1,300 Voice of America Employees Laid Off; Lake Declares Agency ‘Beyond Repair’
Michael Abramowitz, the Director of the Voice of America (VOA), stated, “For the first time in 83 years, the storied Voice of America is being silenced.”
In his statement, Abramowitz remarked, “For the first time in 83 years, the storied Voice of America is being silenced.”
Simultaneously, Kari Lake, the nominee to lead VOA and a special adviser at its parent agency, remarked that VOA is “not salvageable.”
The U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), VOA’s parent organization, has also cut funding for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, which broadcasts to Eastern European nations, including Russia and Ukraine, as well as for Radio Free Asia, which targets China and North Korea.
On March 14, President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing USAGM and six other lesser-known agencies to minimize their operations to the legal minimum, citing a need to reduce bureaucracy.
Abramowitz characterized VOA as “a priceless asset” for the United States, emphasizing its vital role in combating communism, fascism, and oppression, and in advocating for freedom and democracy globally.
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Abramowitz noted that VOA currently engages over 360 million individuals across 48 languages each week.
Lake, a former news anchor, suggested in her statement that the agency should be downsized to its minimum legal size.
“Though there are exceptional personnel within the agency who are talented and devoted public servants, this is more the exception than the norm,” she expressed. “It is unfortunate that the actions taken by self-serving insiders, in collaboration with external activist groups and radical left-leaning organizations to ‘Trump-Proof’ the agency, hindered any attempts at reform.”
She added that these agencies were “utilizing taxpayer funds to fabricate false narratives” and that this was “magnified by biased media counterparts with evident conflicts of interest, such as the Washington Post, NPR, and others, to actively obscure their considerable waste, fraud, and abuse.”
In recent weeks, Lake expressed that she did not want VOA to turn into “Trump TV,” but she also desires it not to replicate the reporting seen on networks like CNN, CBS, and MSNBC.
“We are engaged in an information battle, and the truth is the best weapon; I believe VOA can serve as that weapon,” she declared on February 21 at the Conservative Political Action Conference.
President Donald Trump has appointed Brent Bozell to lead USAGM, pending Senate approval.
Reuters contributed to this report.
