TRANSCRIPT:
The Voice of America represents more than just an information outlet. It holds multi-layered value, both journalistic and educational.
From my own experience in these fields, numerous journalists provide reliable, verified and objective reporting. As you know, objectivity is not only a journalistic standard for obligation. Reporting from a country in the midst of war, especially when you are there, maintaining objectivity under such circumstances is a challenge that must be acknowledged and understood.
In these circumstances, outlets such as Voice of America serve as a guidepost, offering a professional, high quality, and an objective model of how journalism should be done. This kind of journalism is vital for citizens who depend on accurate information.
But what happens when such a media outlet is silenced? The space is quickly filled by disinformation, state-controlled narratives, and restricted access to truth, particularly in regions facing rising tensions, conflicts, or political repression, media restrictions. That’s why media freedom, and the survival of professional and independent journalism, is not just a media issue. It is important for the survival of democracy itself.
Published
Sever is president of the European Federation of Journalists and a Croatian public television journalist. She has led the Trade Union of Croatian Journalists and worked for nearly three decades in Croatian public broadcasting.