Donald Trump.
Donald Trump.
More than 1,300 ‘Voice of America’ workers were put on leave on Sunday, a day after Donald Trump signed an executive order gutting the government-funded media outlet's parent and other media agencies.
Hundreds of employees at Voice of America, Radio Free Asia, Radio Free Europe and other outlets received a weekend email saying they would be barred from their offices and should surrender press passes and office-issued equipment.
Trump, who has already deprived the US global aid agency and the Education Department, on Friday issued an executive order listing the US Agency for Global Media as among “elements of the federal bureaucracy that the president has determined are unnecessary.”
The relevance of Agency for Global Media
The Agency for Global Media is considered to be an arm of US diplomacy, running media organisations like Voice of America, that transmit the country's domestic news to other countries, often translated into local languages. Radio Free Asia, Europe, and Marti beam news into countries with authoritarian regimes in those regions like China, North Korea, and Russia.
By Saturday morning, many journalists and other employees at Voice of America were informed they were being placed on administrative leave, according to an email reviewed by The New York Times. Journalists there said the cuts were so widespread that they would effectively shut down the international broadcaster.
VoA director 'deeply saddened'
Taking to LinkedIn, Voice of America director Michael Abramowitz said that the entire staff of his organisation, including him and fellow journalists, were put on leave.
“I am deeply saddened that for the first time in 83 years, the storied Voice of America is being silenced. I learned this morning that virtually the entire staff of Voice of America—more than 1,300 journalists, producers and support staff—has been placed on administrative leave today. So have I,” he said.
According to a report by Reuters, the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM), a government-funded agency that is the parent company of VOA, also terminated its grants to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. The channel broadcasts to countries in Eastern Europe, including Russia and Ukraine. Grants to Radio Free Asia, which broadcasts to China and North Korea, were also gutted.
Abramowitz, in his LinkedIn post, said that Voice of America needs a thoughtful reform but the latest action will stop it carry out its critical mission.
“VOA needs thoughtful reform, and we have made progress in that regard. But today’s action will leave Voice of America unable to carry out its vital mission. That mission is 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,” he said.
“VOA promotes freedom and democracy around the world by telling America’s story and by providing objective and balanced news and information, especially for those living under tyranny. Even if the agency survives in some form, the actions being taken today by the Administration will severely damage Voice of America’s ability to foster a world that is safe and free and in doing so is failing to protect U.S. interests,” the director added.
VoA a 'priceless asset'
For more than 80 years, Voice of America has been a priceless asset for the United States, playing “an essential role in the fight against communism, fascism, and oppression, and in the fight for freedom and democracy around the world.”
“Today, VOA reaches more than 360 million people every week, in 48 languages. In many dictatorships, VOA is often the only reliable source of news and information,” he said.
Kari Lake, Trump's senior adviser to the agency, posted on X on Saturday that employees should check their email. That coincided with notices going out placing Voice of America staff on paid administrative leave.
A video posted on X by Lake talked about cost-cutting measures, not mentioning the employees and the mission of Voice of America. Her video was made at a building leased by VOA that Lake described as a waste of money. She said she would try to break the agency's 15-year lease on the building.
“We're doing everything we can to cancel contracts that can be cancelled, save more, downsize, and make sure there's no misuse of your dollars,” she said.
Since Trump took office, billionaire Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency have sought to drastically reshape the federal government by cutting staff and programs. On Tuesday, the education department announced it was firing more than 1,300 workers, and after hundreds accepted separation packages, the agency is set to be left with roughly half the number of employees that it started the year with.
Musk’s group has trumpeted saving taxpayers billions of dollars, though its claims have been undermined by posting error-filled data.