The Broadcasting Board of Governors has chosen David Ensor to be the new director of the Voice of America.
The former journalist, currently working for the State Department, will join VOA in June, replacing Danforth Austin.
Austin’s reign, one of the longest in VOA history, saw the organization grow across multiple media platforms, incorporating broadcast, online and social media platforms, it said.
Ensor has earned a National Headliner Award for outstanding achievement in news reporting and an Emmy nomination for broadcast journalism. His 32-year career touched upon major historical events including the fall of communism in Russia and Poland, violent fighting in Bosnia, Chechnya, El Salvador and Afghanistan and the U.S. response to the 9/11 attacks.
He began his career reporting for NPR in Washington, becoming a White House correspondent for ABC in 1980 during the Carter presidency and finally joining CNN in 1999 as national security correspondent. Ensor is also a member of the Council on Foreign Affairs and was sworn in last year as director for communications and public diplomacy of the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan under President Obama.
Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Judith A. McHale said in the announcement, “The State Department has been very fortunate to have David oversee our public diplomacy effort in Afghanistan.”
