Voice of America#List of directors

File:Voice of America headquarters and United States Capitol.jpg

Before World War II, all American shortwave radio stations were in private hands.Berg, Jerome S. On the Short Waves, 1923–1945: Broadcast Listening in the Pioneer Days of Radio. 1999, McFarland. {{ISBN|0-7864-0506-6}}, p. 105 Privately controlled shortwave networks included the National Broadcasting Company's International Network (or White Network), which broadcast in six languages, the Columbia Broadcasting System's Latin American international network, which consisted of 64 stations located in 18 countries, the Crosley Broadcasting Corporation in Cincinnati, Ohio, and General Electric which owned and operated WGEO and WGEA, both based in Schenectady, New York, and KGEI in San Francisco, all of which had shortwave transmitters.Chamberlain, A.B. "CBS International Broadcast Facilities". Proceedings of the IRE, Volume 30, Issue 3, March 1942 pp. 118–129.Library of Congress. "NBC Resources Held by the Recorded Sound Section." [https://www.loc.gov/rr/record/recnbc.html Library of Congress] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180702121133/http://www.loc.gov/rr/record/recnbc.html |date=July 2, 2018 }} Experimental programming began in the 1930s, but there were fewer than 12 transmitters in operation.{{harvp|Dizard|2004|p=24}}

In 1939, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission set the following policy, which was intended to enforce the US State Department's Good Neighbor Policy, but which some broadcasters felt was an attempt to direct censorship:{{Cite web |title=NABusiness |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,771673-1,00.html |url-access=subscription |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080322072617/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,771673-1,00.html |archive-date=March 22, 2008 |work=Time Magazine}}

A licensee of an international broadcast station shall render only an international broadcast service which will reflect the culture of this country and which will promote international goodwill, understanding and cooperation. Any program solely intended for, and directed to an audience in the continental United States does not meet the requirements for this service.Rose, Cornelia Bruère. National Policy for Radio Broadcasting. 1971, Ayer Publishing. {{ISBN|0-405-03580-2}}. p. 244

Around 1940, shortwave signals to Latin America were regarded as vital to counter Nazi propaganda. Initially, the US Office of the Coordinator of Information sent releases to each station, but this was seen as an inefficient means of transmitting news. The director of Latin American relations at the Columbia Broadcasting System was Edmund A. Chester, and he supervised the development of CBS's extensive "La Cadena de las Américas" radio network to improve broadcasting to South America during the 1940s.[https://books.google.com/books?id=Qx00pQIkclMC&q=Edmund+Chester&pg=PA166 Dissonant Divas In Chicana Music: The Limits of La Onda] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230406003731/https://books.google.com/books?id=Qx00pQIkclMC&q=Edmund+Chester&pg=PA166 |date=April 6, 2023 }} Deborah R. Vargas. University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, 2012 {{ISBN|978-0-8166-7316-2}} pp. 152–153 Edmund Chester, CBS, Franklin Roosevelt and "La Cadena De Las Americas"

{{See also|Frank Shozo Baba}}{{external media|width=175px|image1="La Cadena de las Américas" – Edmund Chester CBS Radio Director in 1943
[https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/radio-director-of-shortwave-broadcasts-edmund-a-chester-and-news-photo/537936608?adppopup=true Here on Getty Images]|image2=The"Viva America" program on CBS Radio including vocalist Nestor Mesta Chayres in 1946
[https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/viva-america-a-cbs-radio-program-featuring-latin-america-news-photo/905998882?adppopup=true Here on Getty images]|image3= "Viva America" – CBS Radio and Alfredo Antonini, Conductor in 1946
[https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/viva-america-a-cbs-radio-program-featuring-latin-america-news-photo/905995866?adppopup=true Here on Getty Images]}}

