Nearly All Remaining Voice of America Employees Could Be Fired in Proposed Restructuring
The Trump administration notified Congress this week of a plan that would eliminate nearly all of the remaining employees at Voice of America, a federally funded news network that provides independent reporting to countries with limited press freedom.
The staff count at Voice of America would shrink from roughly 1,400 journalists and administrative staff to less than 20 as part of the proposed restructuring, according to a letter dated Tuesday and addressed to Senator Jim Risch, Republican of Idaho and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
About a third of those 1,400 workers have already been laid off, however, as the administration has moved rapidly to dismantle a media organization President Trump has attacked as 'the voice of radical America.'
The letter, reviewed by The New York Times, was signed by Kari Lake, a key ally of President Trump and a senior adviser for the U.S. Agency for Global Media, which oversees Voice of America.
The proposed reorganization is in line with Mr. Trump's orders to slash the size of the federal work force. But the president and his allies have also been harshly critical of the outlet's coverage. He accused the outlet, which delivers news in countries with authoritarian governments such as Russia, China and Iran, of spreading 'anti-American' and partisan 'propaganda.'
The letter states that the latest round of firings would lead to 'the deletion' of other news services provided by Voice of America, which broadcast in 49 languages to nearly 100 countries for more than 350 million listeners and readers until March.
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