TRANSCRIPT:
Honest journalism, truthful journalism, if people watch it over time, it builds loyalty in an audience. They know that they’re going to get something that is credible from you. Then they’re going to come back for more.
Propaganda in the end, it works if you have no other choice. But the whole idea of Voice of America is to make sure that people in countries where there is not a free press have an alternative, a truthful alternative, and that has an enormous power to it.
There is a law in place that states that Voice of America must present varying views, responsible views on foreign policy, and other issues in the United States. So first of all, we are obeying our own laws. But secondly, it’s more interesting. And it’s more respectful of the audience. It allows the audience to come to its own view without trying to impose one on them.
This is the Voice of America, not the voice of Donald Trump or any other president for that matter. This is the Voice of America. It’s supposed to be a reliable broadcast about things that are going on in the United States, and varying views about them, without becoming a mouthpiece for any one person.
If you don’t have a free press, in the end, you don’t have democracy. There’s a reason why the First Amendment is the First Amendment to the Constitution, the one guaranteeing freedom of speech. Our country’s built on this. And this is what, unfortunately, some people don’t seem to understand. Without it, we have no country, in my view.
Published
Ensor served as director of Voice of America from 2011–2015. Earlier in his career, he worked as a journalist for CNN, ABC News and NPR covering national security and foreign affairs.