Mr. David Ensor,

Director, Voice of America

330 Independence Ave., S.W.

 Washington, D.C. 20237  

Dear Mr. Ensor, 

I, the undersigned petitioner, would like to bring a serious case of distortion to your attention as it requires not whitewashing but honest, principled and objective actions to restore the credibility of the Voice of America Amharic service. I apprecite that an initial investigation by VOA's governing body has found that the Augiust 12 story was incomplete and substandard. However, no corrections , retractions or corrective actions have been made so far. 

Like so many listeners of  VOA Amharic, I tune to your transmissions to get accurate and reliable news and information mainly about Ethiopia, a country where freedom of expression is criminalized.

On August 12, 2014, VOA Amharic reporter Henok Semaegzer Fente broadcast a story that appeared to be aimed at refuting another story reported by other Ethiopian journalists. The news had already been reported with substantial evidence that APU had to cancel the ceremony mainly due to the fact that its leadership reviewed human rights violations as detailed in the U.S. State Department annual human rights report.

However, Fente reported that the reason why the event was cancelled was just because the PM called APU to say that he had to return to Ethiopia because of urgent matters. This was in fact false because the event was slated for July 31st, 2014. The PM only arrived in the U.S. on August 4, 2014 to attend the African Leadership Summit in Washington D.C. So how could he return to Ethiopia before he even set foot on U.S. soils? This is not only false but also totally absurd. Besides, in such a high profile honorary event, if the honoree was not able to attend, his or her representative receives the award or the honor. Quite obviously, there was more to the story than Fente’s unconvincing and distorted report.

Fente also quoted a letter that was never written. I suspect that as reported widely Fente’s quotes and letter attributed to another journalist were fabricated. I believe this also warrants a serious investigation to establish the facts.

While the reporters that Fente accused of lying have presented incontrovertible evidence on ESAT radio and TV as well as  a number of Ethiopian websites, blogs and local radios including three recorded interviews with Ms. Rachel White, APU’s spokesperson, the VOA reporter presented none.

It is, therefore, with utmost sincerity that I appeal to you to look into my complaints. I must take this opportunity to express my disappointment with a recent statement which was said to have been issued by BBG regarding this matter. The statement neither addressed the problems nor presented any objective and credible evidence. Unless distorted, the VOA Amharic and Tigrigna reports on the BBG investigation declared that the contentious report was correct even if it lacked details. This must also be investigated. 

I strongly feel that Fente has misinformed millions of Ethiopian listeners by broadcasting an unverified, distorted and false story. VOA owes an apology to me and millions of its listeners.   

Again, I humbly request you to take my complaints seriously, investigate the matter seriously and thoroughly and take appropriate measures to correct the distortions and retract Fente’s story which I believe lacked accuracy, fairness, balance and objectivity.

I would also like you to remove Peter Heinlein, who reportedly played a key role in this scandal,  and Fente from VOA Amharic related programs. Ethiopian listeners deserve fair, balanced, objective and accurate reporting at all times.  

I do believe that VOA will be able to restore its credibility instead of endorsing a glaring case of deliberate distortion.    

I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Respectfully yours