On March 15 local time, Michael Abramowitz, director of Voice of America (VOA), an international broadcaster whose parent agency is the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM), confirmed on social media that he and “virtually the entire staff” of 1,300 had been placed on leave. A day earlier, the White House ordered budget cuts for multiple federal agencies. Funding for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia, and Middle East Broadcasting Networks, which are also parts of USAGM, has also been frozen. The so-called beacon of freedom, VOA, has now been discarded by its own government like a dirty rag.
Founded in 1942, VOA became a frontline propaganda tool in the ideological confrontation of the Cold War. In recent decades, under the banner of promoting so-called freedom and democracy, it has broadcast in over 40 languages worldwide, attempting to shape the image of the US as a “moral high ground.”
However, its independence and credibility have long been questioned and criticized. Known for stirring up conflicts, inciting social divisions, and even participating in regime change efforts, VOA is widely recognized as Washington’s carefully crafted propaganda machine for peaceful evolution, earning itself a notorious reputation on the global stage. Similar to Radio Free Asia and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, its primary function is to serve Washington’s need to attack other countries based on ideological demands.
When it comes to China-related reporting, VOA has an appalling track record. From smearing human rights in China’s Xinjiang to hyping up disputes in the South China Sea, from supporting “Taiwan independence” forces to backing Hong Kong rioters, from fabricating the so-called China virus narrative to promoting the claim of China’s “overcapacity,” almost every malicious falsehood about China has VOA’s fingerprints all over it.
A former VOA employee said that he didn’t realize until he came to China that the VOA news reports he used to read out every day were completely opposite to the real situation in China. The reporter also said that some people working for VOA were dismissed because they suggested increasing positive coverage of China.
Clearly, VOA has never been a “fair and impartial” media outlet, but rather a thoroughly biased “propaganda poison.” Now, in Washington, against the backdrop of reducing federal agency funding, the decision to stop funding for entities like VOA has immediately prompted some anti-China politicians in the US to label this move as “a massive gift” to China, effectively tearing off the fig leaf of VOA as a propaganda tool themselves.
Last month, Elon Musk criticized VOA on X, stating that “Nobody listens to them anymore” and that “It’s just radical left crazy people talking to themselves while torching $1 billion a year of US taxpayer money.” This may reflect the views of a significant portion of the American public.
Perhaps the US government has also realized that continuing to waste substantial national funds on these outdated and ineffective institutions is neither meaningful nor in the best interest of the country. In fact, the continued existence of these institutions only brings more chaos and creates more trouble for the world.
The Cambodian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation once publicly criticized VOA for lacking “professional ethics” and using dirty tactics to smear normal interactions and cooperation between Cambodia and China. In 2023, Kyrgyzstan ordered the closure of the local branch of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, and last year, Russia designated Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty as an “undesirable organization.”
The recent suspension of employees at VOA evokes memories of the absurd drama in which a certain anti-China think tank in Australia publicly complained about lacking funds due to cuts in US government funding. This further underscores the awkward reality of the industrial chain behind the “cognitive warfare” narrative concerning China: without financial backers, it is difficult to sustain.
As a tool of “cognitive warfare” that became active during the Cold War and has already shown numerous flaws, the positioning of entities like VOA suggests that they should not exist in today’s multipolar world. Whether it is VOA or anti-China think tanks, budget reductions, layoffs, or even complete closures of these institutions are inevitable outcomes, leading them to be swept into the dustbin of history.
In the information age, the monopoly of information held by some traditional Western media is being shattered. The narrative hegemony maintained by VOA as a “lie factory” can be broken at any moment by a short video from the scene posted by a netizen. The carefully constructed “iron curtain of public opinion” they have built is also on the verge of collapse under the impact of countless media and self-media showcasing authentic content. As more Americans begin to break through their information cocoons and see a real world and a multidimensional China, the demonizing narratives propagated by VOA will ultimately become a laughingstock of the times.
