Voices supporting VOA
Daniel Serwer
Former U.S. special envoy for the Bosnian Federation, senior fellow at Johns Hopkins SAIS
TRANSCRIPT:
Voice of America, it’s a voice in favor of democracy, in favor of free enterprise, in favor of using American power, soft and hard, in the world to good effect.
At one point when the Balkans were hot, I was on VOA, maybe, I think it was pretty close to once a week. It was really an important outlet, not for American government views necessarily, but for the views of Americans who were watching the Balkans carefully. And that made a big difference to people in Serbia.
I can assure you that I’ve been told many times how much those interviews influenced how people were thinking about their situation throughout the Balkans. And I’m pleased that I was able to contribute in that way, and I’m pleased that VOA had a real impact.
Eliminating the Voice of America essentially eliminates a whole slice of free media from the information space, not only in Serbia, but in many other countries. And that means less room for free expression.
Published
Serwer served as U.S. special envoy and coordinator for the Bosnian Federation. He later was a vice president at the U.S. Institute of Peace and became a senior fellow at Johns Hopkins SAIS. His work has focused on conflict resolution, peacebuilding and Balkan politics.