Latest news with #USAGM-funded
Yahoo
06-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Foreign journalists at US-backed media fear being sent to repressive homelands after Trump's cuts
WASHINGTON (AP) — After hiding in Thailand for seven years, two Cambodian journalists arrived in the United States last year on work visas, aiming to keep providing people in their Southeast Asian homeland with objective, factual news through Radio Free Asia. But Vuthy Tha and Hour Hum now say their jobs and legal status in the U.S. are at risk after President Donald Trump recently signed an executive order gutting the government-run U.S. Agency for Global Media. The agency funds Radio Free Asia and other outlets tasked with delivering uncensored information to parts of the world under authoritarian rule and often without a free press of their own. 'It fell out of sky,' Vuthy, a single father of two small children, said through a translator about the Trump administration's decision, which he says threatens to upend his life. 'I am very regretful that our listeners cannot receive the accurate news,' Hour said, also through a translator. Both men said they're worried about providing for their families and being allowed to stay in the U.S. They say it's impossible to return to Cambodia, a single-party state hostile to independent media where they fear being persecuted for their journalistic work. The administration has been dismantling or slashing the size of federal agencies, leading tens of thousands of government workers and contractors to be fired or put on leave. But the targeting of the U.S. Agency for Global Media, whose decades-old networks aim to extend American influence abroad, means journalists who have defied authoritarian regimes to help fulfill a U.S. mission of delivering pro-democracy programming could be deported and face harassment and persecution in their homelands. Eleven journalists associated with the U.S.-funded media outlets are behind bars overseas, including RFA's Shin Daewe, who is serving 15 years in Myanmar on a charge of supporting terrorism. At least 84 U.S. Agency for Global Media, or USAGM, journalists in the United States on work visas could face deportation, including at least 23 'at serious risk of being immediately arrested upon arrival and potentially imprisoned," according to the advocacy group Reporters Without Borders and a coalition of 36 human rights organizations. 'It is outrageous that these journalists, who risk their lives to expose the extent of repression in their home countries, might be completely abandoned," said Thibaut Bruttin, director general of Reporters Without Borders. 'The U.S. Congress must take responsibility for protecting these reporters and all USAGM-funded outlets, funded by Congress itself,' Bruttin said. 'This responsibility is not just moral — it stems from the United States' commitment to defending the principles of democracy and press freedom.' The Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee did not respond to requests for comment. The White House did not comment. The State Department said it is coordinating with USAGM on imprisoned journalists and that it condemns unjust detentions of journalists for exercising their freedom of expression. Journalists sue over Trump's order A number of journalists for Voice of America, a news service also overseen by USAGM, have sued in a federal court. That includes two unnamed foreign journalists on temporary visas. If deported, one could risk imprisonment for 10 years for his work for VOA, and the other, a member of a persecuted minority in his home country, could be in 'physical danger," the lawsuit said. The court has temporarily halted contract terminations, preventing the visa holders from being forced to leave for now. Both RFA and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, another USAGM-funded media outlet, also have sued seeking restoration of funding. Trump's cuts come after the U.S. last year helped free Alsu Kurmasheva — a dual U.S.-Russian citizen and journalist with RFE/RL — in a high-profile prisoner swap that included Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich. In February, the Trump administration announced the release of Andrey Kuznechyk, a Belarusian journalist with RFE/RL's Belarus service. The network still has four journalists jailed — one each in Azerbaijan, Belarus, Russia and Russia-occupied Crimea. Voice of America has a contributor jailed in Myanmar and another in Vietnam, said Jessica Jerreat, VOA's press freedom editor. In Vietnam, four RFA reporters are in jail and another is under house arrest, according to Tamara Bralo, the outlet's head of journalist security. She said she's concerned that American support in seeking their release could diminish if RFA folds. Vietnam consistently ranks near the bottom in the Press Freedom Index by Reporters Without Borders, which says about 40 journalists are held in Vietnam's prisons where mistreatment is widespread. Reporters fear being sent back Khoa Lai, a Vietnamese journalist who joined RFA in Washington on a work visa only days before Trump took office, said returning to Vietnam is risky for him. 'I could face prosecution or be in prison,' said Lai, who produces video stories on freedom of speech, freedom of religion and political corruption for RFA's Vietnamese service. 'I don't know for sure, but it won't be good." Both Vuthy and Hour began working for RFA in Cambodia but had to leave in 2017 when Cambodia's top court dissolved the main opposition CNRP party, authorities arrested their colleagues and RFA closed its office. In neighboring Thailand as refugees, both continued to report for RFA, but with their identities hidden. They still risked getting sent back to Cambodia until RFA brought them to the U.S. on work visas last year. They have reported on issues ranging from politics, corruption and human rights to climate change and environment. Cambodia's autocratic former Prime Minister Hun Sen, who ruled his country for nearly four decades and passed power to his son Hun Manet, praised Trump in a Facebook post for 'having the courage to lead the world to combat fake news' by cutting funding to USAGM. Vuthy says he's still hopeful that RFA might survive, adding that it 'is fighting for its existence." ___ Associated Press writers Kanis Leung in Hong Kong, Sopheng Cheang in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and Elsie Chen in Washington contributed to this report.
