Voice of America

Trump is the voice of fascism

Happy belated Sunshine Week. Sunshine Week is a U.S. nonpartisan collaboration among groups in the journalism, civic, government, education, and private sectors that shines a light on the importance of public records and open government. It ended yesterday, so here I am, right on time.

Sunshine is more important now than ever to shine a light on the importance of open records and government since the Trump administration (sic) is hiding everything. There is no transparency in what DOGE is doing right now, despite Elon’s bullshit.

Sunshine is more important today than it’s ever been because an American outlet created to provide sunshine where there isn’t any has been taken over by fascists.

Voice of America (VOA) was created to broadcast information to places where free speech and information are denied. VOA was created in World War II to broadcast the voice of freedom in Nazi-occupied Europe. After the war, it broadcast freedom behind the Iron Curtain. Today, it’s still needed in places like Russia, Cuba, China, North Korea, the Central African Republic, Syria, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Myanmar, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, etc, etc. VOA is broadcast in 49 languages and listened to by 420 million people a week.

VOA is taxpayer-funded but not controlled by the government…until now. Last week, MAGA took over VOA and one of the people in charge is Kari Lake, an Arizona MAGAt who lost elections for governor and senator, yet still claims she won both elections. Election deniers are now in charge of VOA.

Trump issued an executive order dismantling the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM). The agency oversees Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, the Office of Cuba Broadcasting, and Radio Free Asia.

Trump tried to take VOA down in 2020 but failed. He’s always criticized VOA like he attacks all journalists. He accused VOA of spreading Chinese propaganda about the coronavirus in 2020. He also called it the “voice of the Soviet Union” which doesn’t make any sense. Kari Lake called VOA “a product that often parrots the talking points of America’s adversaries.” Elon Musk has called for it to be abolished entirely, like Tesla stock.

Six Voice of America journalists are suing members of the Trump administration (sic), including Victor Morales who is the acting CEO, and Kari Lake, whose position at this time is as an advisor, but may become the director after Brent Bozell, Trump’s pick to lead USAGM, is confirmed.

Lake’s appointment will be decided not by the Senate but by the International Broadcasting Advisory Board, which consists of seven presidential appointees with a four-member Republican majority.

VOA is supposed to be immune from Trump fuckery, but the firewalls are failing…again.

Bozell is the founder of the Media Research Center, which is a Virginia-based organization whose stated mission is to identify “left-wing bias in news media and popular culture, revealing the left’s agenda to undermine traditional values, restrict individual liberty, and stifle private enterprise.” Trump is picking the worst people, as usual, to lead this organization. Journalists should be chosen over propagandists.

The complaint argues that Trump violated the First Amendment by dismantling the media organization and exceeded his authority in violation of the Constitution. Congress, which created and funds USAGM, has sole authority over the agency, the complaint said.

This may be like Trump’s dismantling of the Department of Education, where he doesn’t have the authority to abolish it.

The complaint says, “What is happening to the VOA Journalists is not just the chilling of First Amendment speech; it is a government shutdown of journalism, a prior restraint that kills content before it can be created.”

A free press isn’t allowed in fascist nations, so it makes sense that Trump is dismantling VOA. It’s already stopped broadcasting news and instead, just music. I hope they like Lee Greenwood and the Village People in Cuba.

Almost all of VOA’s 1,300 journalists have been placed on leave, but one was placed on leave after Trump advisor Richard Grenell flagged a tweet of his that quoted someone criticizing a Trump policy. Grenell called the tweet criticizing Trump “treasonous.” Now that journalist's social media platforms are being “investigated” for disloyalty to Dear Leader.

Voice of America broadcasted freedom and democracy. Now, under the control of anti-democratic MAGAts, it will broadcast the fascist Trump agenda. Instead of hearing the voice of freedom where it’s desperately needed the most, the voice those nations will be hearing now representing America will be a voice full of hate and fascism.

And you thought Trump’s voice couldn’t get more annoying.

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