80 years of history: all Voice of America employees will be fired this week
29 May 10:52
This week, all employees of the international news service Voice of America (VOA) are expected to receive official notices of dismissal. This is likely to put an end to the history of the broadcaster, which was founded more than 80 years ago to combat Nazi disinformation during World War II. This was reported by Politico, citing employees of the media organization.
Four VOA employees, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told POLITICO that all full-time employees who were still with the agency would receive notices of layoffs. This month, the Trump administration has already laid off about 600 contract workers, and now it plans to cut about 800 more.
“We’ve been told to expect layoff letters in the next few days,” said one employee.
One VOA executive noted that according to information obtained in conversations with representatives of the USAGM – the US Agency for Global Media, which is the parent organization of VOA – the cuts will affect all employees, effectively ending the existence of one of the oldest international broadcasters.
According to another employee, USAGM’s human resources department has been instructed to prepare dismissal documents as early as Wednesday.
The American Federation of Government Employees union, which represents the interests of VOA employees, insists on the right to collective bargaining in connection with the mass layoffs, but USAGM has not yet responded to this demand. A representative of the union declined to comment to the press.
None of the responsible agencies – neither the White House, nor USAGM, nor the Department of Government Performance – provided official comment either.
The closure of the Voice of America comes after President Trump signed an executive order on March 15, ordering “the elimination of VOA to the fullest extent possible, consistent with applicable law.” The document also referred to other agencies. Trump has repeatedly called VOA “anti-Trump media” and even dubbed it the “Voice of Radical America,” although the staff claim that they have always adhered to the standards of independent and unbiased journalism.
After that, only a few dozen journalists returned to work, presumably to formally maintain legal staffing requirements. The last story published on the VOA website is dated March 15. In early May, Kari Lake, a USAGM adviser and prominent Trump supporter, announced that instead of its own content, VOA would broadcast materials from One America News Network, a pro-Republican outlet known for spreading conspiracy theories about COVID-19 and the 2020 presidential election.
VOA has filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn the liquidation decision, arguing that it violates the First Amendment of the US Constitution, which guarantees freedom of speech. However, last week, a federal appeals court refused to interfere with the dismantling of the agency.
The latest wave of layoffs may affect the course of the court case, but VOA employees are not too optimistic about a positive outcome.
