The Voice of America may not live up to its ambitious name for much longer.

Michael Abramowitz, the director of VOA, said in a Facebook post Saturday that he was placed on leave, along with “virtually the entire staff” of 1,300. The announcement comes one day after President Trump signed an executive order to gut VOA’s parent agency.

Some of VOA’s local-language radio stations have stopped broadcasting news reports and switched over to music to fill the airtime, according to listeners.

Even top editors at VOA have been ordered to stop working, so employees expect the broadcaster’s worldwide news coverage to grind to a halt, according to half a dozen sources who spoke with CNN on the condition of anonymity.

“The Voice of America has been silenced, at least for now,” a veteran correspondent said.

Voice of America is part of the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), which also runs networks like Radio Free Europe, Radio Free Asia, and Middle East Broadcasting Networks. Those networks are also on Trump’s chopping block, as networks’ contracts with the operators have been terminated.

While Trump allies argue that the broadcasters are bloated and outdated, advocates say that by dismantling the networks, the United States is ceding the airwaves to other world powers, thereby harming American interests abroad.

The United States has been funding international news and current affairs coverage intended for global audiences for decades.

Trump appointed conservative media critic Brent Bozell III to run the parent agency and tapped election-denying former TV anchor Kari Lake to run VOA. Bozell’s Senate confirmation hearing is months away, with Lake serving as a “senior adviser.” Lake signed some of the emails announcing Saturday’s cuts.

Lake tweeted that the dismantling was taking effect because “the president has issued an Executive Order titled Continuing the Reduction of the Federal Bureaucracy.”

Trump’s order said affected agencies should stop performing all work that is not statutorily mandated, and do the rest with as few people as possible.

The order was in line with Elon Musk’s declaration in February that government-funded international broadcasters should be shut down altogether.

“Nobody listens to them anymore,” Musk posted on X. “It’s just radical left crazy people talking to themselves while torching US$1B/year of U.S. taxpayer money.” (SD-Agencies)

美国之音可能很快就要名不副实了。美国之音台长迈克尔•艾布拉莫维茨上周六在脸书上发帖称，他和 “几乎全体员工”共1300人都被停职。就在一天前，特朗普总统签署了一项行政命令，裁撤美国之音的上级机构。据听众称，美国之音的一些地方语言广播电台已经停止播放新闻报道，转而播放音乐来填补空档。

据六位匿名接受美国有线电视新闻网采访的消息人士透露，就连美国之音的高层编辑也被要求停止工作，因此员工们预计该广播公司的全球新闻报道将陷入停滞。一位资深记者说：“ 美国之音已经被禁声了，至少目前是这样。”

美国之音是美国全球媒体机构（USAGM）的一部分，该机构还运营自由欧洲电台、自由亚洲电台和中东广播网络等。特朗普也打算砍掉这些网络，因为网络与运营商的合同已经终止。

虽然特朗普的盟友认为这些广播公司臃肿和过时，但赞成者表示，美国砍掉这些网络，等于将无线电波拱手让给了其他世界大国，从而损害了美国在海外的利益。

几十年来，美国一直在资助面向全球受众的国际新闻和时事报道。

特朗普任命保守派媒体评论家布伦特•博泽尔三世管理美国全球媒体机构，并任命拒绝接受2020年美国大选结果的前电视主播卡里•莱克来管理美国之音。距离博泽尔的参议院确认听证会还有几个月的时间，莱克将担任“高级顾问”。莱克签署了部分宣布周六裁员的电子邮件。莱克在推特上说，之所以裁员，是因为“总统发布了一项名为《继续削减联邦官僚机构》的行政命令”。

特朗普的命令称，受影响的机构应停止执行所有非法定工作，并以尽可能少的人完成其余工作。

该命令与埃隆•马斯克在 2 月份的声明意见一致，认为政府资助的国际广播公司应完全关闭。

“没人再听他们的宣传了，”马斯克在X上发帖说，“这只是激进的左派狂热分子一边在烧美国纳税人的钱，一边自言自语，他们每年烧掉10亿美元。”

(Translated by DeepSeek)