TRANSCRIPT:
In my view, Voice of America is invaluable because it provides an important mirror on what’s going on in the United States to audiences who do not speak English and don’t consume American media. VOA has a well-earned reputation for credible journalism, for separating out what is the American point of view in editorials as compared to just what is going on. And I think that as a result, people who listen to VOA, who follow VOA journalism, have an important counterbalance to the innumerable false narratives that are out there in the world right now.
VOA has essentially been restricted and silenced already, and the risks are that we are abandoning the field to our adversaries. I can give an example from my last posting as ambassador to Serbia. Voice of America and Radio Free Europe’s voice is softer and softer every day and is diminished, while Sputnik and Russia Today have come in large numbers, producing content in Serbian for the Serbian audience and placing that content in local media.
You know, when we talk about VOA’s programs, it’s not just what VOA produces that people view on the VOA site or listen to on a radio station — it is the content which is then picked up by local media and rebroadcast. And when we don’t have that, we have essentially abandoned the field to our adversaries. And without it, we are lacking a weapon in the informational battlefield.
Published
Scott served as U.S. ambassador to Serbia from 2016–2019 during the Obama and Trump administrations. A career diplomat, he also held senior State Department roles focused on European and Eurasian affairs.