Latest news with #mediaBias
Washington Post
6 days ago
- Politics
- Washington Post
Congressional letter obtained by AP outlines drastic job cuts expected at Voice of America
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration appointee overseeing the Voice of America has outlined job cuts that would reduce employment at the state-run news organization from over 1,000 people to 81. The Voice of America, which has delivered news to countries all over the world for the better part of a century, has been largely silent for two months following an executive order by President Donald Trump. He believes Voice of America, and similar organizations like Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, have reported with a liberal bias.
The Independent
6 days ago
- Politics
- The Independent
Congressional letter obtained by AP outlines drastic job cuts expected at Voice of America
The Trump administration appointee overseeing the Voice of America has outlined job cuts that would reduce employment at the state-run news organization from over 1,000 people to 81. The Voice of America, which has delivered news to countries all over the world for the better part of a century, has been largely silent for two months following an executive order by President Donald Trump. He believes Voice of America, and similar organizations like Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, have reported with a liberal bias. Most of VOA's employees have been on administrative leave since mid-March amid reports that layoff notices were forthcoming. Kari Lake, who has been overseeing the U.S. Agency for Global Media for Trump, outlined planned employment changes in a letter Tuesday to U.S. Sen. James Risch that was obtained by The Associated Press. Lake said Trump had directed the agency 'to reduce the performance of its statutory functions and associated personnel to the minimum presence and function required by law.' Some VOA employees are fighting for the organization's survival in court, and one of them — White House bureau chief Patsy Widakuswara — said Wednesday that it was absurd to think the staff could be cut to the levels Lake is suggesting. 'You can't make staff this size produce content for a global audience of 360 million weekly,' Widakuswara said. 'It's comical if it weren't so tragic. We're not just losing our jobs and journalism, we are abdicating our voice and influence in the world.' In April, a federal judge ruled that the administration illegally shut down VOA. But an appellate panel later said that a lower court did not have the authority to order that employees be brought back to work, keeping the agency in limbo. In court papers filed last week, lawyers for Widakuswara and fellow plaintiffs said the administration made a cursory attempt to indicate that VOA was operational by broadcasting five minutes of content to three provinces in Afghanistan on May 27. The Washington-area building where Voice of America has been operating has been put up for sale, while a lease has been canceled for a new building that the news operation was to move into, the court papers said. Lake's letter says the administration wants to keep 33 jobs overseen by her agency that broadcasts news to Cuba, along with two positions each to provide services to China and Afghanistan and in Farsi, the official language of Iran. ___ Bauder reported from New York.
Associated Press
6 days ago
- Politics
- Associated Press
Congressional letter obtained by AP outlines drastic job cuts expected at Voice of America
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration appointee overseeing the Voice of America has outlined job cuts that would reduce employment at the state-run news organization from over 1,000 people to 81. The Voice of America, which has delivered news to countries all over the world for the better part of a century, has been largely silent for two months following an executive order by President Donald Trump. He believes Voice of America, and similar organizations like Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, have reported with a liberal bias. Most of VOA's employees have been on administrative leave since mid-March amid reports that layoff notices were forthcoming. Kari Lake, who has been overseeing the U.S. Agency for Global Media for Trump, outlined planned employment changes in a letter Tuesday to U.S. Sen. James Risch that was obtained by The Associated Press. Lake said Trump had directed the agency 'to reduce the performance of its statutory functions and associated personnel to the minimum presence and function required by law.' Some VOA employees are fighting for the organization's survival in court, and one of them — White House bureau chief Patsy Widakuswara — said Wednesday that it was absurd to think the staff could be cut to the levels Lake is suggesting. 'You can't make staff this size produce content for a global audience of 360 million weekly,' Widakuswara said. 'It's comical if it weren't so tragic. We're not just losing our jobs and journalism, we are abdicating our voice and influence in the world.' In April, a federal judge ruled that the administration illegally shut down VOA. But an appellate panel later said that a lower court did not have the authority to order that employees be brought back to work, keeping the agency in limbo. In court papers filed last week, lawyers for Widakuswara and fellow plaintiffs said the administration made a cursory attempt to indicate that VOA was operational by broadcasting five minutes of content to three provinces in Afghanistan on May 27. The Washington-area building where Voice of America has been operating has been put up for sale, while a lease has been canceled for a new building that the news operation was to move into, the court papers said. Lake's letter says the administration wants to keep 33 jobs overseen by her agency that broadcasts news to Cuba, along with two positions each to provide services to China and Afghanistan and in Farsi, the official language of Iran. Lake announced last month that the pro-Trump news outlet One America News Network had agreed to provide a feed of its newscasts to VOA and other state-run services that broadcast in other countries. It's not clear whether any OAN feeds have been used yet. ___ Bauder reported from New York.
