U.S. President Donald Trump has ordered Voice of America, a federally financed news organization, to shut down on the grounds that it is “anti-Trump” and “radical.”
Quotes from lawmakers and right-wing media criticizing the broadcaster were included in a White House statement that claimed the order would “ensure taxpayers are no longer on the hook for radical propaganda.”
VOA was founded during World War Two to combat Nazi propaganda, and it is currently largely a radio station. It claims to currently reach hundreds of millions of people every week throughout the world.
VOA director Mike Abramowitz said he and almost all of his 1,300 employees were placed on paid leave.
Abramowitz said that the order left VOA unable to carry out 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”.
The National Press Club, a leading representative group for US journalists, said the order “undermines America’s long-standing commitment to a free and independent press”.
It added: “If an entire newsroom can be sidelined overnight, what does that say about the state of press freedom?
FILE – The Voice of America building, Monday, June 15, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)
“An entire institution is being dismantled piece by piece. This isn’t just a staffing decision – it’s a fundamental shift that endangers the future of independent journalism at VOA.”
The president’s order targets VOA’s parent company US Agency for Global Media (USAGM), which also funds non-profit entities such as Radio Free Europe and Radio Free Asia, which were originally set up to counter communism.
It tells managers to “reduce performance… to the minimum presence and function required by law”.
Crystal Thomas, the USAGM human resources director, sent an email alerting VOA staff, according to CBS, the BBC’s US news partner.
CBS was informed by a source that all independent contractors and foreign workers were informed that there was no money left to pay them.
In emails obtained by CBS, the heads of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Radio Free Asia were informed that their federal subsidies had been revoked.
VOA and other USAGM stations claim to have over 400 million listeners. They are comparable to the British government-funded BBC World Service in many ways.
Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský expressed his hope that the European Union would assist in maintaining Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in Prague.