Associated Press
06-04-2025
- Politics
- Associated Press
Foreign journalists at US-backed media fear being sent to repressive homelands after Trump's cuts
WASHINGTON (AP) — After hiding in Thailand for seven years, two Cambodian journalists arrived in the United States last year on work visas, aiming to keep providing people in their Southeast Asian homeland with objective, factual news through Radio Free Asia. But Vuthy Tha and Hour Hum now say their jobs and legal status in the U.S. are at risk after President Donald Trump recently signed an executive order gutting the government-run U.S. Agency for Global Media. The agency funds Radio Free Asia and other outlets tasked with delivering uncensored information to parts of the world under authoritarian rule and often without a free press of their own. 'It fell out of sky,' Vuthy, a single father of two small children, said through a translator about the Trump administration's decision, which he says threatens to upend his life. 'I am very regretful that our listeners cannot receive the accurate news,' Hour said, also through a translator. Both men said they're worried about providing for their families and being allowed to stay in the U.S. They say it's impossible to return to Cambodia, a single-party state hostile to independent media where they fear being persecuted for their journalistic work. The administration has been dismantling or slashing the size of federal agencies, leading tens of thousands of government workers and contractors to be fired or put on leave. But the targeting of the U.S. Agency for Global Media, whose decades-old networks aim to extend American influence abroad, means journalists who have defied authoritarian regimes to help fulfill a U.S. mission of delivering pro-democracy programming could be deported and face harassment and persecution in their homelands. Eleven journalists associated with the U.S.-funded media outlets are behind bars overseas, including RFA's Shin Daewe, who is serving 15 years in Myanmar on a charge of supporting terrorism. At least 84 U.S. Agency for Global Media, or USAGM, journalists in the United States on work visas could face deportation, including at least 23 'at serious risk of being immediately arrested upon arrival and potentially imprisoned,' according to the advocacy group Reporters Without Borders and a coalition of 36 human rights organizations. 'It is outrageous that these journalists, who risk their lives to expose the extent of repression in their home countries, might be completely abandoned,' said Thibaut Bruttin, director general of Reporters Without Borders. 'The U.S. Congress must take responsibility for protecting these reporters and all USAGM-funded outlets, funded by Congress itself,' Bruttin said. 'This responsibility is not just moral — it stems from the United States' commitment to defending the principles of democracy and press freedom.' The Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee did not respond to requests for comment. The White House did not comment. The State Department said it is coordinating with USAGM on imprisoned journalists and that it condemns unjust detentions of journalists for exercising their freedom of expression. Journalists sue over Trump's order A number of journalists for Voice of America, a news service also overseen by USAGM, have sued in a federal court. That includes two unnamed foreign journalists on temporary visas. If deported, one could risk imprisonment for 10 years for his work for VOA, and the other, a member of a persecuted minority in his home country, could be in 'physical danger,' the lawsuit said. The court has temporarily halted contract terminations, preventing the visa holders from being forced to leave for now. Both RFA and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, another USAGM-funded media outlet, also have sued seeking restoration of funding. Trump's cuts come after the U.S. last year helped free Alsu Kurmasheva — a dual U.S.