TRANSCRIPT:
The paradox of working in one of VOA’s language services is that the better your country is viewed on the world stage, the less secure your job may be. When your country’s media scene is considered free, your service usually closes. And even though we want stable jobs, deep down we all hope that the countries we were born in will stop needing VOA.
I’m Braca Djordjevic, a senior editor with the VOA Serbian Service. I have worked with VOA Serbian for almost 22 years. Unfortunately, Serbia has not gotten better. In fact, it has been backsliding. Media freedoms are at the lowest level of the past 20 years. As huge anti-government and anti-corruption protests are taking place, the government is calling independent media the enemies of Serbia. Other freedoms are also declining.
Without VOA, the influence of Russia and China will grow. Stereotypes and prejudices against the United States will also grow. For years, we have been working hard to shed light on the obstacles on Serbia’s path to the European Union, including violations of citizens’ rights and freedoms. At the same time, we have been telling America’s story honestly from different angles, showing democracy in action and what free media looks like.
Serbian human rights activists need us now more than they have in the last 20 years. Serbian independent media, working under tremendous pressure, needs strong backup. The Serbian public still needs us. Please talk to your representatives and ask them to save VOA.
Published
Djordjevic is an editor, reporter, producer and host of VOA Serbian’s "Open Studio" and "Weekend Studio" TV shows. He joined the service in 2003. Prior to VOA, he worked for the highly-regarded Serbian TV channel B92 and various print media, such as the newspapers Blic and Dnevni Telegraf. For more than 20 years, Djordjevic has covered domestic and international news in the U.S. and the former Yugoslavia, as well as political, economic and social developments.