Even before the December 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the U.S. government's Office of the Coordinator of Information (COI) had already begun providing war news and commentary to the commercial American shortwave radio stations for use on a voluntary basis, through its Foreign Information Service (FIS) headed by playwright Robert E. Sherwood, who served as President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's speech writer and information advisor.{{Cite web |last=Roberts |first=Walter R. |title=The Voice of America: Origins and Recollections |url=http://www.unc.edu/depts/diplomat/item/2009/1012/fsl/roberts_voice.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180426030633/https://www.unc.edu/depts/diplomat/item/2009/1012/fsl/roberts_voice.html |archive-date=April 26, 2018 |access-date=October 3, 2010}} Direct programming began a week after the United States' entry into World War II in December 1941, with the first broadcast from the San Francisco office of the FIS via General Electric's KGEI transmitting to the Philippines in English (other languages followed). The next step was to broadcast to Germany, which was called Stimmen aus Amerika ("Voices from America") and was transmitted on February 1, 1942. It was introduced by the “Battle Hymn of the Republic" and included the pledge: "Today, and every day from now on, we will be with you from America to talk about the war... The news may be good or bad for us – We will always tell you the truth."Roberts, Walter R. [http://www.unc.edu/depts/diplomat/item/2009/1012/fsl/roberts_voice.html UNC.edu] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180426030633/https://www.unc.edu/depts/diplomat/item/2009/1012/fsl/roberts_voice.html |date=April 26, 2018 }} See also: {{Cite web |last=Kern |first=Chris |title=A Belated Correction: The Real First Broadcast of the Voice of America |url=http://www.chriskern.net/essay/voaFirstBroadcast.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224123522/http://www.chriskern.net/essay/voaFirstBroadcast.html |archive-date=February 24, 2021 |access-date=October 3, 2010}} Roosevelt approved this broadcast, which then-Colonel William J. Donovan (COI) and Sherwood (FIS) had recommended to him. It was Sherwood who actually coined the term "The Voice of America" to describe the shortwave network that began its transmissions on February 1, from 270 Madison Avenue in New York City.

The Office of War Information, when organized in the middle of 1942, officially took over VOA's operations. VOA reached an agreement with the British Broadcasting Corporation to share medium-wave transmitters in Great Britain, and expanded into Tunis in North Africa and Palermo and Bari, Italy, as the Allies captured these territories. The OWI also set up the American Broadcasting Station in Europe.{{harvp|Dizard|2004|pp=24–25}} Asian transmissions started with one transmitter in California in 1941; services were expanded by adding transmitters in Hawaii and, after recapture, the Philippines.{{harvp|Dizard|2004|p=25}}

By the end of the war, VOA had 39 transmitters and provided service in 40 languages. Programming was broadcast from production centers in New York and San Francisco, with more than 1,000 programs originating from New York. Programming consisted of music, news, commentary, and relays of U.S. domestic programming, in addition to specialized VOA programming.{{Cite book |last1=Sterling |first1=Christopher H. |title=Stay Tuned: a History of American Broadcasting |last2=Kittross |first2=John Michael |publisher=Lawrence Erlbaum Associates |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-8058-2624-1 |edition=3rd |series=LEA's Communication Series |page=263}} About half of VOA's services, including the Arabic service, were discontinued in 1945.{{harvp|Rugh|2006|p=13}} In late 1945, VOA was transferred to the US Department of State.

Also included among the cultural diplomacy programming on the Columbia Broadcasting System was the musical show Viva America (1942–49) which featured the Pan American Orchestra and the artistry of several noted musicians from both North and South America, including Alfredo Antonini, Juan Arvizu, Eva Garza, Elsa Miranda, Nestor Mesta Chaires, Miguel Sandoval, John Serry Sr., and Terig Tucci.{{Cite book |last=Settel |first=Irving |title=A Pictorial History of Radio |publisher=Grosset & Dunlap |year=1967 |location=New York |page=146 |lccn=67-23789 |oclc=1475068 |orig-year=1960}}{{Cite book |editor1=Bronfman, Alejandra |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ehN4sM0Xy_UC&pg=PA49 |title=Media Sound & Culture in Latin America|editor2=Wood, Andrew Grant|publisher=University of Pittsburgh Press

|location=Pittsburgh |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-8229-6187-1 |page=49 }}{{Cite book |last=Anthony |first=Edwin D. |title=Records of the Office of Inter-American Affairs |publisher=National Archives and Record Services – General Services Administration |year=1973 |volume=Inventory of Record Group 229 |location=Washington D.C. |pages=25–26 |chapter=Records of the Radio Division |lccn=73-600146 |access-date=October 18, 2020 |chapter-url=https://www.archives.gov/files/research/foreign-policy/related-records/rg-229-inter-american-affairs.pdf#page=33 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202004731/https://www.archives.gov/files/research/foreign-policy/related-records/rg-229-inter-american-affairs.pdf#page=33 |archive-date=February 2, 2017 |url-status=live}} By 1945, broadcasts of the show were carried by 114 stations on CBS's "La Cadena de las Américas" network in 20 Latin American nations. These broadcasts proved to be highly successful in supporting President Roosevelt's policy of Pan-Americanism throughout South America during World War II.[https://books.google.com/books?id=Qx00pQIkclMC&q=ociaa&pg=PA166 Dissonant Divas in Chicana Music: The Limits of La Onda] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230406122859/https://books.google.com/books?id=Qx00pQIkclMC&q=ociaa&pg=PA166 |date=April 6, 2023 }} Deborah R. Vargas. University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, 2012 pp. 152–155 {{ISBN|978-0-8166-7316-2}} OCIAA (Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs), FDR's Good Neighbor Policy, CBS, Viva America, La Cadena de las Americas