-Russian citizen and journalist with RFE/RL — in a high-profile prisoner swap that included Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich. In February, the Trump administration announced the release of Andrey Kuznechyk, a Belarusian journalist with RFE/RL's Belarus service. The network still has four journalists jailed — one each in Azerbaijan, Belarus, Russia and Russia-occupied Crimea. Voice of America has a contributor jailed in Myanmar and another in Vietnam, said Jessica Jerreat, VOA's press freedom editor. In Vietnam, four RFA reporters are in jail and another is under house arrest, according to Tamara Bralo, the outlet's head of journalist security. She said she's concerned that American support in seeking their release could diminish if RFA folds. Vietnam consistently ranks near the bottom in the Press Freedom Index by Reporters Without Borders, which says about 40 journalists are held in Vietnam's prisons where mistreatment is widespread. Reporters fear being sent back Khoa Lai, a Vietnamese journalist who joined RFA in Washington on a work visa only days before Trump took office, said returning to Vietnam is risky for him. 'I could face prosecution or be in prison,' said Lai, who produces video stories on freedom of speech, freedom of religion and political corruption for RFA's Vietnamese service. 'I don't know for sure, but it won't be good.' Both Vuthy and Hour began working for RFA in Cambodia but had to leave in 2017 when Cambodia's top court dissolved the main opposition CNRP party, authorities arrested their colleagues and RFA closed its office. In neighboring Thailand as refugees, both continued to report for RFA, but with their identities hidden. They still risked getting sent back to Cambodia until RFA brought them to the U.S. on work visas last year. They have reported on issues ranging from politics, corruption and human rights to climate change and environment. Cambodia's autocratic former Prime Minister Hun Sen, who ruled his country for nearly four decades and passed power to his son Hun Manet, praised Trump in a Facebook post for 'having the courage to lead the world to combat fake news' by cutting funding to USAGM. Vuthy says he's still hopeful that RFA might survive, adding that it 'is fighting for its existence.'
Axios
01-04-2025
- Business
- Axios
Trump administration efforts to gut government-funded media face pushback in court
Efforts by the Trump administration to gut Congressionally approved funds for agencies overseen by the U.S. Agency for Global Media are facing early legal setbacks, as judges side with agencies and employees in their lawsuits against the government. Why it matters: The rulings present challenges for the Trump administration as it seeks to make broader government cuts as part of its effort to reduce spending through the Department of Government Efficiency. The rulings so far suggest judges will step in if it thinks the Trump administration is overstepping its authority in cutting programs mandated by Congress. State of play: A federal judge last week sided with Voice of America journalists in their lawsuit against the Trump administration filed last month. Employees sued USAGM officials for effectively dismantling the five broadcast agencies it supports. The lawsuit was filed to seek relief from efforts to shutter VOA and its sister networks. On Friday, a District Court judge issued a temporary restraining order against USAGM to prevent it from further efforts to shutter VOA. In his ruling, the judge said the executive branch was overstepping its bounds by trying to shutter an agency whose budget was already Congressionally mandated. Zoom in: The decision came shortly after USAGM special adviser Kari Lake withdrew an order to terminate the 2025 funding grant for VOA's sister broadcaster Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. RFE/RL last month sued USAGM, as well as Lake and acting USAGM CEO Victor Morales, for efforts to terminate its Congressionally approved dollars. Just ahead of a hearing about part of the lawsuit last week, USAGM notified the court that it would take immediate steps to disburse Congressionally approved funds to RFE/RL for the month of March. By the numbers: USAGM's 2025 budget, which was approved by Congress last year, totaled $950 million to fund five international broadcasters and other nonprofits. Below is breakdown of how that money was approved for distribution across the main USAGM subsidiaries. What to watch: Other USAGM-funded broadcasters and groups are also taking legal action to stop the gutting of their operations.
