Voice of America, which faced dismantlement by the Trump administration in mid-March, will resume operations next week, according to the Ministry of Justice and Reporters Without Borders on Saturday.
“American lawyers representing Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and the Voice of America (VOA) coalition were informed, on Saturday 3 May, via email from the Ministry of Justice, that teams from this iconic American international broadcaster would be able to return to work shortly,” stated RSF in a communiqué.
In its message to RSF lawyers, the ministry noted that “earlier today, the accounts of 1,406 employees and contractors of the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM) and Voice of America were reactivated. All employees should now have access to the system.” It added, “USAGM anticipates that Voice of America’s programmes will return next week.”
Two VOA employees told AFP that their email accounts, which had been blocked for weeks, were reopened, though they had not yet received formal notification to resume work.
In mid-March, the Trump administration had placed journalists on general leave and begun dismissing some reporters from Voice of America and other public media outlets.
However, American courts opposed these actions. At the end of March, a federal magistrate in New York first halted the decision to terminate these public media activities, followed by a federal judge in Washington in April.
Voice of America was established during World War II, Radio Free Europe was launched during the Cold War, and Radio Free Asia was created in 1996, all aimed at broadcasting the “voice of America” globally, particularly in authoritarian countries.
