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Time of India
23-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Voice of America mass layoffs as Kari Lake pushes Trump agenda
Journalists at Voice of America are watching their careers unravel as Kari Lake and the Trump administration sidestep court orders to dismantle the federally funded media outlet. Despite a legal mandate to restore operations, hundreds have been laid off again, leaving the future of American public diplomacy in peril Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads They showed up to do their jobs. They filed reports, edited broadcasts, and translated global headlines for millions. Now, Voice of America journalists are instead navigating mass layoffs, stalled paychecks, and a grim silence in their once-bustling is the scene inside the US-funded broadcaster that has become the latest target of the Trump administration's war on government-funded media. Despite a judge's order to reinstate operations and staff, Kari Lake , Trump's senior adviser and head of the US Agency for Global Media is pushing forward with deep cuts, citing the president's March executive order to dismantle 'wasteful' read: Hundreds of Voice of America contractors face mass job losses in Trump's latest crackdown With the Voice of America website inactive for over two months and hundreds of contractors laid off, some for the second time, journalists say they are fighting for more than their paychecks. They're fighting for the survival of independent public service broadcasting, as mandated by March 14 Trump executive order calls for the near-total dismantling of the US Agency for Global Media ( USAGM ) and its broadcasting arms, including Voice of America (VOA), Radio Free Asia, and Middle East Broadcasting Networks. It directs the agencies to reduce staffing and function 'to the minimum presence and function required by law.'That order gave Kari Lake sweeping control. In the weeks since, she has canceled contracts with international news services like AP and Reuters, gutted plans for a new VOA headquarters, and replaced content partnerships with programming from One America News, a far-right, pro-Trump Lake's own words, Voice of America has morphed from being 'a vital international media outlet' to 'anti-American propaganda' and 'unsalvageable.' The pivot marks a jarring shift in tone from her earlier statements in December, when she pledged to promote democracy and 'tell the American story accurately.'Also read: Is Vladimir Putin blackmailing Elon Musk over Ukraine? Ex-FBI agent alleges Russian plot to target world's richest man In a scathing decision, US District Court Senior Judge Royce C. Lamberth ruled last month that the administration's actions were 'arbitrary and capricious.' He ordered Lake and USAGM to immediately bring back workers and resume regular operations.'There is an absence of any analysis whatsoever,' Lamberth wrote, criticizing the lack of justification for shuttering operations. He also ordered the restoration of sister broadcasters, including Radio Free Asia and Middle East Broadcasting the administration has resisted. Earlier this month, a 2-to-1 ruling from an appeals court temporarily froze the district court's decision, allowing Lake to proceed with layoffs while the case plays past weekend, she did just that by cutting hundreds of contract employees again. The website remains dormant. And the rest of the VOA workforce? On indefinite White House bureau chief Patsy Widakuswara, the lead plaintiff in the case, warned that the appellate court's decision could embolden the administration.'We are devastated and concerned that this ruling might lead to further adverse reactions from the administration,' Widakuswara told NPR. 'But our day in court is not over yet, and we are committed to fighting until we can return to our congressionally mandated right to broadcast factual, balanced, and comprehensive news.'Also read: Trump admin begins mass layoffs at Voice of America VOA Director Michael Abramowitz echoed her concern in a letter to staff, writing that USAGM might soon move to 'make further reductions.' He assured employees that legal options are being the White House frames the decision as part of a broader effort to eliminate government 'frivolous expenditures,' many inside the agency see it as an ideological current USAGM employees, speaking anonymously due to fear of retaliation, say Lake's plan appears to involve scaling down operations to only a few language services, like Mandarin for China, Farsi for Iran, and Pashto and Dari for Congress having already allocated funds, critics say withholding the money is not only illegal but deeply damaging to national interests. The networks are more than news outlets; they are instruments of soft diplomacy designed to promote American values in regions where the free press is most networks under USAGM suffer, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty recently secured a temporary funding boost from the European Union. The US government still owes the network $75 million under existing read: Trump signs executive order directing federal funding cuts to PBS and NPR That funding gap has already forced furloughs and reduced programming. A federal court has ordered the government to pay, but the administration continues to delay disbursement of Lake has taken to social media to celebrate the appellate ruling, declaring a 'BIG WIN' and mocking the judge's earlier decision. 'Turns out the District Court judge will not be able to manage the agency,' she the uncertainty, a glimmer of legal resistance appeared this week. A federal judge struck down a Trump-backed effort to eliminate the US Institute for Peace through the administration's budget-cutting DOGE initiative. Though not directly related to VOA, the ruling may signal that courts are still willing to rein in executive overreach, just not now, Voice of America staff remain in limbo. The once-vibrant newsroom, a symbol of free press and democracy since World War II, echoes only with silence. Its future hangs in the balance, not just for the journalists left jobless, but for the millions worldwide who once relied on it for uncensored truth.
