The administration of President Donald Trump has initiated substantial layoffs at Voice of America (VOA) and other U.S.-funded media outlets, signaling a clear intention to minimize the influence of channels typically regarded as vital for U.S. presence worldwide.
Just one day after numerous staff members were placed on leave, contractors received emails informing them of their termination effective at the end of March.
According to several employees who confirmed to AFP, the emails instructed contractors to “stop all work immediately and refrain from accessing any agency facilities or systems.”
Contract personnel represent a significant portion of the workforce at VOA, especially within the non-English services, though current statistics are not immediately available.
Many of these contractors are not U.S. citizens, making them reliant on their soon-to-be eliminated positions for their visas to remain in the country.
Most full-time staff at VOA, which enjoy greater legal protections, were not yet terminated but remain on administrative leave without any work assignments.
Founded during World War II, Voice of America broadcasts in 49 languages with a mission aimed at reaching audiences in nations lacking media freedom.
Liam Scott, a VOA journalist focused on press freedom and disinformation, shared that he was informed he would be let go as of March 31.
He expressed that the Trump administration’s actions against VOA and similar outlets are part of a broader strategy to dismantle government entities, as well as an assault on press freedom and the media overall, stating on X, “I’ve covered press freedom for a long time and have never witnessed anything like the events unfolding in the U.S. over the past few months.”
With VOA’s future uncertain, some of its programming has resorted to playing music due to the lack of new content.
Extensive Cutbacks
On Friday, Trump signed an executive order that specifically targets the U.S. Agency for Global Media, which oversees VOA, marking another step in his extensive cuts to the federal government.
The agency boasted a workforce of 3,384 employees in the fiscal year 2023 and had requested a budget of $950 million for the current fiscal year.
These drastic reductions also affected Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, established during the Cold War to provide news to the former Soviet Union, and Radio Free Asia, created to disseminate information to China, North Korea, and other Asian nations with serious media restrictions.
Other U.S.-funded channels facing cuts include Radio Farda, a Persian-language outlet banned by the Iranian government, and Alhurra, an Arabic-language broadcaster launched after the Iraq War in response to critical coverage from the Qatar-based channel Al-Jazeera.
The White House emphasized in a statement that “taxpayers will no longer be responsible for radical propaganda,” a claim not typically associated with the historically steady VOA, which has worked to counter communism.
Trump has frequently criticized how the media covers him and has cast doubt on the value of funding VOA, which is protected by an editorial independence policy.
Advised by tech millionaire Elon Musk, Trump has pledged to significantly downsize the government to accommodate tax reductions. His administration has already curtailed most foreign development assistance and sought to diminish the Department of Education.
These developments unfold as both China and Russia pour resources into their state media to counter Western narratives, often providing content at no cost to outlets in developing countries.
An editorial from China’s state-controlled Global Times remarked on the decline of VOA, stating that “the information monopoly held by traditional Western media is being dismantled.” It added, “As more Americans begin to break out of their information cocoons and perceive the world and a multidimensional China, the demonizing stories propagated by VOA are destined to become a subject of ridicule in the future.”
