Kari Lake ran for governor of Arizona and lost the election. Then she was foiled again when taking a stab at a US Senate seat, running on a platform of MAGA policies and principles to reduce the footprint of the federal government. However, it seems she has found a niche from which to release all the built-up tension and energy. As the Trump administration’s senior adviser to the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM), the parent company of Voice of America (VOA), Lake is hacking her way through the outlet and shrinking bloat like a seasoned Amazon rainforest explorer.
In February, when Lake was handed the position, she stated: “I’m hoping that the journalists at VOA are looking forward to having me there because I believe we will accomplish great things together.”
I doubt that Lake is their choice now for Miss Congeniality.
Kari Lake Changes Rhetoric
In March, Trump set the wheels in motion by ordering VOA, as well as USAGM, to be “eliminated to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law.” So far, 1,400 USAGM employees have received the emailed pink slip, which equates to an 85% reduction in staff. There are now a healthy (less swollen) 250 employees running the agency.
Lake went on to sever another 639 journalists from VOA, referencing the administration’s goal. In part, her mission, posted to X, reads: “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.”
One VOA insider, Dan Robinson, a former correspondent, wrote in an op-ed last year that the outlet had become a “hubris-filled rogue operation often reflecting a leftist bias aligned with partisan national media.” That may have fueled Trump’s distrust of the agency.
But Michael Abramowitz, Voice of America’s director, had a different view: “The scope of the agency’s actions appears massive and would eviscerate Voice of America’s congressionally mandated role to provide objective news to closed societies and other places around the world.”
Timing Is Not Convenient
The Office of Cuba Broadcasting was unscathed in the latest round of terminations, leaving the usual 33 employees. The Persian language bureau was decimated, but some furloughed employees returned to work after the back-and-forth attacks between Israel and Iran and the US bombing of Iran’s nuclear facilities. Amid the carnage of staffers at the VOA, a statement was issued: “History is being made, and VOA Persian news service is rising to the occasion to cover it,” Lake said.
There are concerns about what will happen to the journalists who have been let go: Will the United States have their backs now that they are no longer under VOA’s protection? Even with congressional safeguards, three Voice of America journos are in prison in Azerbaijan, Myanmar, and Vietnam. When non-immigrant-1 visas expire, will former employees of VOA and all USAGM’s subsidiaries be assisted by Donald Trump’s administration?
Perhaps the soon-to-be freelancers hope to find a position in the United States, but given the reduction of staff at major American networks, it might be easier to find a job in their current location. Others, however, are seeking asylum.
“I am very concerned about the fate of many of our journalists at Voice of America,” Abramowitz told one of the outlets that Trump is hoping to defund. “The US government has a moral obligation to do everything in its power to make sure those who worked on its behalf stay out of harm’s way.”
What Happened to Voice of America?
Voice of America was established in 1942 to combat Nazi propaganda with accurate and unbiased news and information. Steve Herman, VOA’s chief national correspondent, called the agency “the hard edge of soft power.”
What Herman meant was that, over the years, the Soviets, Chinese, and North Koreans have attempted to disrupt Voice of America broadcasts by jamming the signal, making it illegal to transmit, and, lately, blocking websites with a firewall. When all else failed, they resorted to imprisoning reporters.
On May 6, Kari Lake announced a potential partnership with USAGM to use programming from One America News. As lawsuits continue to be furiously filed against the administration, Trump and Lake are covered by adhering to the minimal congressional requirements for maintaining the agency. And, with a Republican Congress, they still have at least a year of cushion.
