Voice of America, launched during World War II to counter the propaganda of Axis powers, has been reduced to a shell of its former self, with the Trump administration announcing that it was terminating more than 600 employees from the media outlet and other government-funded broadcasters.All told, 85% of the workforce has been eliminated since March, or 1,400 positions across the media outlets, according to an announcement from Kari Lake, the senior adviser tapped by Trump to make the cuts.Lake said that 250 employees will remain at the U.S. Agency for Global Media, the entity that oversees the broadcast outlets, as well as at Voice of America and the Office of Cuba Broadcasting.“The agency now operates near the statutory minimum; lean and focused,” Lake said.Trump signed an executive order in March to dismantle the U.S. Agency for Global Media to the minimum level required by statute. The president had long targeted Voice of America, and originally tapped Lake to lead it. But by law, VOA is to remain independent of political influence, out of fears that it otherwise would become a president’s propaganda arm.Instead, Trump and Lake have turned to paring down the media outlets, even though they have in the past enjoyed bipartisan support in Congress for providing U.S.-backed news and information to other countries. Lake announced in May that One America News Network, a Trump-supporting right wing news outlet, would be providing its news feed to VOA and other outlets.VOA’s fate has been up in the air since March, when most of its staff was placed on leave, freezing in time its website. Employees have challenged Trump’s actions in court.Among those who received reduction in force notices on Friday were three of the plaintiffs, including Patsy Widakuswara, Washington bureau choef of VOA News. Her notice, which she posted on X, was effective Sept. 1.Widakuswara said that those who received notices also included Persian journalists who were called back to work last week to cover Israel’s war with Iran.Widakuswara and two other plaintiffs, Jessica Jerreat and Kate Neeper, said in a statement, “This move follows USAGM’s firing of more than 500 contractors last month,” Widakuswara wrote. “It spells the death of 83 years of independent journalism that upholds U.S. ideals of democracy and freedom around the world. As our legal team continue to fight for our rights under the law, we call on Congress to continue its long tradition of bipartisan support for VOA. Moscow, Beijing, Tehran and extremist groups are flooding the global information space with anti-American propaganda. Do not cede this ground by silencing America’s voice.”
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