Kari Lake says USAGM has brokered a content deal with OAN
Why it matters: USAGM can't dictate what its outlets like Voice of America choose to cover by law, but Lake said the deal was brokered to "ensure our outlets have reliable and credible options as they work to craft their reporting and news programs."
Zoom in: In a statement posted to X, Lake said the deal grants USAGM broadcasters access to an OAN newsfeed and video service free-of-charge.
"This is an enormous benefit to the American taxpayer, who is the sole-source of funding for USAGM's news outlets, which broadcast only to international audiences," Lake said, noting the deal helps American taxpayers save money.
Between the lines: The deal is structured as a memorandum of understanding between USAGM and OAN parent company Herring Networks, according to a source familiar with the terms.
It essentially makes OAN's English language news content available to USAGM networks for potential dissemination across their properties via a non-exclusive, royalty-free broadcast license.
State of play: The news is being met with skepticism from VOA leaders and press freedom advocates.
"Congress mandated VOA to report reliable and authoritative news, not to outsource its journalism to outlets aligned with the president's agenda," said VOA's White House bureau chief Patsy Widakuswara and its press freedom editor Jessica Jerreat, who have launched their own lawsuit against the Trump administration alongside several VOA staffers.
"VOA already has talented and professional journalists ready to tell America's story in line with the VOA Charter, but we are blocked from our own newsroom. That is why we will continue fighting for our rights in court."
OAN is a conservative broadcaster that settled a defamation case last year over allegations of circulating disinformation on voting machines in the 2020 presidential election.
Zoom out: Widakuswara and Jerreat's lawsuit is one of several being waged against the administration for trying to gut USAGM broadcasters.
A district judge last month ruled in favor of Voice of America in one lawsuit, saying the administration could not unilaterally dismantle the broadcaster by systematically firing its staff.
But just as VOA workers were preparing to go back to work, an appeals court said this weekend that the district judge didn't have the authority to block provisions of Trump's executive order to dismantle the agency.
Amid the legal chaos, VOA and other government-funded broadcasters have struggled to survive. Radio Free Asia last week said it would lay off most of its staff amid a funding fight with the administration.
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