For over eight years — until just two weeks ago — I proudly opened my radio and TV broadcasts with the words: “This is Voice of America from Washington.” People often made sarcastic remarks, accusing me of producing “U.S. propaganda,” both in America and abroad. But I, an adamant believer that America is a force for good in the world, was never bothered by these critiques. The work of my colleagues at VOA centers on truthful journalism designed to reach people in countries where balanced reporting is lacking or outright banned. Throughout my entire time at VOA, nobody ever interfered with or influenced my coverage. I left the agency simply because it was time for a change.
This experience leads me to lament President Donald Trump’s March 15 executive order to put many VOA employees and those of its parent organization, the U.S. Agency for Global Media, on administrative leave. This effectively shuts down VOA/USAGM operations. Trump has made a mistake here.
For more than 80 years, VOA and related organizations under USAGM – Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFERL), Radio Free Asia (RFA), Office of Cuba Broadcasting, and Middle East Broadcasting – have delivered news about the U.S. and the world to people living under oppression. Every week, the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) reaches an estimated audience of 427 million people worldwide. It broadcasts in 63 languages across various platforms – including radio, TV, and online media. These services represent America’s commitment to freedoms worldwide and serve its strategic interests. To shut them down now it will surrender decades of trust, weaken American influence abroad, and hand an easy victory to autocrats everywhere.
This doesn’t mean everything at VOA is perfect.
On the contrary, the organization certainly needs reform. It makes little sense that journalists at VOA are federal employees when many already work efficiently as contractors. But reform should mean simplifying how things work, cutting unnecessary bureaucracy, and making the agency quicker at delivering on its righteous mission – not erasing its history and importance. What might this better reform look like?
Management at VOA, like many government agencies, is sometimes rigid and slow. Supervisors often seem more concerned with pleasing their superiors than supporting the journalists beneath them. And yes, there are a few employees who stay for decades without doing much – an issue common in many workplaces. But while these problems require robust remediation, they don’t justify dismantling the entire agency. And we’ve recently seen signs of how VOA is able to correct its mistakes. Take the controversy surrounding the editorial guidance to not identify Hamas as a terrorist organization. This was a bad call but it revealed internal strengths as much as weaknesses. Employees spoke out, challenged misguided guidance, and eventually ensured journalistic integrity prevailed.
VOA, RFERL, and RFA have earned their reputations over generations. During the Cold War, countless listeners behind the Iron Curtain risked imprisonment or even death simply to hear a broadcast; many dissidents recall tuning into VOA’s iconic “Jazz Hour,” which became a beloved connection to freedom and culture from the West. Many journalists of these outlets have given their lives to their work. As a journalist at VOA, I always took deep pride in that legacy.
Today, the stakes remain equally high. North Korea has executed citizens for secretly listening to RFA, while Russia has aggressively pursued and actively blocked VOA and RFERL content to maintain the Kremlin’s internal control. The Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps also tried to kill a VOA journalist. These actions by authoritarian regimes and others like them highlight just how powerful and necessary these broadcasts remain.
Critics say that VOA leans politically left. Like many newsrooms around the world, this might be partly true as many journalists share leftist politics. But I can attest for a fact that the VOA newsroom has journalists from very diverse backgrounds. It includes people who grew up under communism or autocracy, leading them to greatly value American democracy and its founding principles. I can also state for a fact that some VOA journalists are conservative! This diversity helps VOA maintain balanced and honest reporting. It helps consumers of VOA content to believe that what they’re hearing and seeing is objective news and analysis rather than partisan spin.
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Despite its flaws, VOA remains trusted around the world, especially in times of crisis. Audience engagement typically spikes in times of crisis whether the Covid pandemic or the war in Ukraine. Trust like that is hard-won and valuable. It shouldn’t be sacrificed on a whim. Nor is VOA some kind of government money hole. In 2023, the total VOA budget was roughly $267.5 million, while the entire USAGM budget was around $840 million. By comparison, the BBC’s annual budget was approximately $7.7 billion. The value VOA provides in global influence far exceeds the cost.
Top line: shutting down VOA, RFERL, or RFA would make America’s enemies very happy. It would silence critical voices that challenge authoritarians with the truth. Instead, the Trump Administration could reform and make these institutions more effective. Doing so would address legitimate taxpayer and government accountability concerns while also preserving an essential voice for truth and freedom in an increasingly authoritarian and anti-American world.