File:Iron Curtain map.svg, in black:

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{{legend|#FF8282|Warsaw Pact countries}}}}]]

The VOA ramped up its operations during the Cold War.{{Cite web |date=February 24, 2023 |title=Voice of America |url=https://ohiomemory.ohiohistory.org/archives/5859 |website=Ohio Memory |publisher=Ohio History Connection, State Library of Ohio}} Foy Kohler, the director of VOA from 1949 to 1952, strongly believed that the VOA was serving its purpose, which he identified as aiding in the fight against communism.{{Cite journal |last=Kohler |first=Foy |date=1951 |title=The Effectiveness of the Voice of America |journal=The Quarterly of Film Radio and Television |volume=6 |issue=1 |pages=20–29 |doi=10.2307/1209931 |jstor=1209931 |hdl-access=free |hdl=2027/hvd.32044057212938}} He argued that the numbers of listeners they were getting such as 194,000 regular listeners in Sweden, and 2.1 million regular listeners in France, was an indication of a positive impact. As further evidence, he noted that the VOA received 30,000 letters a month from listeners all over the world, and hundreds of thousands of requests for broadcasting schedules.{{Cite journal |last=Kohler |first=Foy |date=1951 |title=Voice Of America |journal=Naval War College Information Service for Officers |volume=3 |issue=9 |pages=1–20 |jstor=44792598}} There was an analysis done of some of those letters sent in 1952 and 1953 while Kohler was still director. The study found that letter writing could be an indicator of successful, actionable persuasion. It was also found that broadcasts in different countries were having different effects. In one country, regular listeners adopted and practiced American values presented by the broadcast. Age was also a factor: younger and older audiences tended to like different types of programs, no matter the country.{{Cite journal |last=Herzog |first=H. |date=1952 |title=Listener Mail to the Voice of America |journal=The Public Opinion Quarterly |volume=16 |issue=4 |pages=607–611 |doi=10.1086/266423 |jstor=2746119}} Kohler used all of this as evidence to claim that the VOA helped to grow and strengthen the free world. It also influenced the UN in their decision to condemn communist actions in Korea, and was a major factor in the decline of communism in the "free world, including key countries such as Italy and France. In Italy, the VOA contributed to the decline of communism and a process of "Westernization".{{Cite journal |last=Tobia |first=S |date=2013 |title=Did the RAI buy it? The role and limits of American broadcasting in Italy in the Cold War |journal=Cold War History |volume=13 |issue=2 |pages=171–191 |doi=10.1080/14682745.2012.746665 |s2cid=154534690|url=http://americanae.aecid.es/americanae/es/registros/registro.do?tipoRegistro=MTD&idBib=3067296 }} The VOA also had an impact behind the Iron Curtain. Practically all defectors during Kohler's time said that the VOA helped in their decision to defect.{{Cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP65B00383R000100050038-7.pdf|title=Russian Defector Gives Witness to the Effectiveness of Voice of America|accessdate=March 3, 2025}} Another indication of impact, according to Kohler, was the Soviet response. Kohler argued that the Soviets responded because the VOA was having an impact. Based on Soviet responses, it can be presumed that the most effective programs were ones that compared the lives of those behind and outside the Iron Curtain, questions on the practice of slave labor, as well as lies and errors in Stalin's version of Marxism.

In 1947, VOA started broadcasting to the Soviet citizens in Russia under the pretext of countering "more harmful instances of Soviet propaganda directed against American leaders and policies" on the part of the internal Soviet Russian-language media, according to John B. Whitton's treatise, Cold War Propaganda.{{Cite journal |last=John B. Whitton |year=1951 |title=Cold War propaganda |journal=American Journal of International Law |volume=45 |issue=1 |pages=151–153 |doi=10.2307/2194791 |jstor=2194791 |s2cid=146989731}} The Soviet Union responded by initiating electronic jamming of VOA broadcasts on April 24, 1949.

