This story appeared in The Logoff, a daily newsletter that helps you stay informed about the Trump administration without letting political news take over your life. Subscribe here.
Silencing Voice of America
Trump is trying to shut down a news network that refuses to toe his administration’s line.
Patrick Reis was the senior politics and ideas editor at Vox. He previously worked at Rolling Stone, the Washington Post, Politico, National Journal, and Seattle’s Real Change News. As a reporter and editor, he has worked on coverage of campaign politics, economic policy, the federal death penalty, climate change, financial regulation, and homelessness.
Welcome to The Logoff: Today I’m focused on the Trump administration’s efforts to undermine Voice of America, a US-funded news network that brings information to people around the world — including people living under repressive regimes.
What’s the latest? The administration fired about 600 contractors Thursday who work for the network, more than a third of the organization’s staff.
What about the rest of the staff? In March, the administration put almost the entire staff on leave, but they successfully sued to block those de facto firings, at least temporarily. Litigation is ongoing over whether the administration has the authority to cut the agency, which is funded by Congress.
What else are they doing? The organization’s domestic website has not been updated since mid-March. The administration is proposing to replace some of Voice of America’s content with programming from the One America News Network, a far-right outlet closely aligned with the administration.
Why is the administration doing this? Voice of America is, by law, editorially independent, meaning the Trump administration cannot control the network’s content. That means it sometimes publishes news that reflects poorly on the president or his policies — something this administration cannot abide.
What’s the big picture? Like any outlet, Voice of America has its shortcomings, and there are legitimate disagreements over how it covers the news. But for millions of people whose governments block access to the news, Voice of America and its affiliates are their best chance of learning about what’s happening in the world around them — including what their own governments are up to. Now, Trump is trying to take that away.
And with that, it’s time to log off…
Here’s an award-winning Voice of America story about what happens to accountability here in the US when local news organizations are driven out of business. It’s a great piece, but if you want to save it for a non-Friday afternoon, there’s always the glorious livestream of a bald eagles’ nest. Thanks so much for reading, and I’ll see you back here Monday.
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