Washington — The disassembly of the government-funded Voice of America by President Trump is expected to provide America’s adversaries with increased influence overseas, cautioned agency director Michael Abramowitz.
Following Mr. Trump’s signing of an executive order aimed at implementing significant budget cuts at the U.S.’s primary international broadcaster, approximately 1,300 staff members, including Abramowitz, discovered over the weekend that they had been placed on administrative leave, while another 500 contractors faced termination. Mr. Trump has accused the news organization, which started its broadcasts during World War II, of disseminating “radical propaganda.”
In a Monday interview with CBS News, Abramowitz referred to VOA as “an incredibly important soft power asset” for the U.S., asserting that shuttering it would be a “self-inflicted wound” to national security, as VOA’s news coverage plays a key role in countering disinformation from China, Russia, and Iran.
“If America withdraws from the arena and allows our adversaries to take over, then they will shape the narratives that people globally will absorb, and that is detrimental for America,” he stated. “They will be exposed to an anti-America narrative. We must counter that with the truth.”
VOA delivers news regarding the U.S. in nearly 50 languages, focusing significantly on nations that lack freedom of the press. By law, its broadcasts are not aired within the U.S., but it boasts a worldwide audience of approximately 360 million people weekly.
“We are reaching an audience that might otherwise be subjected to propaganda,” Abramowitz noted, emphasizing that many journalists at VOA come from authoritarian regimes. “The primary challenge for the United States is the global information war wherein countries like China and Russia are decisively ahead. … Therefore, I strongly believe we need a media organization that is accurate, unbiased, objective, and conveys the truth about America to the world in languages understandable to them.”
“This necessity has become increasingly critical amidst a deluge of lies and misinformation prevalent globally,” he added.
Nonetheless, Abramowitz conceded that, with an annual budget of $270 million, VOA could benefit from reform and should not “resist change.”
“I’m not suggesting it must remain as it has always been,” Abramowitz remarked. “Change is beneficial. Change is essential. Change is mandatory.”
“Personally, I do not consider it a waste of taxpayer money,” he contended. “Does this imply it needs to have a $270 million budget? Perhaps it could be [$240 million], or even [$200 million]. We exist in an era where the taxpayer anticipates a more efficient, modernized, and streamlined government.”
He defended VOA’s journalists as impartial, stating that any bias they might possess is against totalitarianism, tyranny, and authoritarianism.
“If you care about a free Iran, greater openness in China, or freedom in Russia, Venezuela, and Nicaragua, then VOA is an incredibly significant tool to help disseminate accurate and objective information into these areas that lack it,” he explained. “That is profoundly vital.”
