The VOA's Biased Reporting

All Ethiopians and morally upright people of the world cannot be misled by the unrelenting vitriolic reports gushing out of the Voice of America (VOA) broadcast of the Amharic Division with regard to recent reports of church burnings in Ethiopia. This is not the first time that this radio broadcast has had views or reports that are skewed against Ethiopian Muslims. Letters sent to the radio department identifying inaccuracies and gross misrepresentations were ignored.  Now, the VOA Amharic Services section is broadcasting inflammatory and one-sided and biased news reports about church burnings in Ethiopia. The extent of damage reported and loss of life have been vastly exaggerated. Although the Ethiopian government’s own official news agency reports the burning of only two churches whose culprits have not yet been identified, the coverage of the incident by the VOA, which has a very high base of listeners in Ethiopia, is inaccurate and lopsided to the point of being spiteful. The number of churches reported burned and the scope of the conflict have been inflated and presented without reference to the efforts of many people of good will to put an end to these activities. Any church burnings cannot be met with approval, but they must be placed in context.  The reported church burnings also come on the heels of the nine mosques that were burnt recently in Addis Ababa and the Gurage Zone. The VOA never reported these mosque burnings, which even the Ethiopian federal government had acknowledged as criminal acts and followed it up with the arrest of the offenders who happened to be Christians. Despite the rhetoric and divisive news reporting by the VOA Amharic Services Division, the government and religious leaders from the Christian and Muslim communities have tried to calm the situation down and have done their utmost to restore order. The VOA reports are dividing Ethiopians and fanning flames of mistrust and hatred between Christians and Muslims. If that is the goal of the VOA Amharic Division, we will not let it succeed.  We are mindful of the VOA Amharic Division’s pattern of historical biases and inaccurate representation of Ethiopian Muslims.

We the undersigned are requesting the VOA Amharic Services Division to cease falsifying news and inciting hatred by planting the seeds of war in Ethiopia. Rumors must be blocked and suppressed, and reporting must be balanced and neutral in accordance with the highest standards of journalistic practice. No bias between groups, religious communities, gender and political parties should be in evidence. American taxpayers and particularly Ethiopians at home and in the Diaspora demand fairness in reporting by the VOA about these and similar events now and in the future.
Badr Ethiopia Muslims Organization
CC
State Dept
USA Embassy Ethiopia
Ethiopia Embassy USA