The US-funded news organisation Voice of America (VOA) has essentially shut down after President Donald Trump’s administration sacked hundreds of journalists, or the majority of its surviving employees. The government claimed that the agency was “riddled with dysfunction, bias, and waste” as the reason for the layoffs.
The dissolution of VOA, which was founded during World War Two to combat Nazi propaganda, was described as a “historic act of self-sabotage” by Steve Herman, the organization’s top national reporter.
Persian-language reporters who had been placed on administrative leave but were brought back to work following Israel’s strike on Iran were among those fired.
The Persian reporters had taken a smoke break Friday and were prohibited from returning to the workplace after the notices of termination were sent out, according to the Associated Press news agency.
Today, we took decisive steps to effectuate President Trump’s goal to shrink the out-of-control federal bureaucracy,” said Kari Lake, the president’s appointee to lead VOA, in a statement on Friday when 639 employees were laid off.
Since March, over 1,400 individuals, or more than 85% of the agency’s workforce, have lost their employment. She stated that 50 workers will continue to work for VOA, the Office of Cuba Broadcasting, and the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM), which is VOA’s parent organisation.
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