Trump crony pushes Voice of America toward MAGA propaganda mouthpiece
On Thursday, the Trump administration terminated the contracts of nearly 600 contractors at Voice of America, the U.S.-funded international news network known for providing independent journalism in more than 40 languages to countries lacking a free press.
The move defies a court order issued in March that paused the administration’s attempt to dismantle the network’s parent agency, U.S. Agency for Global Media. It also flies in the face of a preliminary injunction from the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia that protects the agency from closure.
In a statement to news outlets, USAGM senior adviser Kari Lake said, “We will continue to scale back the bloat at USAGM and make an archaic dinosaur into something worthy of being funded by hardworking Americans.” The former local TV anchor, conspiracy theorist, and two-time Arizona election loser added, “Buckle up. There’s more to come.”
Michael Abramowitz, the director of VOA, told remaining staff he was “heartbroken” and called the firings “inexplicable.” He observed that most of the contractors fired were journalists, many of whom come from countries where independent journalism is persecuted. Many now face possible deportation as early as June, as their U.S. immigration status was dependent on their work with VOA, according to The New York Times.
VOA has been effectively shut down since March 15, when Trump signed an executive order stating “that taxpayers are no longer on the hook for radical propaganda.” One of Lake’s first acts as senior adviser was to release a screed, riddled with absurd claims, including that “$100s-of-millions” were being spent on “fake news companies,” and alleging the agency had been infiltrated by “spies and terrorist sympathizers and/or supporters.”
Related | MAGA news network to take over venerable government-funded outlet
Since then Lake has announced a deal with the conspiracy peddling right-wing media outlet One America News to spew its MAGA-propaganda through VOA. Florida-based Smartmatic and Dominion Voting Systems both sued OAN for promoting baseless lies about the 2020 election.
At the same time that Lake was cutting deals to connect our international media outlets to the right-wing cesspool media machine, the White House launched its own government “news” website, the White House Wire. The site aggregates Trump administration press releases, Right Side Broadcasting Network, The Daily Caller, and Fox New stories under the guise of official government information.
Just like Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” isn’t about fiscal responsibility and streamlining government bureaucracy, his administration’s actions at VOA aren’t about rooting out waste and fraud. They are part of a broader effort by the GOP to turn an agency dedicated to press freedom, that was, ironically, started to combat Nazi propaganda during World War II, into a propaganda operation populated by right-wing ideologues.
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