworthy interviews taken in Creole by reporters on the ground, as well as VOA’s correspondents in Washington and New York. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in communications from American University, where she graduated Cum Laude.

Amra Alirejsovic is a TV anchor, reporter, producer and editor of VOA Bosnian’s “Studio Washington” program. Alirejsovic joined VOA in 1998, and over the past 25 years, she has worked with different organizations, NGOs, non-profits, think tanks, advocacy groups, and members of the U.S. Congress and the State Department, among others, on interviews and stories relevant to the target audience. She has also conducted interviews with high-level officials, heads of state, congressional leaders, foreign policy experts, TV personalities, activists, Hollywood actors and world musicians. Alirejsovic has reported live on-location from major news events, including the U.N. General Assembly, the NATO summit, the State of the Union and U.S. presidential conventions. She researches, films, produces and video edits original TV stories on a wide range of topics, from politics, human trafficking and women’s issues to arts and entertainment. Among her most viewed original stories are “Michelle Obama Fashion a Hit,” “Larry King Foundation – Saving a Heart a Day” and “Child Sex Trafficking: A Story of a Girl Who Managed to Escape.” Alirejsovic holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Maryland.

VOA's News Center, Indonesian and Russian Services picked as the 2024 pitch contest winners for their compelling documentaries. https://lnkd.in/eh8CbgJj

National Press Club awards Voice of America with the 2024 Arthur Rowse Award for Examining the News Media for its original coverage on press freedom. https://lnkd.in/eXCH6YmH

VOA Persian airs new show, "NY Harmony," a 10-part television series on the multicultural sounds of New York City’s music scene. https://lnkd.in/e9qmrqns

Wei Lin began her career as a journalist at Voice of America in 1998. She started out as a current affairs reporter, and later covered a variety of beats, including science and technology, trade and economics, and sports. She also worked as a news editor, a feature program editor, a web editor, and a long-time editor for VOA Mandarin’s English Teaching programs. Most recently, she took on the responsibility of leading the service digital effort. VOA Mandarin’s social media platforms have seen extraordinary growth under her leadership. Ms. Lin has a Master’s Degree in International Communications from the American University, and a Bachelor’s Degree in English Language and Literature from the Peking University.