The US Agency for Global Media, a subsidiary of Voice of America, has a expenditure of about$ 270 million and employs more than 2,000 people.“decoding =”async “fetchpriority = “high”>,
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The US Agency for Global Media, a subsidiary of Voice of America, has a expenditure of about$ 270 million and employs more than 2,000 people.
The chairman of the organization claimed all VOA people have been put on leave, and President Donald Trump’s administration on Saturday began making significant reductions to Voice of America and another government-run, pro-democracy software. Trump directed his administration to lessen the features of various agencies to the bare minimum that is permitted by law on Friday night, soon after Congress passed its most recent funding bill.
That included Radio Marti, Voice of America, Radio Free Europe and Asia, and the US Agency for Global Media, which broadcast Spanish-language information to Cuba.
On X on Saturday night, Trump announced that people may check their emails after Kari Lake, the unsuccessful Democrat for governor and US Senate candidate, posted a message on the website. That caused notices to circulate putting Voice of America workers on paid administrative leave.
The storied Voice of America is being silenced for the first time in 83 times, according to Michael Abramowitz, the organization’s director, in a speech. He added that “virtually” the whole 1300-person team was taken off.
By telling the story of America and providing objective and fair news and information, particularly for those who are subject to tyranny, VoA promotes freedom and democracy around the world.
Because they were not permitted to speak to the media, one writer said,” We anticipated something like this to happen, and it just happened to be today.”
Reporters Without Borders, a team that supports media freedom,” condemns this choice as a withdrawal from the US’s historically important role as a defender of free information, calls on the US authorities to restore VOA, and calling on Congress and the international community to take action against this extraordinary move.”
Additionally, the Agency for Global Media sent finds terminating funding for Radio Free Asia and other software it manages. Voice of America frequentlytranslates private information from the United States into native language. Countries with authoritarian governments in those areas as China, North Korea, and Russia receive information from Radio Free Asia, Europe, and Marti.
The show’s President and CEO, Stephen Capus, said in a declaration that the withdrawal of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s give agreement would be a significant present to America’s enemies.
The sites reach an estimated 427 million people combined. They date back to the Cold War, and they are a part of a system of government-funded organizations that include USAID, another organization that Trump has targeted.
The decline is a remarkable change to a pre-Cold War idea that has long enjoyed bipartisan support. Dick Carlson, the son of liberal commentator Tucker Carlson, has been a part of Voice of America’s managers.
Former Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty president and CEO Thomas Kent claimed that Trump’s purposes are still uncertain. Without these information resources, he predicted, it will be even more difficult for the nation to communicate its ideas to the world.
Without the global television, the perception of the United States and the Trump administration would be held by people who consider the United States to be an enemy, according to Kent, an global expert on internet morality.
Unfavoring the employees and Voice of America’s mission was the subject of a video posted on X by Lake on Saturday that was posted about cost-cutting measures. Her video was captured in a VOA-leased building, which Lake described as a waste of money. She claimed she would try to break the agency’s 15-year building lease.
” 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.
Employees are placed on administrative leave, and the letter specifies that they will continue to receive pay and benefits “until otherwise notified.”
It directed employees to return equipment like phones and computers and not use Agency for Global Media facilities.
The Trump administration has already taken other steps to reaffirm its hold on Voice of America, including this week’s cancellation of contracts that made it possible for VOA to use content from independent news outlets like The Associated Press.
The FCC is looking into news organizations like CBS, and the administration has also removed the AP from press outlets that cover the president.
Other lesser-known government organizations are included in Trump’s order requiring reductions, including the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness, a nonpartisan think tank, and the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund.
