Over 1,000 Journalists, Staffers At Voice Of America And U.S.-Funded Broadcasters Laid Off On ‘Bloody Saturday’

The indefinite mass layoffs stemmed from an order from Trump.

Over 1,000 journalists and staffers were laid off from U.S.-funded broadcast networks, including Voice Of America, as part of President Trump’s latest decree.

All full-time employees at these networks showed up to work on March 15 to find out that their jobs no longer existed. The indefinite mass layoffs stemmed from Trump’s new order issued the night before.

He called for the U.S. Agency for Global Media, which oversees all these broadcasters, to cease all activities not protected by the law. Voice of America’s director, Michael Abramowitz, released a statement on the historical shut down of the network.

“I am deeply saddened that for the 1st time in 83 years, the storied Voice of America is being silenced,” expressed Abramowitz on a post to his personal Facebook account, as reported by NPR. “VOA needs thoughtful reform and we have made progress in that regard. But today’s action will leave Voice of America unable to carry out its vital mission.”

This not only impacted those working at Voice of America, but also employees at the Office for Cuba Broadcasting.

Furthermore, the agency terminated all contracts with private, international broadcasters that receive funds for its programming. This includes Radio Free Europe and Asia, as well as the Middle East Broadcasting Networks.

Trump’s senior adviser Kari Lake signed the termination notices, a move notably not conducted by the USAGM’s acting chief executive. However, Lake’s position at the agency does not grant her the explicit authority to tak such action.

The Trump administration has had tension with Voice of America since its critiques during the president’s first term. This tension has resulted in a target on the network’s back that has carried over. Voice of America has also received backlash from conservative media outlets as well for reflecting a “leftist bias” in its coverage.

The USAGM’s former Chief Financial Officer, Grant Turner, called it a “Bloody Saturday” for the agency.

“From what I hear, this is shaping up to be a really sad day. USAGM networks share important news, information, and American values around the world,” Turner said. “It took decades to build this goodwill and an audience of hundreds of millions every week. Seeing arsonists just set fire to it all is awful.”

Other directors impacted by the terminations, such as Radio Free Europe/Free Liberty’s president Steve Capus, called the cancellations a “massive gift to America’s enemies.” He emphasized that the stifling of “accurate news” threatens the truth from getting out to Americans and others across the world.

Altogether, these broadcasters and sister networks have a 420 million people reach, with a long-lasting mission to provide news coverage where a free press is limited or nonexistent. Programs are shared in over 100 countries weekly and spoken in 63 languages. The cuts were spearheaded by DOGE, a department led by Elon Musk, to slash all government programming deemed unnecessary by the administration.