Washington, D.C. – The Trump administration has initiated widespread layoffs at Voice of America (VOA) and other U.S.-funded media organizations, signaling a significant reduction in outlets historically considered key to U.S. influence abroad.
On Sunday, contractual employees received an email notifying them of their termination, effective at the end of March. The email, confirmed by several employees to Agence France-Presse (AFP), directed them to “cease all work immediately and [they] are not permitted to access any agency buildings or systems.”
The layoffs predominantly affect contractors, who form a substantial portion of VOA’s workforce, particularly in its non-English language services. Many of these workers are not U.S. citizens, raising concerns that they could lose their legal status and visas once their employment ends.
Full-time VOA employees, who have greater legal protections, were not immediately terminated but were placed on administrative leave and instructed not to work.
VOA, established during World War II, broadcasts in 49 languages with the mission of reaching audiences in countries with limited media freedom. However, the sweeping job cuts have disrupted operations, forcing some VOA services to resort to playing music in place of regular programming.
The move follows an executive order signed Friday by former President Donald Trump targeting VOA’s parent agency, the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM). The agency had 3,384 employees during the 2023 fiscal year and had requested $950 million in funding for the current fiscal year.
The budget reductions have also impacted other U.S.-funded media, including Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, which was established during the Cold War to counter Soviet propaganda; Radio Free Asia, which focuses on China, North Korea, and other media-restricted Asian nations; Radio Farda, a Persian-language broadcaster that faces government censorship in Iran; and Alhurra, an Arabic-language news network founded after the Iraq invasion as an alternative to Al Jazeera.
In a statement released Saturday, the White House defended the cuts, arguing that “taxpayers are no longer on the hook for radical propaganda.” This criticism, rarely aimed at VOA before Trump’s tenure, aligns with his repeated accusations of bias in media coverage, including his concerns over VOA’s editorial independence.
The reduction in U.S.-funded media comes at a time when global competitors, particularly China and Russia, are heavily investing in state-run news agencies to influence international narratives. China, in particular, has been offering free media content to outlets in developing nations.
China’s state-run Global Times responded to VOA’s decline with an editorial declaring that “the monopoly of information held by some traditional Western media is being shattered.” The article further claimed that “as more Americans begin to break through their information cocoons and see a real world and a multidimensional China, the demonizing narratives propagated by VOA will ultimately become a laughingstock of the times.”
The future of VOA and its affiliated media remains uncertain, as the layoffs raise questions about the United States’ commitment to global broadcasting at a time when state-sponsored narratives from rival nations continue to expand.