CPJ stands with journalists harmed by Trump’s gutting of VOA, other outlets

President Donald Trump is seen leaving Trump International Golf Club on March 15, 2025, in West Palm Beach, Fla. CPJ has called on congressional leaders to support the agency funding Voice of America and Radio Free outlets after Trump signed an executive order on March 14 that decimated those groups. (Photo: AP/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
President Donald Trump is seen leaving Trump International Golf Club on March 15, 2025, in West Palm Beach, Fla. CPJ has called on congressional leaders to support the agency funding Voice of America and Radio Free outlets after Trump signed an executive order on March 14 that decimated those groups. (Photo: AP/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

The Committee to Protect Journalists stands in support of thousands of journalists and millions of citizens around the world impacted by President Donald Trump’s dismantling Voice of America’s (VOA) staff and termination of funding to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) and Radio Free Asia (RFA).

CPJ condemns a Trump executive order issued on March 14 that resulted in more than 1,300 employees being put on leave at VOA alone, and contract terminations at Radio Free outlets that would effectively end operations, and access to independent news for millions of citizens around the world.

In reiterating its call for congressional leaders to restore support for the parent funder of these outlets, the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), CPJ emphasized the dire consequences of Trump’s action for many journalists.

“This suffocation of independent media is already putting the lives of journalists – who have often withstood enormous challenges to bring news to millions living in censored countries – in grave danger,” said CPJ CEO Jodie Ginsberg.

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Also:
‘Mass suspensions’ at VOA after executive order

Rights groups call on FCC to end press freedom threats


Blogger jailed 15 years by al-Assad speaks of her freedom

Syrian journalist Tal al-Mallohi was arrested in 2009; she was freed after the fall of President Bashar al-Assad in December 2024. (Photo: Tal al-Mallohi)
Syrian journalist Tal al-Mallohi was arrested in 2009; she was freed after the fall of President Bashar al-Assad in December 2024. (Photo: Tal al-Mallohi)

When Syria’s Bashar al-Assad was ousted from power last December, Syrian journalist Tal al-Mallohi was among the thousands who poured out of the country’s jails.

Mallohi was 18 when detained after blogging about Palestinian rights and other political issues. She spoke to CPJ about her 15 years in prison, how she is coping with the way the world has changed, and what it means to be a journalist in post-Assad Syria.

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Also: In Syria, 3 news crews shot at, assaulted while covering deadly clashes


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The Committee to Protect Journalists promotes press freedom worldwide.

We defend the right of journalists to report the news safely and without fear of reprisal.

Journalists Attacked

Myat Thu Tan

MURDERED

Myat Thu Tan, a contributor to the local news website Western News and correspondent for several independent Myanmar news outlets, was shot and killed on January 31, 2024, while in military custody in Mrauk-U in Myanmar’s western Rakhine State.

He was arrested on September 22, 2022, and held in pre-trial detention under a broad provision of the penal code that criminalizes incitement and the dissemination of false news for critical posts he made on his Facebook page. Myat Thu Tan had not been tried or convicted at the time of his death.

The journalist’s body was found buried in a bomb shelter, with the bodies of six other political detainees, and showed signs of torture.

Myanmar’s military junta has cracked down on journalists and media outlets since seizing power in a February 2021 coup.

In at least 8 out of 10 cases, the murderers of journalists go free. CPJ is waging a global campaign against impunity.