NoTV: Voice of America All But Dead

[Mark Jeffries]

Over 600 employees of the global radio network that provided honest news and information to listeners around the world for over 8 years received layoff notices last week, including members of the Persian-language service who had been taken off administrative leave last week to give reports on the Israeli attack on Iran--the net has been a target of the Trump Administration because of its straightforward coverage of the government, which Il Douchebag and the idiot ex-news anchor Kari Lake, put in charge of VOA and the managing agency the US Agency for Global Media, consider "liberal bias" (they also claim that rightwing catch phrase "fraud, waste and abuse")--many former VOA employees say that the net will be difficult to reassemble under a future adminstration:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/layoff-notices-delivered-to-hundreds-of-voice-of-america-employees/ar-AA1H7v2Y

[Bob Jersey]

Setting the stage for loyalists in the communications industry to come up with a privatized solution (if the equally-private funding ever comes through)... 

Mark Jeffries, June 24th:

Over 600 employees of the global radio network that provided honest news and information to listeners around the world for over 8 years received layoff notices last week, including members of the Persian-language service who had been taken off administrative leave last week to give reports on the Israeli attack on Iran--the net has been a target of the Trump Administration because of its straightforward coverage of the government, which Il Douchebag and the idiot ex-news anchor Kari Lake, put in charge of VOA and the managing agency the US Agency for Global Media, consider "liberal bias" (they also claim that rightwing catch phrase "fraud, waste and abuse")--many former VOA employees say that the net will be difficult to reassemble under a future adminstration:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/layoff-notices-delivered-to-hundreds-of-voice-of-america-employees/ar-AA1H7v2Y

For those wondering, I am well... the dad in me surmised that camping out in the basement workshop would be the coolest (climatically) thing to do...     B

[Mark Jeffries]

And of course, I meant over 80 years for VOA.

Mark Jeffries
spotl...@gmail.com

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[Bob Jersey]

We figured that out, thanks.     B

Mark Jeffries, to moi, June 24th:

[Melissa P]

I had the opportunity to chat with (former) Chief National Correspondent Steve Herman a couple of weeks ago -- and suggested that VOA move its operations to Canada.  I wasn't the first person to make that suggestion, but he questioned its feasibility.

Another workaround we need:  the vaccine approval committee.  I read that the medical associations are talking about it.

[Tom Wolper]

In a number of political podcasts I listen to, the guest would be a former employee of a federal agency or governmental organization that just got obliterated, and the guests always said, “We knew we were inefficient due to all of the regulations we got from Congress but eliminating the agency wasn’t the answer.”

Keeping this in mind, what is the current function of the VOA and what is lost by its elimination? When I think of VOA I think of the Cold War and someone behind the Iron Curtain tuning in on a shortwave radio to get the American side of the news. But in this online connected world who is served by the VOA? What is the audience who isn’t already flooded with content from the US in their social media?

I of course don’t want to see people lose their jobs or government agencies disappear by executive fiat. In the case of the VOA though it doesn’t seem like that much damage is being done.

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[Melissa P]

We seem to be listening to different groups of former federal employees, (1) perhaps because I live in the DC area and news coverage of damage done is all day and all night, and (2) I am particularly focused on the science community because that's where I spent 30 years working for the federal government.  The damage being done, especially in the education of future scientists and engineers -- the foundation of wealth generation for this country -- cannot be undone, especially in our lifetime.

Secondly, not only is Trump the most ignorant, incompetent, and corrupt president in this country's history -- but almost all of his appointees are equally unqualified for the jobs they've been given, with Kari Lake among those at the top of the list.  She has no credibility whatsoever, and that alone makes her choices the wrong ones.

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[Kevin M.]

I am in total agreement with Melissa on this. 

There are always ways to improve efficiency, but eliminating entire departments and agencies without bothering to review what they do is jackassery. And putting bobble heads in charge who shouldn’t be allowed outside without supervision is moronic. 

I keep hearing this will take generations to undo, but I disagree. I believe this is the end of the United States as a global power/influence. We can never regain the respect of other nations; not after this. 

Kevin M. (RPCV)

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[brugdr]

A focus of Voice of America programs has been countries with limited or no independent journalism or press freedom.  It was part of the country's public diplomacy mission.

In a sense, the Cold War function continued (Russia went after VOA as recently as 2017), but efforts expanded in other parts of the world, particularly in the Middle East.

Lake's appointment is in violation of the International Broadcasting Act, which vests appointment authority in an advisory board that was fired in January.

David

Sent on my Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 5G.

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[PGage]

The VOA Chas continued to be the only thing like a credible nes source in many countries. I think its role has been more important in recent decades than during the Cold War, when its reporting always had a sent of US propaganda.

The DOGE attack on government has very little to do with efficiency. There are apparent inefficiencies in any large, complex organization, often the cost of providing talented professionals with the room to think and innovate, other times an evidence based judgement by the organization that doing things 15% less efficiently is worth it in order to reduce the chances of periodic Big Price Tag mistakes. And yes, sometimes it is a result of lazy people with little incentive to do better.

But DOGE was not about any of that, it was part of a systematic attempt to shrink the footprint of the federal government so that corporations and wealthy individuals have more opportunity to make basic services and functions for profit, with little or no oversight or regulation.

Even if the MAGA crowd is defeated in 3.5 years, the US will not soon recover from the damage being done right now. If a foreign nation had somehow had the same degrading effects on our science, education, healthcare, communication, etc industries we would have already declared war on them.

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[Bob Jersey]

F'rinstance, back in May Lake announced that One America News would feed content to VOA after a judge blocked her efforts to defund/destaff the service [link to our coverage]... can I get an oy vey?:

https://www.npr.org/2025/05/07/nx-s1-5389453/kari-lake-says-oans-far-right-coverage-will-fuel-voice-of-america (link)

B

MelissaP, to Tom Wolper, in part, June 29th: