For more than 80 years, Voice of America transmitted the news into countries, many of them authoritarian, where reliable sources of information about the outside world were often hard to come by.
Now those broadcasts — long viewed as an important part of U.S. efforts to promote democracy and transparency overseas — are flickering out.
Hours after President Trump signed an executive order on Friday calling for the dismantling of the federal agency that oversees Voice of America, hundreds of journalists, executives and other employees at the organization’s headquarters in Washington were informed that they were being put on paid leave. Employees said they quickly lost access to their work email and other communications programs.
Much of Voice of America’s content is produced in Washington and then transmitted to a network of affiliates worldwide. With most of Voice of America’s work force locked out, at least some of its radio frequencies in Asia, the Middle East and elsewhere went dark or began airing nothing but music, employees said.
In other cases, radio, television and digital outlets that used Voice of America programming will remain online but without contributions from the United States. Some of those affiliates also carry content provided by state media from countries like Russia and China, which Voice of America’s programming had, in effect, countered.
“They have pulled the plug operationally,” said David K. Seide, a lawyer at the Government Accountability Project who defends federal whistle-blowers and who represents some Voice of America journalists.