Voice of America shutdown puts U.S. at risk of losing information war, Republican congresswoman warns
Source: CBS News
March 30, 2025 / 7:32 PM EDT
Republican Congresswoman Young Kim of California has challenged a recent executive order by President Trump that sought to dismantle the federal agency that oversees U.S. taxpayer-funded media outlets. The broadcasters — like Voice of America, Radio Free Asia, and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty — have for decades served to project American values around the world while sharing fact-based news in a variety of languages.
With the Voice of America falling silent, Kim said she worries the U.S. is ceding the airwaves to foreign dictators. "And we're not there to counter that disinformation," she said.
What Voice of America does
Voice of America, overseen by the U.S. Agency for Global Media, reached an audience of around 360 million people each week. It is prohibited by law from being broadcast in the U.S. It was launched during World War II, beaming German language broadcasts into Nazi Germany to counter Hitler's propaganda machine.
Voice of America expanded during the Cold War in Eastern Europe, the Soviet Union, and China in an effort to challenge communist disinformation and propaganda. The broadcaster, with bipartisan support, spread American news and culture around the world, as well as information about specific regions where there is not a free press. The Voice of America charter requires accurate, objective reporting. There's also a mandated firewall that protects the editorial independence of its reporters from political meddling.
Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/voice-of-america-dismantling-60-minutes/
= new reply since forum marked as read
