{"id":174752,"date":"2025-04-05T21:20:55","date_gmt":"2025-04-05T19:20:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/?p=174752"},"modified":"2025-04-05T21:20:56","modified_gmt":"2025-04-05T19:20:56","slug":"serbian-journalist-from-voice-of-america-because-of-trumps-decision-360-million-people-on-the-planet-have-been-left-in-a-media-blackout","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/serbian-journalist-from-voice-of-america-because-of-trumps-decision-360-million-people-on-the-planet-have-been-left-in-a-media-blackout\/","title":{"rendered":"SERBIAN JOURNALIST FROM “VOICE OF AMERICA”: Because of Trump’s decision, 360 million people on the planet have been left in a media blackout!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The administration of Donald Trump reduced funding for the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), which has provoked numerous reactions. More than 40 members of Congress appealed to the President to withdraw the decision, emphasizing that it could damage the credibility of the USA and enable authoritarian regimes to spread propaganda.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The decision seriously affected Voice of America, where 800 employees were sent on paid leave, while 550 contracts were terminated. Radio Free Europe\/Radio Liberty (RFE\/RL) and other media outlets filed lawsuits, and a court temporarily blocked the decision, stating that the agency acted arbitrarily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Regarding this newly emerged situation, we spoke with Bratislava Braca \u0110or\u0111evi\u0107, who has been the editor of the Serbian service of “Voice of America” (VoA) for the past 15 years, and who has been with this media outlet since October 2003. Throughout all those years, he was also one of the hosts of the Serbian television show “Otvoreni studio” (Open Studio), which aired until October 2022, and from 2017 he was also the editor for digital content (GlasAmerike.net and social networks).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Braca \u0110or\u0111evi\u0107 gave an exclusive interview for our magazine about the current situation, following the decision to reduce funding for the U.S. Agency for Global Media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How has the editorial office adapted to the funding reduction? What changes were implemented immediately after the executive order?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

-Voice of America did not have a real adjustment period to the funding reduction. What happened was that on Saturday, March 15th, some 12 hours after the US President’s decree, the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), the agency that manages Voice of America and six other entities, including Radio Free Europe\/Radio Liberty, put all Voice of America employees on paid administrative (forced) leave, about 800 people in total. The next day, 550 contract employees received letters stating that their contracts would be terminated on March 31st and that they would no longer have jobs. By a judge’s decision in New York on March 28th, their dismissal was temporarily prevented, but after that decision, they were also placed on administrative leave. So, this is the biggest challenge Voice of America has faced. For the first time in 83 years, the program is not being broadcast, Voice of America journalists are not reporting, there are no radio and television shows, the website and social networks are not being updated… Our audience, 360 million people a week, who follow us in 49 different languages, have been left at the mercy of disinformation spread by America’s enemies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Do you believe that the decision to reduce funding is politically motivated? How has this affected the editorial office’s ability to maintain independence?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

-All of us employees believe that USAGM took illegal steps against Voice of America because it is perceived that VOA was reporting news that was not in line with the administration’s views. Numerous examples cited by the administration in its statement, accusing Voice of America of being the “Voice of the radical left,” were very easily refuted in an article in the influential Washington Post just a few days later. I can say that my colleagues and I are extremely proud of the Voice of America Charter, which fully guarantees our editorial independence by law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Voice of America is an important source of information for countries with limited media freedom. What do you think, how will this affect that audience now?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

-For more than 80 years, Voice of America has been broadcasting news to audiences around the world, including countries where freedom of speech is threatened or where civil society is under attack. We are funded by American taxpayers, but editorial independence is guaranteed by law, by the Charter signed by President Gerald Ford in 1976. The Charter obliges Voice of America journalists to be “accurate, objective, and comprehensive” and to represent “the whole of America, not just one segment of American society.” In many countries where VoA broadcasts, media funded by Russia and China create content that at the very least leads the audience to wrong conclusions, and at worst undermines the USA. As I mentioned before, in the last almost three weeks, that audience, those 360 million people a week, and especially those in authoritarian states, no longer have access to accurate, verified, and balanced information, but are exposed to fake news and disinformation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How do you think this decision will affect media freedom globally? Could it serve as a precedent for other governments to restrict independent journalism?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

-Very possibly. Moreover, my personal opinion is that it is quite likely. We witness year after year reports from various non-governmental organizations according to which media freedom at the global level is in constant decline. This is no longer a secret, but a trend, within which authoritarian regimes are stifling media freedom and human rights, while corruption flourishes. Just look at how much the Chinese and Russian media celebrated the news of Voice of America’s shutdown. For decades, Voice of America has created credible content in languages where such content was unavailable, thereby being a champion of media freedom, which is a key segment of free, open, democratic societies that are natural allies of the USA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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As editor-in-chief, how do you personally feel about this decision? What message would you like to convey to the public and decision-makers?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

-Personally, I have no doubt that this is an illegal decision. Voice of America was founded by a decision of Congress in 1942. Has it fulfilled its mission, and is it time for it to cease to exist? That decision should also be made by Congress. This is one of only a few media outlets worldwide that are legally obligated to be fair and balanced. Research among our audience shows that 80 percent of those who get their news from Voice of America believe it to be accurate and verified information. One reputable portal that assesses media reporting (Media Bias Fact Check) describes Voice of America as “least biased” and “highly factual.” The process that every text or report goes through at Voice of America is extremely rigorous, with two editors reviewing each piece of content, along with a mandatory balance editor for every story from the USA. Those who criticize should also take the time to read the news we have published all these years. Content is available to them in almost 50 languages, and all our work is completely public.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Voice of America has also launched a donation campaign for workers who have been left without pay, so anyone who is able can donate money at the following link.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Source:<\/strong> reuc.eu Photo: <\/strong>Private archive \/ Voice of America in Serbian<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The administration of Donald Trump reduced funding for the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), which has provoked numerous reactions. More than 40 members of Congress appealed to the President to withdraw the decision, emphasizing that it could damage the credibility of the USA and enable authoritarian regimes to spread propaganda. The decision seriously affected […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":100000178963,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[5976,32,5977],"class_list":["post-174752","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-diaspora","tag-bratislav-djordjevic","tag-interview","tag-voice-of-america-in-serbian","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Serbiantimes.info EN","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174752","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=174752"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174752\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":174753,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174752\/revisions\/174753"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=174752"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=174752"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=174752"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}