Time of India
16-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Hundreds of Voice of America contractors face mass job losses in Trump's latest crackdown
Hundreds of Voice of America (VOA) contractors are expected to lose their jobs in the coming days, campaigners said. The development comes two months after all full-time employees and contractors with the government-funded Voice of America, the nation's largest international broadcaster, were informed they have been placed on administrative leave. Firing of VOA contractors is the latest move by the Trump administration to dismantle the US government-backed news service's parent agency, reported news agency AFP. As many as around 1,300 staffers were placed on administrative leave and its broadcasts suspended after a March 14 executive order gutted the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM), which oversees US-funded international media. VOA contractors to lose their jobs In a social media post on Thursday, advocacy group Save VOA wrote that the Trump administration decided to terminate "hundreds of contractors over the following days. Some of the terminations affect J-1 visa holders who will have to leave the country within 30 days, it added in a statement. "Several of these journalists come from countries where they could be arrested or worse because of their reporting for VOA," Save VOA wrote, adding that it was working with lawyers to try and reinstate the contractors. ALSO READ: 'We're a car company, right?': Tesla's jibe as Elon Musk shares videos of Optmius robot dancing like humans Live Events Kari Lake, appointed by US President Donald Trump to lead the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM), told The Washington Post that 584 employees had been dismissed from the federal agency, with most of them coming from Voice of America (VOA). "In accordance with President Trump's executive order dated March 14, we are in the process of rightsizing the agency and reducing the federal bureaucracy to meet administration priorities," Lake told the Post. VOA director Michael Abramowitz said in a Facebook post that he was "heartbroken to learn about today's mass terminations of personal service contractors." "Some of VOA's most talented journalists have been [personal service contractors] — many of whom have escaped tyranny in their home countries to tell America's story of freedom and democracy," he wrote. ALSO READ: Justin Bieber breaks silence on if he was a Sean Diddy victim amid latter's bombshell sex trafficking trial VOA supervisory editor Fatima Tlis posted on social media on Thursday that her "entire team got terminated today, all of us granted political asylum by US administrations." "How does throwing on the streets the journalists you brought in on a promise of liberty and security help the American people?" she wrote. Nearly all the networks impacted by the March executive order — including Voice of America (VOA) — have filed lawsuits, accusing former President Trump of exceeding his executive authority. ALSO READ: Microsoft second round of layoffs: From AI director to coders, who have been hit the hardest? Check details Established during World War II as a tool of American soft power, the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) operates as an independent agency with a mission to promote democracy and counter foreign propaganda. Its outlets include VOA, Radio Free Europe, Radio Free Asia, and the Office of Cuba Broadcasting. Prior to halting its services, VOA, headquartered in Washington, broadcast in 49 languages and reached an estimated weekly audience of 354 million people. The White House has criticized VOA for what it claims is a left-leaning bias, referring to it in official documents as the 'Voice of Radical America.'
