The Trump administration has initiated significant layoffs at Voice of America (VOA) and other U.S.-funded media outlets, signaling an effort to reduce funding for institutions critical of U.S. influence. Contractors, who make up a substantial portion of VOA’s workforce, particularly in non-English language services, were notified via email that their contracts would end in March.
The email, confirmed by several employees, instructed them to cease work immediately and prohibited access to agency buildings or systems. Many of these contractors, who are not U.S. citizens, depend on their jobs for visa status, leaving their futures uncertain.
Full-time VOA staff have not been immediately terminated but remain on administrative leave with instructions not to work. Established during World War II, VOA broadcasts in 49 languages, focusing on regions lacking media freedom.
Trump signed an executive order on Friday targeting VOA’s parent agency, the U.S. Agency for Global Media, as part of broader cuts to federal government operations. The agency had 3,384 employees in fiscal year 2023 and requested $950 million for the current year. Some VOA services have temporarily shifted to playing music due to a lack of new programming.
The cuts also affect other U.S.-funded outlets like Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia, Radio Farda, and Alhurra, which provide critical news to regions with restricted media freedom, including former Soviet states, China, North Korea, Iran, and the Middle East.
In a statement, the White House argued that U.S. taxpayers should no longer fund what it called “radical propaganda,” a critique rarely directed at VOA, which has historically countered communism. Trump has frequently criticized media coverage of his administration and questioned the rationale for funding VOA, given its editorial independence.
These cuts come at a time when China and Russia are investing heavily in state media to compete with Western narratives. China, in particular, is offering free content to outlets in the developing world.
China’s state-run Global Times editorialized that the “monopoly of information” held by traditional Western media is being “shattered.”
