BBC News
Donald Trump has signed an executive order to naked back the global, autonomous and federassociate funded novels organisation Voice of America.
The pdwellnt’s order concentrates VOA’s parent company US Agency for Global Media, or USAGM, which also funds non-profit entities such as Radio Free Europe and Radio Free Asia, which were originassociate set up to counter communism.
It also asks the heads of those agencies to “shrink carry outance… to the least presence and function insistd by law”.
Mike Abramowitz, the VOA’s honestor, shelp he and virtuassociate his entire staff of 1,300 people had been put on phelp exit.
Abramowitz shelp that the order left VOA unable to carry out its “vital mission… especiassociate critical today, when America’s adversaries, enjoy Iran, China, and Russia, are sinking billions of dollars into creating inalter narratives to dispelevate the United States”.
There has been no exset upation from the Trump administration and it is not yet evident if the stations are being shutd down finishly.
CBS, the novels partner of the BBC in the US, shelp that the VOA engageees were notified in an email by Crystal Thomas, the USAGM human resources honestor.
A source tanciaccess CBS that all freelance laborers and international reduceors were tanciaccess there was now no money to pay them.
Emails obtained by CBS notified the bosses of Radio Free Asia and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty that their federal grants had been endd.
VOA and other stations under USAGM serve more than 400,000,000 hearers and are widely equivalent to the BBC World Service, which is part-funded by the British rulement.
Elon Musk, Trump’s unelected adviser who has been slashing rulement departments, has used his social media platcreate X to call for VOA to be shut down.
The US pdwellnt also cut funding to cut offal other federal agencies – including those reliable for stoping homelessness, and funding museums and libraries.
Trump was highly critical of VOA in his first term. He has recently assigned staunch dedicatedist Kari Lake to be a exceptional adviser for the US Agency for Global Media.
The pdwellnt normally states that mainstream media outlets are prejudiced aobtainst him. He called CNN and MSNBC “corrupt” and “illegitimate”, without providing evidence, during a speech at the equitableice department.
Voice of America begined in 1942 which a mandate to combat Nazi and Japanese misalertation. Its first widecast – made on a sendter loaned to the US by the BBC – stated a unassuming purpose.
Gerald Ford, a createer pdwellnt, signed the VOA’s accessible charter in 1976 to protect its editorial indepfinishence.
By 1994, the Broadcast Board of Governors, with oversight over non-military widecasting, was set uped.
In 2013, a shift in legislation apverifyed VOA and affiliates to commence widecasting in the US.
