"• The Trump Administration targeted private universities — canceling $400 million in grants and contracts to Columbia University; pausing $175 million for the University of Pennsylvania; and Johns Hopkins cut research after losing $800 million in USAID grants

• Trump began dismantling Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, and Radio Free Asia"

#Musk #Trump #Republicans #DOGE #fascism #destruction #chaos #universities #research #grants #USAID #VoiceofAmerica
/14

"By Monday, 1,000 [USAGM] journalists were placed on indefinite leave for not being MAGA cheerleaders. Others were locked out of their Washington, D.C., headquarters."

~ Dan Rather

#Musk #Trump #DOGE #purges #fascism #authoritarianism #diversity #DEI #USAGM #VoiceofAmerica
/6

https://steady.substack.com/p/the-truth-dies-with-him

And here's Louis Armstrong performing a station ID for the Voice of America.
https://www.insidevoa.com/a/2034645.html

From the Internet Archive:

National Public Radio feature on Willis Conover, by Scott Simon on NPR's Weekend Edition Saturday, sometime in 1987. Willis Conover was the longtime radio DJ/host of the Voice of America Jazz Hour and other music programs on the VOA shortwave service. He was very well known internationally, especially behind the Iron Curtain during the Cold War, tho he was virtually unknown in the US. He died in May 1996 at age 75.
https://archive.org/details/NPRWillisConoverFeature1987

Some #Republicans have accused #VOA & other publicly-funded #media outlets of being biased against *conservatives* [liars, criminals & extremists]. Last month, billionaire #ElonMusk, who is spearheading #Trump's government *downsizing* [destruction] effort, called for VOA & #RadioFreeEurope / #RadioLiberty to be shut down in a post to social media.

The Paris-based #ReportersWithoutBorders also blasted the move, w/its director general, Thibaut Bruttin, saying that it "threatens press freedom worldwide & negates 80 years of American history in supporting a free flow of #information."

The president of the #NationalPressClub in Washington, Mike Balsamo, released a statement on social media objecting to the moves at #VOA.

"For decades, #VoiceOfAmerica has delivered fact-based, independent #journalism to audiences worldwide, often in places where press freedom does not exist," Balsamo said.

The decision, he said, "undermines America's commitment to a free & independent press."

The move follows #Trump signing an #ExecutiveOrder on Friday instructing #USAGM & six other little-known agencies to reduce their operations to the bare minimum mandated by the law, saying it was necessary to *shrink bureaucracy* [stop informing the public].

Trump, who clashed w/the #VoiceOfAmerica during his 1st term, picked fmr news anchor #KariLake to be its director for his 2nd term. Lake, a staunch Trump ally, has often accused *mainstream* #media of harboring anti-Trump bias.

On its website, #RadioFreeEurope / #RadioLiberty notes that it has been declared an "undesirable organization" by the Russian govt & warns readers in #Russia & Russia-occupied #Ukraine that they could "face fines or imprisonment for sharing, liking, commenting on, or saving our content, or for contacting us."

The #USAGM also terminated funding for #RadioFreeEurope / #RadioLiberty, which broadcasts to countries in #EasternEurope, including #Russia & #Ukraine, as well as for #RadioFreeAsia, which broadcasts to #China & #NorthKorea, acc/to letters seen by Reuters.

Multiple workers at #VoiceOfAmerica, an international #media broadcaster that operates in >40 languages, shared w/Reuters an email that placed them on administrative leave w/full pay & benefits "until otherwise notified."

The emails, sent by a HR executive at the #US Agency for Global Media, the #VOA's parent agency, instructed them not to enter their work premises or access internal systems.