US President Donald Trump has issued an executive order halting federal funding of multiple agencies including Voice of America (VOA) – one of the most influential global news organisations.
President Trump’s order of slashing the federal funding for the VOA is one of the many controversial and populist decisions he’s taken aimed at reducing government expenditure.
The order instructs the offices to be “eliminated to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law.”
The executive order eliminated the funding for US Agency for Global Media, which is the parent for Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
These organisations employ thousands of journalists and staff, who now find themselves in crosshairs.
Voice of America (VOA) is a US state funded media network that produces television, radio, and digital news content for international audiences. Interestingly, the organisation was found in 1942 to counter the Nazi Propaganda during the World War II. VOA’s primary goals included reporting accurate news all around the world, particularly where authoritarian regimes existed.
On Saturday, VOA employees received an email saying that they are on administrative leave with pay until further notice.
VOA’s director Michael Abramowitz took to social media to express his regret over the development, writing, “For the first time in 83 years, the storied Voice of America is being silenced.”
He remarked that he had learned through email that the entire staff of VOA, including him, had been placed on administrative leave.
Journalists around the globe condemned the Trump administration’s sudden cancellation of funding for the agencies.
Nick Schifrin, a foreign correspondent at PBS News, took to X (formerly Twitter) to write: “For 80 years, the United States government has believed government funded information distributed to people whose governments try to stifle that information–or punish those who obtain it–has been in the national interest. This began with @VOA, which beamed its first broadcast into the Soviet Union in 1942. It expanded with @RFERL in the 1950s, each of which were initially run by CIA. The goal: send facts over the Iron Curtain to try and win the Cold War.”
CNN’s Brian Stelter wrote: “This morning journalists at Voice of America, the biggest broadcaster within the U.S. Agency for Global Media, are being put on administrative leave en masse.”
Another journalist wrote: “When I was in college, I seriously considered going to work for the Voice of America because I admired its mission to show the world how journalists in a free society were allowed to tell truths that other governments denied. That voice has now been silenced.”
President Trump’s contention with Voice of America
Earlier this month, President Trump took questions from journalists in the Oval office during his meeting with the Irish Prime Minister. During the meeting, an interesting conversation took place between President Trump and a Voice of America’s reporter.
The VOA reporter asked the Irish Prime Minister about his views on President Trump’s highly controversial proposal of relocating Palestinians. Before the Irish PM could respond, Donald Trump retorted: “Nobody is expelling any Palestinians. Who are you with?”
When the reporter stated that she was with the Voice of America, Trump, in his sarcastic tone replied: “Oh, no wonder.”
