President Donald Trump’s administration initiated widespread layoffs at Voice of America (VOA) and other U.S.-funded media outlets on Sunday, signaling its intent to dismantle organizations long seen as pivotal for U.S. global influence.
Just a day after all employees were placed on leave, contractors received an email informing them that their positions would be terminated at the end of March. The email, which was confirmed by several employees to AFP, instructed contractors to “cease all work immediately” and prohibited them from accessing agency buildings or systems.
Contractors, who make up a significant portion of VOA’s workforce and are heavily involved in non-English language services, are now left in uncertain circumstances. Many of them are non-U.S. citizens and likely depend on these jobs for visas, which will soon disappear.
Full-time VOA staff, who have greater legal protections, were not immediately laid off but have been placed on administrative leave and instructed not to work.
Voice of America, created during World War II to broadcast in 49 languages, was established to provide news to regions where media freedom is limited. The agency’s parent organization, the U.S. Agency for Global Media, which Trump targeted with an executive order on Friday, had 3,384 employees in the 2023 fiscal year and requested $950 million in funding for the current fiscal year.
With VOA now in limbo, some of its services have been reduced to playing music due to the absence of new programming.
The sweeping cuts also extended to other major U.S.-funded outlets, including Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, which was formed during the Cold War to reach the former Soviet bloc, and Radio Free Asia, which provides reporting to China, North Korea, and other countries with restricted media access.
Additionally, outlets such as Radio Farda, a Persian-language broadcaster banned by Iran’s government, and Alhurra, an Arabic-language network created after the Iraq invasion to counter Al Jazeera’s critical coverage, are also being severely impacted.
In a statement on Saturday, the White House argued that “taxpayers are no longer on the hook for radical propaganda,” a claim rarely leveled at VOA, which has historically focused on countering communism and promoting democratic ideals.
Trump has frequently criticized media coverage of his administration and questioned the need for VOA, citing its editorial independence and the “firewall” separating it from political influence.
The cuts come amid a growing global media battle, with China and Russia increasingly investing in state-run outlets to challenge Western narratives. China, in particular, has been offering free content to media outlets in the developing world to expand its influence.
In response to the changes at VOA, China’s state-run Global Times editorialized that the dominance of traditional Western media is being “shattered.” It argued that as more Americans “break through their information cocoons” and gain a broader perspective on China, the narratives promoted by VOA will be dismissed as outdated.
AFP