Axios
28-03-2025
- Business
- Axios
USAGM withdraws termination of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty grant
In a stunning reversal, U.S. Agency for Global Media special adviser Kari Lake on Wednesday evening withdrew an order to terminate the 2025 funding grant for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, one of the five broadcast agencies that sits under USAGM. Why it matters: It's an important victory for RFE/RL, which would have otherwise been forced to shutter without its funding. What they're saying:"This is an encouraging sign that RFE/RL's operations will be able to continue, as Congress intended," RFE/RL president and CEO Stephen Capus said Thursday. "We await official confirmation from USAGM that grant funding will promptly resume based on the intention expressed in last night's letter." "We are eager to speak directly with USAGM leadership about the extraordinary and cost-effective work that RFE/RL performs for the American people." Catch up quick: RFE/RL was informed March 15 that USAGM had terminated the broadcaster's federal grant agreement. The move came as part of a directive issued by the White House to reduce statutory functions of "unnecessary governmental entities to what is required by law." The grants for its sister broadcasters, like Radio Free Asia and Middle East Broadcasting were also terminated. RFE/RL announced shortly after that it was suing USAGM, as well as Lake and acting USAGM CEO Victor Morales for efforts to terminate its Congressionally approved dollars. On Monday, a U.S. District Court hearing took place to evaluate whether to grant an emergency request by RFE/RL to receive its $7.5 million in funds appropriated for March. Just before the hearing, USAGM notified the court that it would take immediate steps to disburse the money. By the numbers: Congress has appropriated $153 million to fund RFE/RL for the fiscal year. In winning its lawsuit, RFE/RL ensures that the remaining $77 million of its funds keep the broadcaster operational through September. The big picture: Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty were originally created as separate entities to combat Communist propaganda. The two outlets, created in 1949 and 1951, respectively, were consolidated in the 1970's. Like other USAGM-funded broadcasters, its mission is to broadcast truthful, accurate news reports to places that may not have access to high-quality information, for the purpose of promoting democracy abroad. What to watch: Other USAGM funded broadcasters and groups are also taking legal action to stop the gutting of their operations.
Axios
16-03-2025
- Politics
- Axios
Trump guts government-funded media outlets
The Trump Administration on Saturday ordered nearly all 1,300 employees of Voice of America (VOA) to be placed on leave. It also terminated funding for its sister broadcasters such as Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), Radio Free Asia (RFA) and Middle East Broadcasting Networks. Why it matters: The decision sparked outrage from press freedom groups who say gutting those programs represents the latest effort by the Trump Administration to abandon the historic role the U.S. has played in championing democracy and press freedom abroad. Catch up quick: VOA is the largest of five international broadcasters represented by U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), formerly the Broadcasting Board of Governors. Those broadcasters operate on Congressionally-approved funding. VOA was created more than 80 years ago to combat Nazi propaganda during WWII. It's mission is to promote democracy and American interests abroad through fact-driven journalism. A legal firewall is supposed to protect it from any government interference. Those boundaries were tested during the first Trump Administration. Zoom in: On Saturday, employees at VOA were informed by USAGM's director of human resources that they were placed on leave, barring them from entering VOA's headquarters and using USAGM-provided equipment. The move came as part of a directive issued late Friday by The White House to reduce statutory functions of "unnecessary governmental entities to what is required by law." USAGM special advisor Kari Lake cancelled USAGM's 15-year lease, with a notice calling it "obscenely expensive." Other USAGM-funded broadcasters were told their funding would be terminated. What they're saying: "Attempts to defund @RFERL would be a massive gift to America's enemies, many of whom are already celebrating," Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty president and CEO Steve Capus said in a statement. "VOA needs thoughtful reform, and we have made progress in that regard. But today's action will leave Voice of America unable to carry out its vital mission. That mission is especially critical today, when America's adversaries, like Iran, China, and Russia, are sinking billions of dollars into creating false narratives to discredit the United States," Voice of America director Michael Abramowitz wrote on LinkedIn. Zoom out: Trump allies have long criticized the VOA and USAGM press agencies as propagandists. Elon Musk has called for VOA to be shut down. Saturday's actions were foreshadowed two weeks ago, when Gavin Kliger, a former Twitter software engineer who is now part of Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) team, was spotted inside VOA headquarters, sources told Axios. The week prior, USAGM placed one of the VOA's most visible journalists, chief national correspondent Steven Herman, on "excused absence" pending an HR investigation, and reassigned the broadcaster's longtime White House bureau chief Patsy Widakuswara to another beat. Yes, but: Attempts to defund USAGM-funded entities were halted by courts during the first Administration, and could come up against legal pressure again this time around. Michael Pack, the conservative filmmaker who was nominated by President Trump to lead USAGM during his first term, was accused of fraud, as well as misuse of office, during his short tenure from 2020 to 2021. What to watch: The gutting of USAGM's broadcast agencies would leave an information vacuum in parts of the world where fact-based journalism is difficult to access, advocated have argued. "The termination of RFA's grant is a reward to dictators and despots, including the Chinese Communist Party, who would like nothing better than to have their influence go unchecked in the information space," RFA president and CEO Bay Fang said in a statement.
