Trump’s dismantling of Voice of America could lead to dominance of anti-American propaganda, director says

Washington — President Trump’s dismantling of the government-funded Voice of America will pave the way for America’s adversaries to have greater influence abroad, predicted the agency’s director Michael Abramowitz. 

After Mr. Trump signed an executive order that seeks to make sweeping cuts at the nation’s largest international broadcaster, about 1,300 employees, including Abramowitz, learned over the weekend they had been placed on administrative leave, and another 500 contractors were terminated. Mr. Trump accused the news agency, which began broadcasting during World War II, of spreading “radical propaganda.” 

In an interview with CBS News Monday, Abramowitz called VOA “an incredibly important soft power tool” for the U.S. and said shuttering it would be a “self-inflicted blow” to national security because VOA’s news coverage helps to combat Chinese, Russian and Iranian disinformation. 

“If America pulls off the playing field and cedes it to our adversaries, then they’re going to be telling the narratives that people around the world are going to be hearing, and that can’t be good for America,” he said. “They’re going to be hearing an anti-America narrative. We need to fight that with truth.” 

VOA reports news about the U.S. in nearly 50 languages — with much of its focus trained on countries that lack a free press. By law, the broadcasts do not air inside the U.S., but news programming is viewed widely — with an audience of about 360 million people per week worldwide. 

“We are getting through to an audience that might otherwise hear propaganda,” Abramowitz said, adding that many VOA journalists are from countries under authoritarian control. “The major challenge for the United States in general is this global information war in which countries like China and Russia are essentially really having our lunch. … So, I really feel that we need an organization that is accurate, unbiased, objective, and that tells the truth about America to the rest of the world in the languages that they understand.” 

“That has never been more important with a sea of lies and disinformation that are going on around the world,” he added.

Still, Abramowitz acknowledged that VOA, which has a $270 million annual budget, could be reformed and that it should “not be resistant to change.”

“I’m not saying it has to be the way it’s always been,” Abramowitz said. “Change is great. Change is needed. Change is required.”

“I don’t personally think it’s a waste of taxpayer money,” he argued. “Does that mean that it has to be a $270 million budget? Maybe it could be [$240 million], maybe it could be [$200 million]. Look, we are in an era where the taxpayer expects a smaller, more modernized, more streamlined government.” 

He defended VOA’s journalists as non-partisan and said if they harbored any bias, it is against totalitarianism, tyranny and authoritarianism. 

“If you care about a free Iran, if you care about more openness in China, if you care about freedom in Russia, if you care about freedom in Venezuela and Nicaragua, then you have an incredibly important tool in VOA to help push back and to get accurate and objective information into these places that don’t have it,” he said. “That is incredibly important.” 

Nancy Cordes

Nancy Cordes is CBS News’ chief White House correspondent based in Washington, D.C. Cordes has won numerous awards for her reporting, including multiple Emmys, Edward R. Murrow awards, and an Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award.