Greater than 1,300 Voice of America staff had been positioned on depart on Saturday and funding for 2 U.S. information providers that broadcast to authoritarian regimes was terminated, someday after President Donald Trump ordered the gutting of the government-funded media outlet’s guardian and 6 different federal companies.
Michael Abramowitz, Voice of America’s director, mentioned practically his total workers of 1,300 journalists, producers and assistants had been placed on administrative depart, crippling a media broadcaster that operates in virtually 50 languages.
“I’m deeply saddened that for the primary time in 83 years, the storied Voice of America is being silenced,” Abramowitz mentioned in a submit on LinkedIn, saying it has performed an necessary position “within the struggle for freedom and democracy all over the world.”
VOA’s guardian company, the U.S. Company for International Media (USAGM), additionally terminated its grants to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, which broadcasts to international locations in Jap Europe, together with Russia and Ukraine, in addition to to Radio Free Asia, which broadcasts to China and North Korea.
Trump’s directives look set to devastate a corporation that serves as a uncommon supply of dependable information in authoritarian international locations.
Based in 1942 to counter Nazi propaganda, VOA now reaches 360 million folks per week. As a bunch, USAGM employs roughly 3,500 staff with an $886-million price range in 2024, in keeping with its newest report back to Congress.
VOA’s Seoul Bureau Chief William Gallo mentioned on Sunday he had been locked out of all firm methods and accounts.
“All I’ve ever needed to do is shoot straight and inform the reality, it doesn’t matter what authorities I used to be overlaying. If that’s a risk to anybody, so be it,” he mentioned on Bluesky.
Kari Lake, the previous information anchor and Trump loyalist nominated to be director of VOA, issued an announcement describing USAGM as “an enormous rot and burden to the American taxpayer” and mentioned it was “not salvageable.” Lake, referring to herself as a USAGM senior adviser, mentioned she would shrink the company to its minimal attainable dimension beneath the legislation.
On its web site, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty notes that it has been declared an “undesirable group” by the Russian authorities and warns readers in Russia and Russia-occupied Ukraine that they may “face fines or imprisonment” for liking or sharing its content material.
Czech International Minister Jan Lipavsky mentioned Radio Free Europe had been a “beacon” for populations beneath totalitarian rule.
“From Belarus to Iran, from Russia to Afghanistan, RFE and Voice of America are among the many few free sources for folks dwelling with out freedom,” he wrote on X.
The transfer follows Trump signing an govt order on Friday instructing USAGM and 6 different little-known companies to cut back their operations to the minimal mandated by statutes, saying it was essential to shrink forms.
FREE PRESS ADVOCATES CRITICAL
The president of the Nationwide Press Membership in Washington, Mike Balsamo, launched an announcement saying the cuts at VOA undermined America’s dedication to a free and impartial press.
“For many years, Voice of America has delivered fact-based, impartial journalism to audiences worldwide, usually in locations the place press freedom doesn’t exist,” Balsamo mentioned.
Paris-based Reporters With out Borders additionally blasted the transfer, saying it “threatens press freedom worldwide and negates 80 years of American historical past in supporting a free circulate of knowledge.”
Radio Free Asia’s (RFA) president, Bay Fang, mentioned the cancellation of its funding was “a reward to dictators and despots, together with the Chinese language Communist Get together, who would really like nothing higher than to have their affect go unchecked.”
Some Republicans have accused VOA and different publicly funded media retailers of being biased in opposition to conservatives, and have known as for them to be shuttered as a part of the efforts by tech billionaire Elon Musk and his Division of Authorities Effectivity to shrink the federal government.
To this point, Musk’s DOGE has lower greater than 100,000 jobs throughout the two.3 million-member federal civilian workforce, frozen international support and cancelled hundreds of applications and contracts.
On Saturday, Musk made gentle of the cuts to USAGM.
“Whereas winding down this world authorities propaganda company, it has quickly been renamed the Division of Propaganda In every single place (DOPE),” he wrote on X.
Along with USAGM, Trump’s order additionally focused the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, the Woodrow Wilson Worldwide Heart for Students, the Institute of Museum and Library Providers, the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, the Group Growth Monetary Establishments Fund, and the Minority Enterprise Growth Company for cuts that will restrict them to “the minimal presence and performance required by legislation.”
In an announcement, the White Home mentioned his govt orders “will be sure that taxpayers are not on the hook for radical propaganda,” earlier than itemizing numerous criticisms of VOA, together with allegations of left-wing bias.
Reporting by Nathan Layne in West Palm Seashore, Florida and James Oliphant in Washington; Extra reporting by Jason Hovet in Prague and Josh Smith in Seoul; Enhancing by Michelle Nichols, Mark Potter, Diane Craft, Rod Nickel, Deepa Babington and Lincoln Feast.
