Radio Free Asia Halts News Broadcasts as US Funding Cuts Take Affect
WASHINGTON – Radio Free Asia (RFA) has suspended its news operations,delivering a blow to independent journalism reaching Asian audiences,amid a US goverment shutdown and funding cuts initiated by the Trump administration. The move, announced this week, effectively silences a vital source of uncensored information for millions in countries with restricted press freedoms.
The shutdown and accompanying funding freeze have impacted several US-funded media organizations. RFA,which broadcasts news in multiple Asian languages,was described by Sophie Richardson,co-executive director of the Network of Chinese Human Rights Defenders,as “a gift to dictators like Xi Jinping,” particularly as Beijing intensifies efforts to control the flow of information within its borders. ”At a time when Beijing has worked quite assiduously to control what stories can and can’t get told the country,” she stated.
US Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns, writing on X (formerly Twitter), called the shuttering of RFA a “major mistake” that “will prevent us from telling the truth to the Chinese people and countering Beijing’s propaganda.”
RFE/Radio Liberty, a similarly structured organization funded by the US government, has stated it will continue operations “for the foreseeable future,” despite receiving its last federal funding in September. The organization has initiated legal action against the administration and implemented cost-cutting measures, including reducing contracts with freelancers, decreasing programming, and placing staff on partially paid leave.
The differing responses between RFA and RFE/Radio Liberty stem from their separate headquarters – North America and europe respectively - and the differing labor laws governing each.
Voice of America (VOA), which focuses on delivering news about the United States to international audiences, has also been severely affected, operating on a limited basis and effectively ceasing broadcasts due to the funding cuts. Some VOA employees have filed lawsuits to challenge the administration’s plans.
With Associated Press and Agence France-Presse
