The U.S. Agency for Global Media’s (USAGM) Board of Governors announced that effective November 20, 2019, Bay Fang will serve as President of Radio Free Asia (RFA).
“We are thrilled to have Bay take the helm at RFA at such a critical time,” said USAGM CEO and Director Grant Turner. “Across Asia, press freedom continues to decline and the need for unbiased news and information is increasing. I am confident that Bay will provide excellent leadership and continue the unparalleled journalism RFA is known for.”
Bay most recently served as Executive Editor of RFA, supervising coverage across all of Asia. A longtime journalist and former diplomat, she first came to RFA as Managing Director for East Asia, overseeing the management and editorial content of RFA’s five East Asian language services. Her 20-year career in journalism includes serving as the Diplomatic Correspondent for the Chicago Tribune, and covering the wars in Afghanistan (2001-2002) and Iraq (2003-2004) for US News and World Report magazine. She started her career as the Beijing Bureau Chief for US News and World Report, where she won the Robert F. Kennedy journalism award for her story “China’s Stolen Wives.” Ms. Fang earned her undergraduate degree at Harvard University and was a visiting fellow at Oxford University and a Fulbright scholar in Hong Kong.
The RFA Board named Ms. Fang to serve for an interim period, upon the resignation of RFA President Libby Liu. Ms. Liu, who had served as RFA President since 2005, will continue in a leadership role in the USAGM family in a capacity to be formally announced soon. “Libby has been a tireless advocate for press freedom in Asia, and her impact on RFA is without question,” said CEO Turner. “She has been and will continue to be a powerful force in giving a voice to the voiceless.”
[Source: USAGM press release]