As China and Russia flood the world with their propaganda and disinformation, and weaponized media and cyberattacks seek to destroy any vestiges of truthful, fact-based journalism — and therefore hasten the decline of democracy and any rules-based order — the world needs the experience and know-how of Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) broadcast and online outlets more than ever. And yet on March 14, President Donald Trump ordered that the functions of the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), their parent organization, “shall be eliminated to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law.”
The following day, former local news anchor and pro-Trump political candidate Kari Lake, in her capacity as a new senior advisor to the acting CEO of USAGM, sent a letter to RFE/RL, requiring the management to terminate “all activities” and “to promptly refund any unobligated funds.” In a parallel move, USAGM terminated the operations of the Voice of America (VOA), placing more than 1,000 broadcasters on administrative leave and even firing some employees for no cause. With this peremptory action, the Trump administration delivered a possibly deadly blow to one of America’s storied foreign policy successes. (RFE/RL, for one, is not going down without a fight. Its board had sent a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio on March 14 defending its work as “vital…in advancing American national interests.” Established as a nonprofit grantee organization, unlike directly government-operated VOA, RFE/RL filed suit March 18, arguing that whether or not to fund the organization “is not an optional choice for the agency to make. It is the law.” And CNN has reported that leaders at RFE/RL, Radio Free Asia, and Middle East Broadcasting Networks have told their staffs to continue broadcasting, because officials believe the orders are unlawful.)
For more than 80 years, VOA has been a preeminent American voice in the world, broadcasting in almost 50 languages to reach an estimated weekly audience of 345 million listeners. The very first words spoken on VOA in 1942, during World War II, were in German, and the message set it apart from other international broadcasters: “We bring you the voices of America. Today, and daily from now on, we shall speak to you about America and the war. The news may be good for us. The news may be bad. But we shall tell you the truth.” And that dogged commitment to fact-based journalism has been at the heart of VOA broadcasting over the decades.
A New Charter
On the 20th anniversary of VOA, President John Kennedy addressed the broadcasters, noting that “as part of the cause of freedom, as the arm of freedom, you are obliged to tell our story in a truthful way, painting us with all our blemishes and warts.” That commitment to fairness and balance was incorporated in the VOA Charter (Public Law 94-350), passed on July 12, 1976. It stated:
- VOA will serve as a consistently reliable and authoritative source of news. VOA news will be accurate, objective, and comprehensive.
- VOA will represent America, not any single segment of American society, and will therefore present a balanced and comprehensive projection of significant American thought and institutions.
- VOA will present the policies of the United States clearly and effectively, and will also present responsible discussions and opinion on these policies.
Throughout its history, VOA has adhered to these high principles. It reported in detail on the civil rights movement, the Watergate scandal, and the anti-Vietnam demonstrations, but also covered American achievements in the arts and sciences, as well as American popular music and culture. So popular were VOA’s programs that one of its legendary broadcasters, the late Willis Conover, was known throughout the world as the “voice of American music.” He even had fan clubs in China and the Soviet Union. His broadcasts were the embodiment of U.S. cultural diplomacy, giving people in the farthest corners of the world a taste of American life that contributed significantly to making the United States such a beacon.
In the early 1950s, Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty were established to provide trusted, fact-based news and cultural programming of direct relevance to audiences that had no free press of their own. Unlike VOA, BBC, or other international broadcasters, the aim of the RFE and RL language services – 27 to date — was to serve as “local home media,” independent news bureaus that listeners could call their own. Lech Walesa captured this intimate tie between RFE/RL and its listeners when he stated in a letter sent to the organization on the 40th anniversary of the Polish Service and cited in the Board for International Broadcasting’s 1992 annual report:
When a democratic opposition emerged in Poland, RFE accompanied us every step of the way – during the explosion of August 1980, the unhappy days of December 1981, and all the subsequent months of our struggle. It was our radio station. But not only a radio station. Presenting works that were on the ‘red censorship list’, it was our ministry of culture. Exposing absurd economic policies, it was our ministry of economics. Reacting to events promptly and pertinently, it was our ministry of information.
From Cold War to a Warm Welcome
During the Cold War, RFE/RL generated good will among democratically minded listeners. So when communism fell, RFE/RL was warmly welcomed in the former eastern bloc. I recall the board of directors and senior RFE/RL management holding their first meeting in a former communist country, in Budapest, in September 1990. After our private discussion with Prime Minister Jozsef Antall, we were invited to attend a session of the Hungarian Parliament, where we were greeted with a standing ovation, honoring America’s commitment to democracy and freedom. We attended similar meetings in Warsaw, Prague, Kyiv, and even Moscow. In March 1993, Radio Liberty celebrated its 40th anniversary in the landmark Central House of Writers in Moscow. Among the guests of honor was Mikhail Gorbachev. In good spirits, he lauded RL broadcasts for their contribution to Russian culture, their coverage of the August 1991 putsch, and especially for their support of glasnost and perestroika.
