| Sound of Hope | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional Chinese | 希望之聲 | ||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 希望之声 | ||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
Sound of Hope (SOH) is an international Chinese-language radio network. Along withNew Tang Dynasty Television andThe Epoch Times, it is part of a network of media organizations established by practitioners of theFalun Gongnew religious movement.[1][2] SOH serves the Chinese diaspora in US, Europe, Australia, Japan and South Korea viaAM/FM radio and Chinese people in China viashortwave radio.[citation needed]
SOH Network radio programs are primarily inChinese (Mandarin andCantonese). The US radio also provides network programming to 14 affiliated Chinese-languageFM radios.[citation needed] SOH is headquartered in San Francisco, California, and has two main operations. One serves Chinese Americans in the U.S. viaAM/FM and the other serves China viashortwave radio.[citation needed]
The US radio started fromKSQQ FM 96.1,KVTO AM 1400 during afternoon and evening hours and has grown to be the largest Chinese radio in the region,[citation needed] adding KQEA-LP/KQEB-LP (96.9 FM, two time-shared licenses) as affiliated stations. It provides news and lifestyle talkshows relating to local expatriate Chinese, and covers issues such as elections, local policy debates,California droughts, Cupertino city redevelopment, and theCOVID-19 pandemic.[3][non-primary source needed]
The China radio broadcasts tomainland China through more than 100 shortwave stations. Programs of SOH can also be listened to via online streaming and mobile apps.[4][5][non-primary source needed]
SOH also producesYouTube video programs. The YouTube channel “Jiangfeng Time” had more than half a million subscribers as of 2020.[6][non-primary source needed] SOH teamed withEpoch Times editor John Nania to start the right-wing news website America Daily at americadaily.com.[2]
The Sound of Hope radio network was co-founded by Sean Lin and Allen Zeng.[7] The network united local radio stations that had been founded by Falun Gong practitioners. It is one of a number of media outlets, such asThe Epoch Times andNTDTV, started byFalun Gong practitioners who emigrated to the West.[1]
Most of its initial staff were Falun Gong adherents who volunteered their time and services. It was the last of the three media to be established,[citation needed] beginning operations in June 2003, supported by a network of volunteers that continue to maintain the station's programming. In 2005, theSan Francisco Chronicle reported that the boards, including Allen Zeng and its reporting staffs of 20, were composed of Falun Gong practitioners.[8]