TRANSCRIPT:
I am Muska Safi, a VOA reporter working in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Peshawar. For three years, I have proudly worked for the Voice of America. I have dedicated my reporting to raising the voices of Afghan refugees and women, people whose stories often go unheard. I worked tirelessly to report accurate, thoughtful information, often in challenging conditions because I believe in the power of journalism to bring change.
But since March 15, the U.S. presidential administration has effectively shut down VOA and suspended its broadcasts. A decision that has deeply impacted not just me, but also more than 1,300 of my colleagues. This isn’t just a professional loss, it’s personal. It’s a silencing of those relying on us to tell their stories: the refugees fighting for dignity, the women demanding basic rights, and people struggling to speak their truth in countries that have no free press.
We didn’t just report the news, we delivered hope. And with this suspension, that hope has been dimmed. Yet our commitment remains. Even though Voice of America’s platforms have been silenced, our voices won’t be. Thank you for standing with press freedom and with VOA. Because a free press matters.
Published
Muska Safi is a journalist working with VOA’s Afghanistan Service in both Pashto and Dari languages. Based in Peshawar, she has shined a light on stories about Afghan refugees and women that too often go unheard.