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“More than 1,300 Voice of America employees were placed on leave [earlier this month] and funding for two U.S. news services that broadcast to authoritarian regimes was terminated… VOA's parent agency, the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), also terminated its grants to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, which broadcasts to countries in Eastern Europe, including Russia and Ukraine, as well as to Radio Free Asia, which broadcasts to China and North Korea…
“The move follows Trump signing an executive order [one day earlier] instructing USAGM and six other little-known agencies to reduce their operations to the minimum mandated by statutes, saying it was necessary to shrink bureaucracy… Some Republicans have accused VOA and other publicly funded media outlets of being biased against conservatives, and have called for them to be shuttered.” Reuters
The left is critical of the cuts, arguing that Voice of America is a valuable tool for advancing US ideals.
“From Moscow to Beijing, Tehran to Kabul, authoritarian regimes have long understood that their greatest threat is not foreign armies, but free information. That’s why they have jailed, tortured and murdered journalists. That’s why they have expelled foreign media, banned independent outlets and built firewalls to block the truth from reaching the people. And now, instead of continuing to promote free information and democracy, America is handing those authoritarian regimes exactly what they want…
“And for what? To save a fraction of a fraction of the federal budget?… RFE/RL’s annual budget of $142 million costs less than two Falcon 9 flights. And unlike billion-dollar space tourism ventures, which benefit a handful of billionaires, RFE/RL serves 47.4 million people every week.”
Muhammad Tahir, MSNBC
“In Iran, where VOA is officially banned as an ‘enemy broadcaster,’ the state-aligned news agency Tabnak celebrated: ‘Trump administration shuts down anti-Iranian media outlet Voice of America.’ VOA, with a newsroom of about 100 Farsi speakers, reached a combined social-media following of 9.5 million in Iran, thwarting the regime with 24/7 news delivered via satellite and VPNs…
“China is believed to be spending billions of dollars in Africa alone through its CGTN, Xinhua and China Daily propaganda outlets. Iran is reportedly spending hundreds of millions of dollars a year on its state propaganda. Russia, through propaganda outlets such as RT and Sputnik, does likewise… [VOA] costs taxpayers just $270 million a year, an exceptionally efficient way to promote freedom and American influence.”
Dana Milbank, Washington Post
“The White House news release announcing the defunding of VOA was a typical farrago of falsehoods… Among the supposed examples of VOA bias: ‘In March 2019, Voice of America ran a segment about transgender migrants seeking asylum in the United States.’ Note that this wasn’t a video advocating transgender rights; it was a news story whose accuracy isn’t disputed…
“Of course, with any large news organization, there are bound to be some legitimate quibbles about bias. The White House, for example, notes: ‘In July 2020, Voice of America faced criticism for ‘sharing a story and video appearing too favorable to presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden.’’ VOA did make a mistake by broadcasting on its Urdu-language network a campaign event at which Biden appealed for Muslim American support…
“But what the White House doesn’t note is what happened next. As Politico reported, ‘Top VOA officials, reviewing the material after red flags were raised about it externally, found it violated the network’s editorial policies and ordered it taken down.’ That’s an indication of how the [USAGM] tries to keep its output as factual as possible… If there are legitimate grounds for criticism of VOA’s coverage, then the obvious answer is to institute reforms, not to kill the entire organization.”
Max Boot, Washington Post
The right argues that Voice of America is biased, but hopes that it can be reformed.
The right argues that Voice of America is biased, but hopes that it can be reformed.
“A series of reorganizations during the ‘end of history’ euphoria in the 1990s detached the government information networks from their mission to support US national strategy and focused them on generic journalism with no clear objective. A complex system of oversight boards and a congressionally mandated firewall insulated the agencies from White House influence and oversight. The result was a steady slide into irrelevance…
“Now we have Persian-language broadcasts that promote the interests of the Iranian mullahs, partisan political messaging aimed at domestic US audiences and reporters who think that criticizing the president is their daily job… Most of the foreign populations it was designed to reach already have access to more and better news sources, including those from US adversaries who do not suffer from the same mission confusion…
“[They] need to refocus on penetrating closed societies… [and] should be staffed by patriots who believe in and support this mission, because many there currently do not. As well, facilities and reporting techniques should be upgraded using New Media approaches such as podcasts, social media distribution, and crowd-sourcing news from citizen journalists inside foreign countries using advanced technologies such as direct satellite links… Voice of America is a well-established brand that should not be discarded — but it needs top-to-bottom reform.”
James Robbins, New York Post
“Piecemeal reform of USAGM has been attempted for years. The fact of the matter is that it is functionally impossible to reform the organization as long as the old guard retains influence within the bureaucracy. It makes sense therefore to start fresh. The Trump administration should reconstitute specific offices and personnel who performed well from across U.S.-funded international media under the aegis of a new Voice of America. This would include the bulk of Radio Free Asia, whose journalists delivered scoops from Xinjiang, North Korea, and other dangerous places at great risk.”
The Editors, National Review
Some argue, “This article posted by the network, ‘What Is ‘White Privilege’ and Whom Does It Help?’ insinuates that the country is inherently racist against minorities, and the nation’s police officers regularly abuse and victimize them. It provided a history of the term ‘white privilege’ and presented it as if it were more than just agenda-driven, left-wing political postulation… [In 2023] VOA’s staff was ordered not to refer to Hamas as ‘terrorists,’ even though the U.S. government categorizes Hamas as a terrorist organization…
“Voice of America is no longer the beacon of liberty it once was. Instead, one could legitimately argue the network’s symbol for the last two decades could have been a sickle and hammer. VOA was no different than much of the country’s legacy media. The network regularly advanced the stories and narratives that aligned with its preferred agenda, political views, and ideological perspectives. Trump was right to eliminate it.”
Christopher Tremoglie, Washington Examiner
The Very Patient Invisible Man.
Moss & Fog
