Kari Lake delivers 'death' blow to Voice of America with 600 more job cuts. What to know
Former President Ronald Reagan spoke at the 40th anniversary of VOA in 1982, recounting memories of the news organization's broadcasts shortly after the attack at Pearl Harbor, saying, 'In those days, as now, truth was a vital part of America's arsenal. A spirited band of professionals, men and women dedicated to what their country stood for and anxious to do their part, began broadcasting from the fourth floor of a New York City office building... Programs were recorded on acetate disks and then shipped via bomber to England and Latin America for broadcast. From this humble beginning, the Voice of America has grown into a respected institution of American communication.’
Arizona Republic / USA Today Network
The media agency overseen by Kari Lake plans to lay off more than 600 more journalists in a move that reporters for Voice of America said “spells the death” of the organization that began operations during World War II.
Lake, a senior adviser to the U.S. Agency for Global Media, said the latest moves she announced June 20 — along with others in recent weeks — amount to an 85% reduction in personnel since March.
In a statement, Lake said the 639 termination notices, which take effect in September, shrinks an “out-of-control federal bureaucracy.”
She said it was “part of a long-overdue effort to dismantle a bloated, unaccountable bureaucracy. For decades, American taxpayers have been forced to bankroll an agency that’s been riddled with dysfunction, bias and waste. That ends now.”
In a statement, VOA journalists continued to call on public pressure to convince Congress to save the organization even as they acknowledged a grim historical milestone.
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE RECOMMENDED REPLACEMENT FOR VOA, ONE AMERICA NEWS NETWORK.
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