President Donald Trump’s administration has fired hundreds of Voice of America (VOA) (VOA) and effectively shut down U.S.-funded news media.
The Trump administration, which has long accused the VOA left-wing bias, said the layoffs were because the agency was “full of dysfunction, bias and waste.”
VOA’s chief state journalist Steve Herman said the media demolition, the export was established during World War II to fight back against Nazi propaganda, a “historic act of self-destruction.”
Among those who were laid off were popular fake Persian journalists, but were recalled to work last week after Israel attacked Iran.
according to Associated Press According to the news agency, Persian journalists left the office for a break on Friday and were not allowed to re-enter the building after the termination notice was issued.
“Today, we have taken decisive action to implement President Trump’s agenda to narrow down the federal bureaucracy over control,” Kari Lake, who was appointed as VOA to run for VOA, said in a statement Friday announcing the layoffs of 639 employees.
In total, more than 85% of the institution’s employees have been unemployed since March.
She noted that 50 employees will continue to be hired in VOA, the Cuban Broadcasting Office and VOA’s parent company, the United States Global Media Agency (USAGM).
“It articulates the death of independent journalism in 83 years, which has allowed us to uphold our ideals for democracy and freedom around the world,” said three VOA journalists in a statement that has been prosecuting the cessation of phase-out networks.
The move is expected to be the time since March when Trump ordered VOA as well as USAGM, which oversees VOA and funding channels such as radio Europe and free Asia, “to the maximum extent to which it is consistent with applicable laws.”
These institutions have received positive reviews and international recognition for their coverage of press freedom that is severely restricted or non-existent by China and Cambodia to Russia and North Korea.
But, former VOA news correspondent Dan Robinson wrote in a column last year that the media has become “a rogue action full of arrogance and often reflects leftist bias that aligns with partisan state media.”
Trump’s criticism of VOA is part of his widespread attack on the American media, and research shows that U.S. news consumers see it as highly polarized.
The president also urged his Republicans to cancel funds from federal Public Radio (NPR) and Public Broadcasting Services (PBS).
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