Voice Of America Saved — For Now
• A judge has temporarily blocked the Trump administration’s attempted shutdown of Voice of America, a government-funded news service with global reach and a mission to provide reporting to millions in countries that lack a free press.
The Washington Post reports that Friday’s order halts efforts to eliminate staff and contractors at the news service while litigation continues, restoring the jobs of more than 1,200 journalists and other employees.
U.S. District Judge J. Paul Oetken ruled that the federal government must reverse its controversial closure of the agency and affiliates that have news programs with audiences in places like China and Cuba. The broadcaster delivers news in nearly 50 languages and has an audience of more than 350 million a week, according to its website. Oetken’s ruling prohibits the Trump administration from taking steps to dismantle VOA or eliminate its workforce.
Pres. Trump signed an executive order earlier this month to dismantle seven federal agencies, including the U.S. Agency for Global Media, which oversees Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Radio Free Asia. The lawsuit brought against leadership at the U.S. Agency for Global Media by Voice of America journalists and their unions argued that the government’s actions violated their First Amendment rights. The lawsuit says that without VOA, “a crucial source of objective news is gone” in many parts of the world, leaving “only censored state-sponsored news media is left to fill the void.”
“This is a decisive victory for press freedom and the First Amendment, and a sharp rebuke to an Administration that has shown utter disregard for the principles that define our democracy,” said Andrew Celli, an attorney for the plaintiffs. “Our clients are at the forefront of delivering independent news and diverse perspectives to the world, especially in countries where press freedom and independent journalism are either suppressed or nonexistent.”
That being said… The administration continues to take steps to shrink the workforce, including telling VOA employees on Friday that there was a new 13-day window to voluntarily leave their jobs through “the Deferred Resignation Program (DRP).” Watch this space for further developments.
