Accusing Voice of America, a federally sponsored news source, of being “anti-Trump” and “radical,” US President Donald Trump has signed an order to curtail it.
Included statements from politicians and right-wing media attacking the station, a White House statement said the order would “ensure taxpayers are no more on the hook for radical propaganda”.
Still mostly a radio station, VOA was established during World War Two to combat Nazi propaganda. It claims to reach hundreds of millions of people worldwide every week right now.
VOA’s director, Mike Abramowitz, reported that he and almost his whole 1,300-person workforce had been placed on paid leave.
Abramowitz said the sequence left VOA unable to fulfil its “vital mission… especially critical today, when America’s adversaries, like Iran, China, and Russia, are sinking billions of dollars into creating false narratives to discredit the United States”.
Leading US journalist association The National Press Club claimed the decision “undermines America’s long-standing commitment to a free and independent press”.
It said: “What does that say about the state of press freedom if a whole newsroom can be sidelined overnight?
“An entire institution is being disassembled bit by bit. This is a basic change that compromises the future of independent journalism at VOA, not only a staffing choice.”
Targeting VOA’s parent business, US Agency for Global Media (USAGM), the president’s directive also sponsors non-profit organisations like Radio Free Europe and Radio Free Asia, initially established to oppose communism.
It commands managers to “reduce performance… to the minimum presence and function required by law”.
According to CBS, the BBC’s US news partner, Crystal Thomas, the USAGM human resources director, emailed VOA staff members alerting them.
According to a source cited by CBS, all freelancers and foreign contractors were advised there was now no funding to pay them.
Emails received by CBS informed Radio Free Asia and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s superiors of discontinued federal grants.
Under USAGM, VOA and other stations report serving about 400 million people. They are somewhat similar to the BBC World Service, which the British government funds partially.
Jan Lipavský, the Foreign Minister of the Czech Republic, stated he hoped the European Union might assist to maintain Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty operational in Prague.
At a Monday conference, he said he would ask European foreign ministers to explore means of at least partially preserving the broadcaster’s activities.
Using his social media platform X, billionaire and major advisor to Trump Elon Musk—who has been supervising large-scale cuts to the US government—has urged VOA to be closed.
The US president also cut money to many other federal organisations, including those tasked with combating homelessness and funding libraries and museums.
Throughout his first administration, Trump was rather critical of VOA. Recently, he named fervent loyalist Kari Lake a special adviser for the USAGM.
The president claims on regular basis that mainstream media sources are slanted against him. Speaking at the justice department, he called CNN and MSNBC “corrupt”.
Starting in 1942 with a mission to counter Nazi and Japanese propaganda, Voice of America Made on a transmitter lent to the US by the BBC, its inaugural broadcast served a limited use.
Former President Gerald Ford signed VOA’s public charter in 1976 to protect journalistic freedom.
Established by 1994 the Broadcast Board of Governors oversaw non-military broadcasting.
Laws changed in 2013 allowing VOA and associates to start airing in the US.
