Voice of America CEO confirms all employees have been placed on administrative leave

The entire Voice of America (VOA) staff — more than 1 300 journalists, producers, and support staff — has been placed on administrative leave.

This was confirmed by Voice of America Director General Michael Abramowitz and emphasized that he was also placed on administrative leave.

"I am deeply saddened that for the first time in 83 years, the legendary Voice of America is being silenced," he stressed.

The director of the Ukrainian service of the Voice of America Ruslan Petrichka emphasized that the Ukrainian editorial office has also suspended broadcasting — all employees have been sent on administrative leave.

According to Ruslan Petrichka, it is unknown what will happen next. He thanked his colleagues for their work and noted that recent audience surveys showed that 99% of everyone who has seen news from the Ukrainian edition of Voice of America trusts this media outlet.

This came after Trump signed an executive order on March 14 directing the United States Agency for Global Media (USAGM) and six other little-known agencies to reduce their operations to the minimum required by law, saying it was necessary to reduce bureaucracy.

Reuters notes that Trump, who clashed with Voice of America during his first term, wanted Kari Lake, his ally and former news anchor who has often accused mainstream media of being biased against Trump, to lead the network in his second term. He said this before his inauguration.

At the time, some VOA journalists expressed concern about the idea because Lake frequently criticizes the media and has disputed the results of previous elections. In late February, USAGM announced that Lake would join the agency as a special advisor.

Her appointment as the VOA director has been delayed because Trumpʼs nominee for USAGM chairman — conservative political activist and author L. Brent Bozell III — is still awaiting a Senate confirmation hearing.

• Earlier, American billionaire and head of the new US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) Elon Musk called for the closure of Radio Liberty and Voice of America. At the time, he said that no one listens to Radio Liberty and Voice of America, and called these media outlets “crazy left-wing radicals who talk to themselves, burning $1 billion a year of the US taxpayer money”. The US government has historically portrayed Voice of America as a counterweight to foreign propaganda and a model of free, honest, truthful news coverage.
• During his first presidential term, Trump was in conflict with the Voice of America and accused the organization of strengthening Chinese propaganda after it showed a fragment of a light show on the occasion of the reopening of Wuhan, the city where the coronavirus pandemic began.

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