To be associated with RFE/RL and VOA in the early 1990s was to be a hero, a supporter of freedom and human dignity. Indicative of that moment in history was the formal nomination of RFE/RL for the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize, put forth by Lennart Meri, foreign minister of Estonia (and later, president) on behalf of newly elected democratic leaders. In his nominating letter, Meri noted: “There is abundant evidence – including statements by freely elected democratic leaders of Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, and Bulgaria – that Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty have made, and continue to make, a unique contribution to the rebirth of democracy in our region of the world, upon which lasting peace depends.”
Russia’s brutal war against Ukraine underscores the critical need for Current Time, the joint VOA and RFE/RL Russian-language channel. It provides the most accurate and comprehensive coverage of Russian politics and the war against Ukraine, including the investigation of alleged war crimes, environmental devastation, and the plights of refugees. I watch it every day. There are simply no other media that can match their professionalism.
RFE/RL’s reach extends well beyond the former Soviet Union. Its Persian-language service, Radio Farda, exemplifies the same commitment to relevant fact-based news and information on Iran. Ten percent of Iranian adults listen to news from Farda each week, with an especially large following among young people in Iran, who are pressuring the regime from below and are most likely to one day lead their country toward better relations with the United States.
Scrutiny…And Survival
For decades VOA and RFE/RL have been an integral part of U.S. national security, but it has not been smooth sailing. While no administration questioned the need for VOA, the radio station came under occasional criticism. In the early 1950s, it was attacked by “red-baiting” Senator Joseph McCarthy on false allegations of harboring dangerous leftist and purported communists. During détente, it was often criticized for programming that “upset Soviet leaders,” primarily reports about the human rights movement, the incarceration of dissidents, and the plight of Soviet Jews who were denied the right to emigrate to Israel. VOA weathered those storms by adhering to its Charter and being a responsible professional news operation.
RFE/RL had a tougher time. Three times it came close to being shuttered. In late 1968, President Richard Nixon signaled his intention to close Radio Liberty, notionally on budgetary grounds, even though RL’s budget of $15 million was a tiny fraction of the federal budget. This impending decision spurred the CIA, then the funder of RFE/RL, to undertake a comprehensive analysis of the impact of the broadcasts and report its findings to Henry Kissinger, the national security adviser. After considerable debate, Kissinger recommended funding RL but only for eight months “in an effort to determine what quid pro quo might be obtainable from the USSR and/or West German governments should it be considered desirable to terminate RL.”
Apparently, the Nixon administration did not receive an adequate quid pro quo, and RFE/RL continued to operate, but under the sword of Damocles. Several years later, Senator J. William Fulbright, called for the closure of the two “radios,” as they were affectionately known, stating: “RFE and RL are an anachronism. They have outlived any usefulness they once may have had. And they should be given an opportunity to take their rightful place in the graveyard of war relics.”
The criticism from Fulbright and other senators prompted the Nixon administration to establish a presidential commission to examine the operations of RFE and RL and to make recommendations. The result was the end of CIA funding, the formal merger of the two radios, and the creation of a bipartisan Board for International Broadcasting that would oversee the operations. In short, reform, not wholesale closure.
Finally, the euphoria at the end of the Cold War signaled dangers for VOA and RFE/RL. Campaigning on a platform that promised a “peace dividend,” President Bill Clinton proposed to cut VOA funding and zero out funding for RFE/RL. But instead of taking peremptory actions, the Clinton administration was willing to work closely with Congress. The upshot was a bipartisan bill – the International Broadcasting Act of 1994 – that consolidated all U.S. broadcasters under one Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), the forerunner of USAGM. However imperfect that legislation, it saved RFE/RL.
Until March 2025, every administration evaluated VOA and RFE/RL, appointed senior management, streamlined budgets, and made reforms where necessary, but they all understood that both VOA and RFE/RL were integral to the country’s national security.
Today, the Trump administration is unilaterally disarming by seeking to shut down U.S. international broadcasting. It is a gift to the country’s enemies and weakens the United States. Indeed, Russia and China are not only gloating but rapidly expanding their media outreach, especially to the Global South. They seek to dominate the worldwide information space.
To be safe and prosperous, the United States needs to have its own global voices that project its values of freedom, enterprise, and democracy. The Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty are exactly the experienced and cost-effective tools the United States needs.