Voice of America silenced for the first time in 83 years
Since President Donald Trump issued his March 14 executive order that effectively began dismantling the Voice of America, the federally-funded broadcaster has lost almost all of its more than 360 million weekly global audience. Before the order, VOA produced nearly 2,400 hours of content each week across radio, television and digital — in 49 languages. Now, a skeleton crew is producing minimal content in just four languages. The quantity and quality of the content is a shadow of what it was. Nearly all VOA journalists have either been fired or placed on administrative leave. Learn more
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Press Freedom
In authoritarian countries, the silencing of VOA is deafening
President Trump’s executive order succeeded in doing what authoritarian leaders had tried to do for decades: silence VOA.
- Voice of America stops all broadcasting after government shuts down (The New York Times - October 1, 2025)
- Kari Lake said she learned of Trump dismantling VOA the day of his order (The Washington Post - September 23, 2025)
- Trump officials move to fire most Voice of America journalists (The New York Times - August 30, 2025)
- Judge blocks Trump’s firing of the head of Voice of America (The New York Times - August 28, 2025)
- Kari Lake defends VOA cuts in court after warnings from Capitol Hill (The Washington Post - August 14, 2025)
- Kari Lake’s attempt to deport her own employees (The Atlantic - August 12, 2025)
“To be persuasive, we must be believable; to be believable, we must be credible; to be credible, we must be truthful.”
Edward R. Murrow, Director of the U.S. Information Agency