Voice of America's "Diary", after 82 years, will no longer speak Albanian, Elez Biberaj: Sad chapter in the history of US engagement with the world

The well-known news agency, Voice of America, which has also been speaking Albanian for 82 years, is closing down following US President Donald Trump's executive order for massive cuts to seven news agencies.

As of this Saturday, the Voice of America Daily, which was broadcast at 6:00 PM (our time), has not been broadcast and will no longer be broadcast for the Albanian public.

Former Director for Eurasia at the Voice of America, Albanian-American journalist Elez Biberaj, through a post on the social network "Facebook", confirms the closure of the agency and considers this a deeply sad chapter in the history of America's engagement with the world.

“Voice of America, a beacon of hope and truth for hundreds of millions around the globe, was silenced today in the name of reducing federal bureaucracy. For more than eight decades, VoA has been a vital force in promoting America’s democratic ideals, faithfully presenting U.S. policies, advancing national interests, and serving as a trusted source of credible news for millions in information-deprived regions. The decision to dismantle one of America’s greatest national assets will cause profound damage to the U.S. image, its global interests, and the promotion of democratic values—damage that no adversary can ever match. Today marks a deeply sad chapter in the history of America’s engagement with the world,” Biberaj writes.

Voice of America began broadcasting in Albanian 82 years ago, on May 13, 1943, when from its then New York studios, Voice of America spoke in Albanian for the first time.

The Voice of America itself had been founded a year earlier. On February 1, 1942, as the world was experiencing the atrocities of World War II, the announcer of the first Voice of America broadcast, William Hale, opened the program with the words that have now gone down in history: “This is the Voice of America! The news may be good or bad for us, but we will tell you the truth.”

In the early days, the Voice of America's studios were in New York. In 1945, with the end of World War II, the Albanian Service was closed. But as Europe was divided by the Iron Curtain, coincidentally, on May 13, 1951, the Albanian Service was reopened, to continue broadcasting uninterrupted to this day.
The mission of the Voice of America was to convey information from countries where freedom of the press was limited or nonexistent.