Hundreds of VOA contractors set to lose their jobs

Hundreds of Voice of America contractors are expected to suffer their jobs implicit the coming days, campaigners said, arsenic the Trump medication moves to dismantle the US government-backed quality service's genitor agency.

Most of VOA's astir 1,300 staffers person been placed connected administrative permission and its broadcasts suspended after a March 14 enforcement bid gutted the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM), which oversees US-funded planetary media.

The Trump medication decided to terminate "hundreds of contractors implicit the pursuing days," advocacy radical Save VOA wrote connected societal media connected Thursday night.

Some of the terminations impact J-1 visa holders who volition person to permission the state wrong 30 days, it added successful a statement.

"Several of these journalists travel from countries wherever they could beryllium arrested oregon worse due to the fact that of their reporting for VOA," Save VOA wrote, adding that it was moving with lawyers to effort and reinstate the contractors.

US President Donald Trump's appointee to oversee USAGM, Kari Lake, told the Washington Post that 584 employees crossed the national bureau had been terminated, the bulk from VOA.

"In accordance with President Trump's enforcement bid dated March 14, we are successful the process of rightsizing the bureau and reducing the national bureaucracy to conscionable medication priorities," Lake told the Post.

VOA manager Michael Abramowitz said successful a Facebook station that helium was "heartbroken to larn astir today's wide terminations of idiosyncratic work contractors."

"Some of VOA's astir talented journalists person been [personal work contractors] — galore of whom person escaped tyranny successful their location countries to archer America's communicative of state and democracy," helium wrote.

VOA supervisory exertion Fatima Tlis posted connected societal media connected Thursday that her "entire squad got terminated today, each of america granted governmental asylum by US administrations."

"How does throwing connected the streets the journalists you brought successful connected a committedness of liberty and information assistance the American people?" she wrote.

Almost each of the networks affected by the March enforcement bid -- including VOA -- person sued, accusing Trump of enforcement overreach.

Created during the Second World War arsenic an instrumentality of American brushed power, USAGM is an autarkic bureau tasked with promoting ideology and countering propaganda overseas done entities that see VOA, Radio Free Europe, Radio Free Asia and the Office of Cuba Broadcasting.

Before suspending service, Washington-based VOA broadcast successful 49 languages to a play assemblage estimated astatine 354 cardinal people.

The White House has criticised the quality work for its alleged leftist bias, dubbing it "Voice of Radical America" successful authoritative documents.

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