To the distress of many, Donald Trump’s senior advisor Kari Lake announced the discontinuation of federal funding for several iconic news outlets administered by the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM), including Radio Free Europe-Radio Liberty (RFE-RL) and Voice of America.
These multi-language broadcasters are not simply remnants of the Cold War, nor are they ‘a giant rot and burden to the American taxpayer’, as Lake’s disgraceful announcement puts it. The US-funded news outlets that are being effectively closed down have been key to America’s soft power in the world, especially in unfree countries.
Wait several months and RFE-RL will be effectively dead
The Czech foreign minister, Jan Lipavský, whose government hosts RFE-RL headquarters in Prague, urged EU action to fill the gap left by the Americans. He tweeted: ‘From Belarus to Iran, from Russia to Afghanistan, RFE and Voice of America are among the few free sources for people living without freedom.
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