U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to stop financing U.S.-funded media including Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is stirring anger and indignation.
On Saturday, journalists from VOA, RFE/RL and other U.S.-funded media outlets were put on leave after Trump decided to effectively freeze funding to media that have correspondents all over the world and provide coverage of regions including Eastern Europe and Central Asia.
“I am deeply saddened that for the first time in 83 years, the storied Voice of America is being silenced,” VOA’s director Michael Abramowitz said on Saturday, announcing that more than 1,300 VOA journalists and employees, including himself, have been placed on administrative leave.
Trump on Friday signed an executive order to reduce to the minimum the functions of several agencies, including the United States Agency for Global Media (USAGM,) which oversees media including VOA, RFE/RL, Office of Cuba Broadcasting, Radio Free Asia and Middle East Broadcasting Networks.
“The Iranian Ayatollahs, Chinese communist leaders, and autocrats in Moscow and Minsk would celebrate the demise of RFE/RL after 75 years. Handing our adversaries a win would make them stronger and America weaker,” RFE/RL President and CEO Stephen Capus said on Saturday.
Radio Free Asia is expected to start furloughing some of its staff in the coming days, POLITICO reported on Friday.
Trump’s administration baselessly accused the affected media of being biased.
The decision “will ensure that taxpayers are no longer on the hook for radical propaganda,” the White House said in a statement on Saturday.
Kari Lake, a senior adviser to USAGM appointed by Trump, said “this agency is not salvageable,” arguing that “from top-to-bottom, this agency is a giant rot and burden to the American taxpayer.”
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