US President Donald Trump addresses a joint session of Congress at the US Capitol in Washington, DC.
Employees at Voice of America have been placed on paid administrative leave until further notice in the wake of US President Donald Trump’s executive order slashing funding for government-backed media outlets and six federal agencies.
The staff at Voice of America, an international media broadcaster that operates in more than 40 languages, said they received emails that placed them on administrative leave with full pay and benefits “until otherwise notified.”
The emails from a human resources executive at the US Agency for Global Media, the VOA’s parent agency, instructed the employees not to access their workplace or internal systems until further notice.
“For the first time in 83 years, the storied Voice of America is being silenced,” Michael Abramowitz, the organization’s director and a veteran editor at the Washington Post and former head of Freedom House, said in a statement. He added that “virtually” the entire 1300-person staff was placed on leave.
USAGM is the federal agency that oversees the US government’s worldwide international broadcasters and distributes money to media outlets.
Apart from Voice of America, other broadcasters such as Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Radio Free Asia have also faced funding termination.
Trump’s executive order not only targets government-funded media outlets but also affects six other federal agencies.
