The president has spoken out against the state-funded news agency Voice of America, which he has said promotes skewed information, and has now ordered its demolition.
For a long time, Voice of America has failed to reflect American values. A top White House source told AWN Digital that it has been pushing divisive misinformation for years and acts as the Voice for Radical America.
On Friday, Trump issued an executive order eliminating seven federal departments. One of those offices is the United States Agency for Global Media, which is the parent organization of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Voice of America (VOA).
“The non-statutory components and functions of the following governmental entities shall be eliminated to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law, and such entities shall reduce the performance of their statutory functions and associated personnel to the minimum presence and function required by law,” according to the EO.
In December, Trump nominated Kari Lake to lead the Voice of America (VOA). Lake is presently a senior advisor at the U.S. Agency for Global Media; she informed staff to “check your email” for further details regarding their job prospects.
“Continuing the Reduction of the Federal Bureaucracy” is the title of the President’s Executive Order. Both VOA and OCB, which are USAGM outlets, are impacted. In a post on X, the former news anchor and Republican candidate for office in Arizona, Lake, advised agency employees to “check your email immediately” for further details. Radio and TV Martí in Miami, Florida, which is operated by the Office of Cuba Broadcasting, is a Spanish-language, government-funded radio and TV station.
It is unknown how many employees were impacted, but the Wall Street Journal reported that on Saturday, employees got an email explaining their termination of employment.
Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, U.S. Agency for Global Media, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in the Smithsonian Institution, Institute of Museum and Library Services, U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, Community Development Financial Institutions Fund, and Minority Business Development Agency are the seven government agencies named in the seven-page executive order.
A January article that failed to mention that Gaza residents cheered the terrorist group when it brought out coffins holding the remains of Israeli hostages, including children, has brought Voice of America under fire for allegedly “sanitizing” Hamas and other biased content.
Here’s what we need to know: Hamas brought the remains of innocent Israelis, including two children, to jubilant crowds. At the time of VOA’s broadcast, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast, R-Fla., told National Review that American taxpayers should not be funding the wages of Hamas apologists who spread terrorist propaganda.
“Avoid calling Hamas and its members terrorists, except in quotes,” VOA instructed its staff just days after the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, according to National Review.
The publicly-funded news organization has faced criticism for a number of pieces over the years. One such story was published in 2020 and posed the question, “What Is ‘White Privilege’ and Whom Does It Help?” Publication of an article and accompanying video that was likened to a 2020 Biden campaign ad and subsequent downplaying of the Hunter Biden laptop scandal, which rocked the 2020 presidential campaign in its latter days, were further grounds for criticism.
A former employee of VOA argued in an op-ed last year that the agency had devolved into a “hubris-filled rogue operation” that often reflected a leftist bias and was aligned with partisan national media, urging for the dismantling of the outlet. “It has sought to avoid accountability for violations of journalistic standards and mismanagement.”