US President Donald Trump has ordered the shutting down of America’s public broadcaster, Voice of America (VOA). 1,300 journalists will be left jobless indefinitely after they were notified on Saturday, March 15, 2025 via email that they should hand over the keys to their offices and their press badges and should not come to work unless otherwise requested to do so by their supervisors.
The channel used to broadcast into several African countries, including Cameroon.
On Friday, March 14, 2025, Trump issued an executive order listing the US Agency for Global Media (VOA’s mother company) as among “elements of the federal bureaucracy that the president has determined are unnecessary”.
Michael Abramowitz, VOA’s Director, expressed deep sorrow over the unprecedented move.
VOA, founded in 1942, now reaches over 360 million people weekly in 48 languages. Abramowitz warned that the action would severely impair VOA’s mission to promote freedom and democracy, especially in regions under authoritarian rule.