Fox News
27-05-2025
- Business
- Fox News
PBS disputes Trump's claims of ‘bias' following his executive order targeting the network
The head of PBS is disputing President Donald Trump's claims that the outlet is biased after the president issued an executive order saying that PBS and NPR would no longer receive federal funding. During a conversation with Katie Couric, Paula Kerger, the CEO and president of PBS, was asked about Trump's opposition to her outlet and the executive order ending federal funding for the outlets. "The White House released a document accompanying the executive order criticizing PBS and NPR's coverage of the pandemic and Hunter Biden, among other things," Couric said. "To say that this, you know, that the information that you all are disseminating on PBS and NPR is basically biased. And I'm curious to hear your response to that." Kerger responded saying that she doesn't "understand" the accusations of bias. "In terms of the you know, the COVID origins, we actually did fairly extensive coverage of, you know, the various theories, including the Wuhan lab theory," Kerger said. "So that I don't understand the criticism and always when people say we see bias in your programs and by the way we get that on both sides. You know, I get as many calls from people on the more progressive side as on the conservative side that have issues every night with every night's broadcast. You know, I see this or I see that." She also insisted that confirmation bias is to blame in the current media cycle. "We're in a difficult time right now in our country around news coverage where people forget that news is news and it is not about hearing information that is reaffirming what you think you know," Kerger said. Trump's executive order, entitled "Ending Taxpayer Subsidization Of Biased Media," criticized the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which funnels taxpayer money to PBS and NPR. "Unlike in 1967, when the CPB was established, today the media landscape is filled with abundant, diverse, and innovative news options," the executive order reads. "Government funding of news media in this environment is not only outdated and unnecessary but corrosive to the appearance of journalistic independence." On Tuesday, NPR and three Colorado public radio stations sued the Trump administration over the executive order defunding PBS and NPR. "It is not always obvious when the government has acted with a retaliatory purpose in violation of the First Amendment. 'But this wolf comes as a wolf,'" the legal brief for the public broadcasters reads. "The Order targets NPR and PBS expressly because, in the President's view, their news and other content is not 'fair, accurate, or unbiased'." PBS is reportedly not part of the lawsuit, but in a statement Tuesday said that the "President's blatantly unlawful Executive Order, issued in the middle of the night, threatens our ability to serve the American public with educational programming, as we have for the past 50-plus years. We are currently exploring all options to allow PBS to continue to serve our member stations and all Americans." Fox News Digital reached out to PBS for comment, but did not immediately receive a response.
Fox News
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
MSNBC mocked by Washington Post writer for lack of debate on left-wing network
The Washington Post's media critic Erik Wemple mocked MSNBC on Tuesday for its "bias toward consensus" in President Donald Trump's second term, joking that its unofficial motto should be, "I could not agree more." In a new column published Tuesday, Wemple revealed he spent 18 hours watching MSNBC in order to discover if the liberal network ever had dissenting voices on to debate the issues, as other cable news networks have done since Trump returned to the White House. "To get closer to an answer, I decided to gulp roughly 18 hours of MSNBC programming, starting with 'Morning Joe' at 6 a.m. and continuing through daytime and prime time. That way, perhaps, I could gather some insights on the network's strategy and view all those fierce debates that I'd missed with my on-again, off-again viewing habits. As it turned out, there was … one," Wemple wrote. That one debate came during MSNBC's new evening program, "The Weeknight," where co-hosts Symone Sanders Townsend, Michael Steele and Alicia Menendez sparred with guest, Republican Rep. Victoria Spartz of Indiana, in "an intense exchange of views that qualifies as a debate," Wemple wrote. However, that was a stand-alone in the day's lineup, Wemple said, from a network that seems to have sidelined pro-Trump voices. He quoted Aidan McLaughlin, editor-in-chief of Mediaite, who said MSNBC opts for anti-Trump Republicans to appear on the network to "give it the patina of balance," even if those voices don't represent the 77 million voters who elected the president "in the slightest." "The result is a programming model in which hosts and guests compete against one another to fashion the sharpest denunciations of the Trump regime," Wemple wrote. The downside of this approach is "vast expanses of predictable programming in which people passionately agree with one another," he added. Wemple noted that there are some programs on the network that deserve recognition for sometimes breaking from this model. He acknowledged that host Ari Melber has dissenting voices on his program at times, and referenced "Morning Joe" co-hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski welcoming Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on their show Monday. The media critic argued that MSNBC's model would have been considered "outright journalistic fraud" before Trump took office, but isn't anymore. He claimed CNN's approach, of having Trump-supporting guests on the network for "loud chaotic" arguments, isn't much better, but "at least CNN viewers get to hear the pro-Trump arguments in all their fact-deprived glory." "No matter how it's produced, television is a medium ill-equipped to cover Trump. My advice? Read newspapers," he concluded. When asked by Wemple to respond to his criticism that the network is biased, a spokesperson for MSNBC offered up a list of commentators and hosts with backgrounds in Republican politics, such as Michael Steele, Tim Miller and Susan Del Percio, who are reliably anti-Trump voices on the liberal network. MSNBC declined to provide comment to Fox News Digital. The scathing column comes on the heels of former White House press secretary-turned-MSNBC host Jen Psaki's new primetime program bombing on its second day, shedding 53% of its viewers in its key demographic from the day before.
