TRANSCRIPT:
I’ve worked in a lot of countries around the world, primarily in Central and Eastern Europe, places like Russia, Belarus, Poland, Ukraine. And in all of those places and beyond, Voice of America is a beacon of truth and impartiality in media environments that are not always like that.
We know the history of VOA, that folks behind the Iron Curtain turned to it as a source of news that they could trust, and that has engendered really incredible goodwill between these peoples and the United States of America.
There’s a reason that Voice of America journalists are among those that are targeted by autocrats around the world. And that’s because those autocrats in places like China, Iran, Russia, you name it, they don’t like what VOA stands for — that it stands for truth and impartiality, that it stands for justice.
And I think it’s a real shame that Voice of America is not able to do its work right now and to broadcast all of those values to countries that need it. We also need VOA here at home and this is the most important time for it to be doing its work.
Published
Jankowicz is the co-founder and CEO of The American Sunlight Project and is an expert on disinformation and democratization. She has authored two books and advised governments, international organizations, and tech companies, and testified before the U.S. Congress, and the British, Canadian and European Parliaments.