Straits Times
16-05-2025
- Business
- Straits Times
Trump administration fires hundreds of Voice of America employees
Voice of America, which was founded in 1942, halted operations on March 15. PHOTO: REUTERS WASHINGTON – The Trump administration on May 15 fired nearly 600 employees at Voice of America, a federally funded news network that provides independent reporting to countries with limited press freedoms. The layoffs targeted contractors, most of them journalists but also some administrative employees, and amounted to more than a third of Voice of America's staff. They signalled that the Trump administration planned to continue its efforts to dismantle the broadcaster despite a court ruling in April that ordered the federal government to maintain robust news programming at the network, which President Donald Trump has called 'the voice of radical America'. In another sign of the Trump administration's hostility toward the broadcaster, the federal building in Washington that houses the media organisation was put up for sale on May 15. Mr Michael Abramowitz, director of Voice of America, said in an e-mail to his staff that the firings were 'inexplicable'. 'I am heartbroken,' he said. Mr Abramowitz has sued to stop the Trump administration from closing the news organisation. Ms Kari Lake, a senior adviser at the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM), which oversees Voice of America, said the Trump administration acted within its legal authority. 'We are in the process of rightsizing the agency and reducing the federal bureaucracy to meet administration priorities,' Ms Lake, who is leading the efforts to ramp down the operations of Voice of America, said in a statement. 'We will continue to scale back the bloat at USAGM and make an archaic dinosaur into something worthy of being funded by hard-working Americans.' She added: 'Buckle up. There's more to come.' Some of the journalists who were terminated were from countries with repressive governments that persecute journalists for independent reporting, Mr Abramowitz said. Those journalists now have to leave the United States by the end of June, as their immigration status is tied to employment at the news organisation. In a letter sent on May 15 to employees who were fired, the Trump administration cited 'the government's convenience' as a reason for the terminations. The employees were under so-called personal services contracts, making them easier to let go than regular full-time employees with full civil service protections. Mr Trump has accused the outlet, which delivers news to countries with repressive regimes, including Russia, China and Iran, of spreading 'anti-American' and partisan 'propaganda'. Pro-Trump channel In March, Ms Lake, a Trump ally and unsuccessful candidate for governor and Senate in Arizona, declared her own workplace 'unsalvageable'. She has also claimed that the US Agency for Global Media and its newsrooms were rampant with 'waste, fraud and abuse', without providing evidence. Ms Lake said last week that Voice of America would incorporate content from One America News Network, a pro-Trump television channel that has endorsed falsehoods about the 2020 presidential election. Voice of America, which was founded in 1942, halted operations on March 15, a day after Mr Trump signed an executive order seeking to gut the US Agency for Global Media. Its news programming has been partly restored since the April court ruling that stopped the Trump administration from dismantling the agency and other newsrooms it oversees. The Trump administration has challenged the April ruling, claiming that the lower court went too far in halting other firings that took place in March. In early May, a federal appeals court paused parts of the April lower court order that required the Trump administration to rehire the employees. The Trump administration did not appeal parts of the April order that mandated the resumption of Voice of America's news programming. The lower court found that Congress required the executive branch to keep the network as 'a consistently reliable and authoritative source of news'. The Trump administration has since kept most of Voice of America's operations shuttered while restoring parts of its service. Its Mandarin and Persian services, for example, were restored. But the news organisation's English website has stopped updating since March 15. NYTIMES Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Yahoo
03-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
In setback for Trump, Voice of America employees get return-to-work messages
Less than two months ago, when the Trump administration turned off the Voice of America's networks and websites, Kari Lake, a fierce loyalist to President Donald Trump, said the agency is 'unsalvageable.' Now, Lake is working on salvaging it, and VOA is about to come back online. 'We look forward to working with you all,' Lake wrote in a Friday night memo to the staffers she sidelined back in March. Why the sudden change? A series of federal court rulings against the Trump administration's silencing of US-funded international broadcasters. About 1,400 VOA employees and contractors at VOA and its parent agency, the US Agency for Global Media, now have access to their email accounts and other systems again, according to a Friday memo from the Justice Department. Staffers will be allowed back to their offices beginning next week, and that's when VOA programming will resume, the memo stated. The US Agency for Global Media did not respond to CNN's request for comment. Voice of America is a government-funded entity that produces journalism and promotes democratic values outside the United States, countering foreign propaganda efforts by other countries. Getting back online will be no small task. 'Bringing VOA out of a deep coma will require substantial time and a Herculean effort of our nearly 50 language services to try to reach some of our pre-shutdown total audience of 340 million,' VOA chief national correspondent Steve Herman told CNN. Herman pointed out that VOA readers and listeners were never 'given an explanation of why we were silenced.' It happened abruptly on Saturday, March 15, after Trump — who had been critical of VOA for years — signed an executive order to drastically shrink the US Agency for Global Media and several other agencies. VOA staffers were told to stop working in the middle of their shifts. Web producers were told to stop posting stories. Some VOA radio stations started to play music in lieu of news. The VOA home page has been frozen in time ever since, with old stories from that day. Lake and her deputies also terminated the financial support for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia and other broadcasters that have historically relied on the government. Those broadcasters tried to stay on the air and online in limited fashion, but as funds have run out, they have resorted to layoffs and other cost-cutting maneuvers. At VOA, staffers have been stuck in a form of bureaucratic limbo. In April, some started to look for other work while others held out hope that the courts would intervene. And on April 22, that's what Judge Royce C. Lamberth did; he said the administration was 'likely in direct violation of numerous federal laws' and ordered the administration to bring VOA staffers back to work. It was just a preliminary injunction, though, and the administration immediately appealed, as it did when courts ruled in favor of Radio Free Asia and Radio Free Europe. On Thursday, an appeals court stayed, or paused, the rulings pertaining to those broadcasters, pending further review, but did not stay Lamberth's order about VOA. That's what apparently led to the return-to-work message on Friday night. Some VOA staffers told CNN they are viewing the situation with skepticism, given the Trump administration's open hostility toward the network. A Trumpian press release in March accused the US Agency for Global Media of 'massive national security violations,' 'obscene over-spending' and 'a product that often parrots the talking-points of America's adversaries.' Lake, who was chosen by Trump to overhaul the operation, said she was happy to 'DOGE' herself 'out of a job.' But Trump's original executive order referred to shrinking the agency down to what is 'statutorily required by law.' And now that the courts have reaffirmed that Congress created and funded the international broadcasters, Lake has changed her tone. 'In the coming days you will be receiving guidance from management on next steps forward in modernizing the agency and meeting the mission,' Lake wrote Friday night.
