After President Donald Trump “gutted” Voice of America (VOA), it may soon come back with a MAGA spin, according to multiple reports.
Trump-appointed loyalist Kari Lake to run the now-defunct outlet in December. In a late-night post, Lake, a former news anchor, announced a partnership between VOA and pro-Trump outlet One America News.
The announcement caught criticism of many within the media.
“We are not the voice of left America. We are not the voice of right America,” VOA’s White House Bureau Chief, Patsy Widakuswara said on X. “We are the Voice of America, and our independent journalism should not be outsourced to any outlet aligned to any president's agenda. #savevoa”
VOA editor Jessica Jerreat posted, “Congress mandated VOA to report reliable and authoritative news, not outsource its journalism.”
Both Widakuswara and Jerreat were sidelined when VOA cuts were announced.
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Washington Post media writer Scott Nover said, “.@KariLake announced that @VOANews will carry news content from the right-wing One America News Network. VOA staffers are outraged and said this violates the government-funded news broadcaster's congressional mandate.”
“Kari Lake - a former local TV news anchor turned unsuccessful two-time MAGA candidate for statewide office in Arizona - has embraced disproven election fraud claims. So has OAN,” NPR’s media correspondent David Folkenflik wrote.
“Kari Lake turning Voice of America into a pro-Trump propaganda machine by piping in OAN content is insanity,” Russell Drew chimed. “VOA was meant to represent American values abroad—not far-right disinformation. This is how democracies rot from the inside. A nightmare move by a nightmare figure.”
Journalist Bill Grueskin took to Bluesky, saying, “Under the guise of saving taxpayer money, Kari Lake is using free content from the conspiracy-laden, oft-sued OAN network to substitute for actual journalism from VOA reporters.”
“So, Keri Lake, leader of Voice of America, will replace the AP, Reuters, and Agence France Presse with OAN, Newsmax, and Joe Rogan...This certainly isn't about saving money…” activist Andrew Levesque said.