Trump's dismantling of Voice of America could lead to dominance of anti-American propaganda, director says
Source: CBS News
Updated on: March 18, 2025 / 7:57 AM EDT
Washington — President Trump's dismantling of the government-funded Voice of America will pave the way for America's adversaries to have greater influence abroad, predicted the agency's director Michael Abramowitz.
After Mr. Trump signed an executive order that seeks to make sweeping cuts at the nation's largest international broadcaster, about 1,300 employees, including Abramowitz, learned over the weekend they had been placed on administrative leave, and another 500 contractors were terminated. Mr. Trump accused the news agency, which began broadcasting during World War II, of spreading "radical propaganda."
In an interview with CBS News Monday, Abramowitz called VOA "an incredibly important soft power tool" for the U.S. and said shuttering it would be a "self-inflicted blow" to national security because VOA's news coverage helps to combat Chinese, Russian and Iranian disinformation. "If America pulls off the playing field and cedes it to our adversaries, then they're going to be telling the narratives that people around the world are going to be hearing, and that can't be good for America," he said. "They're going to be hearing an anti-America narrative. We need to fight that with truth."
VOA reports news about the U.S. in nearly 50 languages — with much of its focus trained on countries that lack a free press. By law, the broadcasts do not air inside the U.S., but news programming is viewed widely — with an audience of about 360 million people per week worldwide.
Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/voa-cuts-trump-director-michael-abramowitz-interview/
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