Updates:
Article in Poynter by Tom Jones
Headline: “Opinion | Trump gutted Voice of America. Six staff members are fighting back.”
Subhead: “Kari Lake and the Trump administration cut hundreds of journalists at the global news outlet. A lawsuit says that’s not just wrong — it’s illegal.”
“Even before Donald Trump returned to the White House, he set his sights on dismantling the U.S. Agency for Global Media — the agency that oversees Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, the Office of Cuba Broadcasting and Radio Free Asia.
He hand-picked two-time election loser Kari Lake, the Arizona Republican, to be his hatchet, most notably taking a whack at the Voice of America, the longstanding and well-respected media outlet that has promoted democracy and transparency across the globe since World War II. . . ”
“Behind these cuts at the federally-funded VOA are real journalists, real people. More than 900 full-time employees were placed on indefinite leave. Another 500 contractors were fired.
“But here’s another number: six. That’s how many VOA staff members are suing the Trump administration, arguing that shutting down the outlet is unlawful and unconstitutional. . . ”
https://www.poynter.org/commentary/2025/voice-of-america-lawsuit-unlawful-unconstitutional/
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Article in The Guardian by Michael Sinato, 3/24/25
Headline: “Trump’s shuttering of global media agency endangers reporters, staff say”
Subhead: “Employees who may have to return home risk death or imprisonment at hands of authoritarian governments”
“Foreign workers at US government-backed media outlets being cut by the Trump administration say they face deportation to their home countries, where some risk imprisonment or death at the hands of authoritarian governments. . . .”
“. . . We have many coworkers in different services, several of whom came here and sought asylum visas. If their own government knew they worked for RFA [Radio Free Asia] and they went back to their own country, their lives would be at risk,” Jaewoo Park, a journalist for RFA, who was placed on administrative leave along with all of his coworkers, told the Guardian. . .”
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Podcast Article in NPR by Staff, 3/21/25
Headline: “Voice of America Goes Quiet. And, Apocalypse Now?”
“The Trump administration has cut funding for Voice of America, the 80-year-old state media network. On this week’s On the Media, how pulling federal funds from VOA’s parent organization will imperil press freedom abroad. Plus, a Radio Free Europe journalist describes being detained for nine months in Russia until she was released alongside Evan Gershkovich. . . Host Micah Loewinger speaks with Nicole Hemmer, political historian and co-host of the podcast “This Day.” They discuss the complicated history of Voice of America, which was founded in 1942 to counter Nazi propaganda. . .”
“Host Micah Loewinger sits down with Alsu Kurmasheva, press freedom advocate and veteran journalist of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Tatar-Bashkir service, on what the network provides in countries lacking a free press and her own nine month detention in Russia. Plus, Bay Fang, president of Radio Free Asia, or RFA, on why authoritarians are celebrating Trump’s shutdown and how RFA’s closure will further diminish press freedom in Asia. . . ”