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TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The administration of US President Donald Trump on Saturday suddenly froze decades-old media outlets funded by the United States. As reported by The Japan Times, the institution is the US Agency for Global Media, which oversees Voice of America (VOA), Radio Free Europe and Asia and Radio Marti, which broadcasts news in Spanish to Cuba.
Trump, who has eliminated the US global aid agency and the Department of Education, issued an executive order on Friday listing the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM) as one of the "federal bureaucratic elements the president deems unnecessary."
Hundreds of staff at VOA, Radio Free Asia, Radio Free Europe, and other media outlets received an email over the weekend stating that they would be prohibited from entering the office. They also have to submit press permits and office-issued equipment.
Kari Lake, a former news anchor and Trump loyalist who was nominated to be the director of VOA, issued a statement describing USAGM as a "giant rot and burden to American taxpayers." Lake mentioned that the agency was "unsalvageable."
Lake, who called herself a senior advisor to USAGM, said she would downsize the agency to the smallest size possible under the law.
White House press secretary Harrison Fields took a more casual tone, only writing "goodbye" on X in 20 languages, a jab at the multilanguage outlet's coverage.
VOA director Michael Abramowitz said he was among the 1,300 staff slated to be fired on Saturday.
"VOA needs sensible reform, and we've made progress on that. But today's actions will make Voice of America unable to carry out its vital mission," he said on Facebook.
"Voice of America has been an invaluable asset to the United States, playing a crucial role in the fight against communism, fascism, and oppression, and in the struggle for freedom and democracy worldwide," he said, noting that its coverage - in 48 languages - reaches 360 million people every week.
The head of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, which began broadcasting to the Soviet bloc during the Cold War, called the defunding a "great gift to America's enemies."
"Iran's ayatollah, China's communist leader, and autocrats in Moscow and Minsk will celebrate the death of RFE/RL after 75 years," said its president, Stephen Capus, in a statement.
Combined, the networks reach about 427 million people. The media originated from the Cold War and is part of a government-funded organization network that seeks to expand US influence and combat authoritarianism, including USAID, another target of Trump's.
The advocacy group Reporters Without Borders condemned the decision, saying it "threatens freedom of the press worldwide and erases 80 years of American history in supporting free flow of information."
Gregory Meeks, the top Democratic member of the US House Foreign Affairs Committee, and other Democratic members of parliament, Lois Frankel, said in a joint statement that Trump's move would "cause enduring damage to US efforts to counter propaganda worldwide."
US-funded media has redirected itself since the end of the Cold War, ending most programs aimed at newly democratic Central and Eastern European countries. Now they focus on Russia and China.
Government-funded Chinese media has sharply expanded its reach over the past decade, including by offering free services to outlets in developing countries that were meant to pay for Western news bureaus.
Radio Free Asia, established in 1996, sees its mission as providing uncensored reporting to countries without free media including China, Myanmar, North Korea, and Vietnam.
The outlet has editorial firewall, with stated independence guarantees despite government funding.
The policy has angered some around Trump, who has long criticized the media and suggested that government-funded outlets should promote his policies.
The move to end US-funded media is likely to face challenges, as have most major Trump cuts. The US Congress, not the president, has constitutional power and Radio Free Asia in particular has enjoyed bipartisan support in the past.
A VOA employee described "constant anxiety, checking your phone at all times, and checking X on your holiday" to know the fate of the outlet.
The employee, who requested anonymity, described Saturday's message as a "perfect example of chaos and unprepared process nature," with VOA staff assuming that scheduled programs would be shut down but not directly informed.
A Radio Free Asia employee said, "It's not just about losing your income. We have staff and contractors worried about their safety. We have journalists working under the radar in authoritarian countries in Asia. We have staff in the US afraid of being deported if their work visas are no longer valid."
"Destroying us because of the power of the pen is truly terrible."
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