Effectively shutting down the outlet that has provided news to nations around the world since World War II, layoff notices have been sent to 639 employees of Voice of America (VOA) and the US agency that oversees it.
Employees of VOA’s Persian-language service were among those whose notices were sent on Friday after being abruptly given administrative leave last week to report to Iran as a result of the attack by Israel.
One fired employee claimed that three journalists who had left their jobs for a cigarette break on Friday had their badges confiscated and were not permitted to return in.
According to Kari Lake, Trump’s senior adviser to the agency, roughly 1,400 people have lost their jobs since March, or 85% of the agency’s workforce. She claimed it was a “long overdue effort to dismantle a bloated, unaccountable bureaucracy.”
In a press release, Lake claimed that American taxpayers have been forced to fund an agency that has been plagued by dysfunction, bias, and waste for decades. “That ends now.”
VOA expanded to include news from around the world in dozens of languages, frequently in nations without a tradition of free press, and began by broadcasting news about US democracy to residents of Nazi Germany.
However, President Donald Trump has fought back against the media, making the accusation that the majority of their reporting is biased against conservatives. That includes a proposal that Congress is currently considering to stop federal funding of PBS and NPR.
The “Death” of independent journalism
Since March 15, the majority of VOA employees have been largely silenced through their broadcasts and social media posts. Among those who received layoff notices on Friday were three VOA employees who are currently fighting the administration’s decision to dissolve the organization in court.
According to plaintiffs Jessica Jerreat, Kate Neeper, and Patsy Widakuswara, “it spells the death of 83 years of independent journalism that upholds US ideals of democracy and freedom around the world.”
The Persian-language employee was in the office on Friday when colleagues were barred from re-entry because of the ongoing legal case. Even though authorities claimed their work had been halted, the person was afraid to leave until she received a layoff notice.
The layoffs were described as “historic self-sabotage with the US government completing the silencing of its most effective soft-power weapon,” according to Steve Herman, VOA’s chief national correspondent who was about to retire to take a job at the University of Mississippi.
What will, if anything, be the replacement for VOA’s programming around the world? One American News Network, which supports Trump, has offered to use its signal.
Herman said he is not optimistic that VOA will survive, even if a Democratic president and congressional delegation are in charge. However, the lawsuit’s plaintiffs demanded that Congress continue to support it. For one thing, getting on the air every day is a new day for viewers and readers to get news.
Because there is no evidence that Congress will convene to fund VOA in the upcoming fiscal year, Herman said, “I believe that the destruction is permanent.”