CNN
03-05-2025
- Politics
- CNN
In setback for Trump, Voice of America employees get return-to-work messages
Less than two months ago, when the Trump administration turned off the Voice of America's networks and websites, Kari Lake, a fierce loyalist to President Donald Trump, said the agency is 'unsalvageable.' Now, Lake is working on salvaging it, and VOA is about to come back online. 'We look forward to working with you all,' Lake wrote in a Friday night memo to the staffers she sidelined back in March. Why the sudden change? A series of federal court rulings against the Trump administration's silencing of US-funded international broadcasters. About 1,400 VOA employees and contractors at VOA and its parent agency, the US Agency for Global Media, now have access to their email accounts and other systems again, according to a Friday memo from the Justice Department. Staffers will be allowed back to their offices beginning next week, and that's when VOA programming will resume, the memo stated. The US Agency for Global Media did not respond to CNN's request for comment. Voice of America is a government-funded entity that produces journalism and promotes democratic values outside the United States, countering foreign propaganda efforts by other countries. Getting back online will be no small task. 'Bringing VOA out of a deep coma will require substantial time and a Herculean effort of our nearly 50 language services to try to reach some of our pre-shutdown total audience of 340 million,' VOA chief national correspondent Steve Herman told CNN. Herman pointed out that VOA readers and listeners were never 'given an explanation of why we were silenced.' It happened abruptly on Saturday, March 15, after Trump — who had been critical of VOA for years — signed an executive order to drastically shrink the US Agency for Global Media and several other agencies. VOA staffers were told to stop working in the middle of their shifts. Web producers were told to stop posting stories. Some VOA radio stations started to play music in lieu of news. The VOA home page has been frozen in time ever since, with old stories from that day. Lake and her deputies also terminated the financial support for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia and other broadcasters that have historically relied on the government. Those broadcasters tried to stay on the air and online in limited fashion, but as funds have run out, they have resorted to layoffs and other cost-cutting maneuvers. At VOA, staffers have been stuck in a form of bureaucratic limbo. In April, some started to look for other work while others held out hope that the courts would intervene. And on April 22, that's what Judge Royce C. Lamberth did; he said the administration was 'likely in direct violation of numerous federal laws' and ordered the administration to bring VOA staffers back to work. It was just a preliminary injunction, though, and the administration immediately appealed, as it did when courts ruled in favor of Radio Free Asia and Radio Free Europe. On Thursday, an appeals court stayed, or paused, the rulings pertaining to those broadcasters, pending further review, but did not stay Lamberth's order about VOA. That's what apparently led to the return-to-work message on Friday night. Some VOA staffers told CNN they are viewing the situation with skepticism, given the Trump administration's open hostility toward the network. A Trumpian press release in March accused the US Agency for Global Media of 'massive national security violations,' 'obscene over-spending' and 'a product that often parrots the talking-points of America's adversaries.' Lake, who was chosen by Trump to overhaul the operation, said she was happy to 'DOGE' herself 'out of a job.' But Trump's original executive order referred to shrinking the agency down to what is 'statutorily required by law.' And now that the courts have reaffirmed that Congress created and funded the international broadcasters, Lake has changed her tone. 'In the coming days you will be receiving guidance from management on next steps forward in modernizing the agency and meeting the mission,' Lake wrote Friday night.
