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.

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

All full-time employees at these networks showed up to work on March 15 to discover 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 network’s historical shutdown.

“I am deeply saddened that for the 1st time in 83 years, the storied Voice of America is being silenced,” expressed Abramowitz in 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 impacted employees at Voice of America and the Office for Cuba Broadcasting.

Furthermore, the agency terminated all contracts with private, international broadcasters that receive funds for its programming, including Radio Free Europe and Asia and 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 take 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.

Grant Turner, USAGM’s former chief financial officer, 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 to keep the truth from reaching Americans and others worldwide.

Altogether, these broadcasters and sister networks reach 420 million people, 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.