Charles W. Thayer headed VOA in 1948–49.{{Cite web |title=Charles Thayer (1948–1949) |url=https://www.insidevoa.com/a/4488436.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220627012715/https://www.insidevoa.com/a/4488436.html |archive-date=June 27, 2022 |access-date=December 12, 2020 |website=VOA |date=July 18, 2018 |language=en}} Over the next few years, the U.S. government debated the best role of Voice of America. The decision was made to use VOA broadcasts as part of U.S. foreign policy to counter the propaganda of the Soviet Union and other countries. The Arabic service resumed on January 1, 1950, with a half-hour program. This program grew to 14.5 hours daily during the Suez Crisis of 1956, and was six hours a day by 1958. Between 1952 and 1960, Voice of America used a converted U.S. Coast Guard cutter Courier as a first mobile broadcasting ship.{{Cite web |last=Andrew Glass |title=Voice of America begins broadcasts to the Soviet Union, Feb. 17, 1947 |url=https://www.politico.com/story/2016/02/voice-of-america-begins-broadcasts-to-the-soviet-union-feb-17-1947-219288 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220627012650/https://www.politico.com/story/2016/02/voice-of-america-begins-broadcasts-to-the-soviet-union-feb-17-1947-219288 |archive-date=June 27, 2022 |access-date=December 12, 2020 |website=Politico |date=February 17, 2016 |language=en}}

file:Willis Conover 1969.jpg broadcasting with Voice of America in 1969]]

Control of VOA passed from the State Department to the U.S. Information Agency when the latter was established in 1953 to transmit worldwide, including to the countries behind the Iron Curtain and to the People's Republic of China. From 1955 until 2003, VOA broadcast American jazz on the Voice of America Jazz Hour. Hosted for most of that period by Willis Conover, the program had 30 million listeners at its peak. A program aimed at South Africa in 1956 broadcast two hours nightly, and special programs such as The Newport Jazz Festival were also transmitted. This was done in association with tours by U.S. musicians, such as Dizzy Gillespie, Louis Armstrong, and Duke Ellington, sponsored by the State Department.Appy, Christian G. Cold War Constructions: The Political Culture of United States Imperialism. 2000, University of Massachusetts Press; {{ISBN|1-55849-218-6}}, p. 126. From August 1952 through May 1953, Billy Brown, a high school senior in Westchester County, New York, had a Monday night program in which he shared everyday happenings in Yorktown Heights, New York. Brown's program ended due to its popularity: his "chatty narratives" attracted so much fan mail, VOA couldn't afford the $500 a month in clerical and postage costs required to respond to listeners' letters.{{Cite news |last=Folsom |first=Merrill |date=May 28, 1953 |title='Voice' to Drop Boy's Broadcasts; Can't Afford to Answer Fan Mail |work=The New York Times |volume=CII|issue=34823|page=1}} During 1953, VOA personnel were subjected to McCarthyist policies, where VOA was accused by Senator Joseph McCarthy, Roy Cohn, and Gerard David Schine of intentionally planning to build weak transmitting stations to sabotage VOA broadcasts. The charges were dropped after one month of court hearings in February and March 1953.{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/671648365 |title=Cold War broadcasting: impact on the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe : a collection of studies and documents |date=2010 |publisher=Central European University Press |editor1=A. Ross Johnson |editor2=R. Eugene Parta |author=Timothy Garton Ash |isbn=978-1-4416-7708-2 |location=Budapest |oclc=671648365}}

Sometime around 1954, VOA's headquarters were moved from New York to Washington D.C. The arrival of cheap, low-cost transistors enabled the significant growth of shortwave radio listeners. During the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, VOA's broadcasts were deemed controversial, as Hungarian refugees and revolutionaries thought that VOA served as a medium and insinuated the possible arrival of the Western aid.{{Cite journal |last=Uttaro |first=Ralph A. |date=1982 |title=The Voices of America in International Radio Propaganda |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1191297 |url-status=live |journal=Law and Contemporary Problems |volume=45 |issue=1 |pages=103–122 |doi=10.2307/1191297 |issn=0023-9186 |jstor=1191297 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220627133231/https://www.jstor.org/stable/1191297 |archive-date=June 27, 2022 |access-date=March 17, 2022}}

Throughout the Cold War, many of the targeted countries' governments sponsored jamming of VOA broadcasts, which sometimes led critics to question the broadcasts' actual impact. For example, in 1956, Polish People's Republic stopped jamming VOA transmissions,{{Cite journal |last=Varis |first=Tapio |date=1970 |title=The Control of Information by Jamming Radio Broadcasts |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/45083158 |url-status=live |journal=Cooperation and Conflict |volume=5 |issue=3 |pages=168–184 |doi=10.1177/001083677000500303 |issn=0010-8367 |jstor=45083158 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220627012650/https://www.jstor.org/stable/45083158 |archive-date=June 27, 2022 |access-date=December 12, 2020 |s2cid=145418504}} but People's Republic of Bulgaria continued to jam the signal through the 1970s. Edward R. Murrow said that: "The Russians spend more money jamming the Voice of America than we have to spend for the entire program of the entire Agency. They spend about $125 million

[${{Format price|{{Inflation|US|125000000|1966|r=-8}}}} in {{Inflation/year|US}}] a year jamming it."{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6joTAAAAIAAJ&dq=%22voice+of+america%22+-voanews+russia&pg=PA942|title=Postal Rate Revision of 1962: Hearings Before the Committee on Post Office and Civil Service, United States Senate, Eighty-seventh Congress, Second Session, on H.R. 7927, an Act to Adjust Postal Rates, and for Other Purposes, March 6, 13, 22; April 3, 10, 17; May 1, 21, 28; June 26; July 3, 10, 17, 24, 31; August 2, 7, 9, 14, 16, 21, and 23, 1962|first=United States Congress Senate Committee on Post Office and Civil|last=Service|date=February 12, 1962|publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office|via=Google Books}} Chinese-language VOA broadcasts were jammed beginning in 1956 and extending through 1976.Broadcasting Yearbook, 1976 and 1979 editions. After the collapse of the Warsaw Pact and the Soviet Union, interviews with participants in anti-Soviet movements verified the effectiveness of VOA broadcasts in transmitting information to socialist societies.Conference Report, Cold War Impact of VOA Broadcasts, Hoover Institution and the Cold War International History Project of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Oct. 13–16, 2004 The People's Republic of China diligently jams VOA broadcasts.{{Cite web |last=Bihlmayer |first=Ulrich |date=September 12, 2006 |title=Fighting the Chinese Government "Firedragon" – Music Jammer AND "Sound of Hope" Broadcasting (SOH), Taiwan |url=http://www.iarums-r1.org/iarums/prcdragon.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080216021842/http://www.iarums-r1.org/iarums/prcdragon.pdf |archive-date=February 16, 2008 |access-date=January 15, 2008 |publisher=IARU Region 1 Monitoring System}} Cuba has also been reported to interfere with VOA satellite transmissions to Iran from its Russian-built transmission site at Bejucal.{{Cite web |title=U.S.: Cuba Jamming TV Signals To Iran – Local News Story – WTVJ |url=http://www.nbc6.net/news/2334674/detail.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081224191817/http://www.nbc6.net/news/2334674/detail.html |archive-date=December 24, 2008 |access-date=January 15, 2008}} David Jackson, former director of Voice of America, noted: "The North Korean government doesn't jam us, but they try to keep people from listening through intimidation or worse. But people figure out ways to listen despite the odds. They're very resourceful."Jackson, David. "The Future of Radio II." World Radio TV Handbook, 2007 ed., Billboard Books. {{ISBN|0-8230-5997-9}}. p 38.

File:Martin Luther King Jr. addresses a crowd from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial (cropped).jpg addresses a crowd from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial where he delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech.|left]]

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Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, VOA covered some of the era's most important news, including Martin Luther King Jr.'s 1963 "I Have a Dream" speech,{{Cite book |last=Heil |first=Alan L. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vofsaBdqxWEC&pg=PA71 |title=Voice of America: A History |year=2003 |publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=978-0231126748}} the Assassination of John F. Kennedy, and Neil Armstrong's 1969 first walk on the Moon, which drew an audience estimated at between 615 and 750 million people. In 1973, due to the détente policies in the Cold War, Soviet jamming of the VOA ceased; it restarted in 1979.{{Cite web|url=https://repository.law.umich.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1841&context=mjil|title=Jamming and the Law of International Communications|accessdate=March 3, 2025}}file:Aldrin Apollo 11 original.jpg on the moon, in a photograph taken by Neil Armstrong, who can be seen in the visor reflection along with Earth{{cite web | last=Byrne. | first=Dave | title=Apollo 11 Image Library | website=hq.nasa.gov | date=2019-07-08 | url=https://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a11/images11.html#Mag37 | access-date=2021-06-10 | archive-date=February 24, 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200224163200/https://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a11/images11.html#Mag37 | url-status=live }}]]In the early 1980s, VOA began a $1.3 billion rebuilding program to improve broadcast with better technical capabilities. During the implementation of the Martial law in Poland between 1981 and 1983, VOA's Polish broadcasts expanded to seven hours daily. Throughout the 1980s, VOA focused on covering events from the "American hinterland", such as 150th anniversary of the Oregon Trail. Also in the 1980s, VOA also added a television service, as well as special regional programs to Cuba, Radio Martí and TV Martí. Cuba has consistently attempted to jam such broadcasts and has vociferously protested U.S. broadcasts directed at Cuba. In September 1980, VOA started broadcasting to Afghanistan in Dari and in Pashto in 1982.{{Cite web |title=VOA Broadcasting to Afghanistan |url=https://www.insidevoa.com/p/6455.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220515235847/https://www.insidevoa.com/p/6455.html |archive-date=May 15, 2022 |access-date=December 12, 2020 |website=VOA |language=en}} In 1981, VOA opened a bureau in Beijing, China.{{Cite book |last=Li |first=Hongshan |title=Fighting on the Cultural Front: U.S.-China Relations in the Cold War |date=2024 |publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=9780231207058 |location=New York, NY |pages=326 |doi=10.7312/li--20704 |jstor=10.7312/li--20704}} The next year, it began regular exchanges with Radio Peking.

In 1985, VOA Europe was created as a special service in English that was relayed via satellite to AM, FM, and cable affiliates throughout Europe. With a contemporary format including live disc jockeys, the network presented top musical hits as well as VOA news and features of local interest (such as "EuroFax") 24 hours a day. VOA Europe was closed down without advance public notice in January 1997 as a cost-cutting measure.{{Cite magazine |last=Holland |first=Bill |date=March 8, 1997 |title=VOA Europe: A Victim of Bureaucracy? |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qQ4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA61 |magazine=Billboard |volume=109 |issue=10 |access-date=June 3, 2020 |archive-date=February 1, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240201161336/https://books.google.com/books?id=qQ4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA61#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }} It was followed by VOA Express, which from July 4, 1999, revamped into VOA Music Mix.{{Cite book |last=Heil |first=Alan L. |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7312/heil12674 |title=Voice of America: A History |date=2003 |publisher=Columbia University Press |page=299 |jstor=10.7312/heil12674 |access-date=December 12, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220627020703/https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7312/heil12674 |archive-date=June 27, 2022 |url-status=live}} Since November 1, 2014, stations are offered VOA1 (which is a rebranding of VOA Music Mix).{{Cite web|url=https://zeno.fm/radio/voa1thehits/|title=Listen to VOA1|website=Zeno.FM}}

In 1989, Voice of America expanded its Mandarin and Cantonese programming to reach the millions of Chinese and inform the country about the pro-democracy movement within the country, including the demonstration in Tiananmen Square.{{Cite book |last=United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Foreign Relations. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/27408482 |title=The Radio Free China Act, S. 2985 : hearing before the Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate, One Hundred Second Congress, second session, September 15, 1992 |date=1992 |publisher=U.S. G.P.O. |isbn=0-16-039614-X |location=Washington |oclc=27408482 |access-date=December 12, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220509045840/http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/27408482 |archive-date=May 9, 2022 |url-status=live}} Starting in 1990, the U.S. consolidated its international broadcasting efforts, with the establishment of the Bureau of Broadcasting.{{Cite web |title=USAGM |url=https://www.usagm.gov/who-we-are/history/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220702010128/https://www.usagm.gov/who-we-are/history/ |archive-date=July 2, 2022 |access-date=December 12, 2020 |website=USAGM |language=en-US}}

With the breakup of the Soviet bloc in Eastern Europe, VOA added many additional language services to reach those areas. This decade was marked by the additions of services in Standard Tibetan, Kurdish (to Iran and Iraq), Serbo-Croatian (Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian), Macedonian, and Rwanda-Rundi.{{Cite book |title=VOA Guide: Voice of America English Broadcasts Worldwide |date=1998 |publication-place=University of Minnesota |publisher=VOA|page=8 |chapter=Voice of America broadcasts in 52 languages |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pJ7DpUe1SO4C&pg=PA8 |issue=1 |access-date=April 19, 2022 |archive-date=February 1, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240201161246/https://books.google.com/books?id=pJ7DpUe1SO4C&pg=PA8#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |title=VOA Language Service Fact Sheets |url=https://www.insidevoa.com/a/voa-fact-sheets/3780820.html#Eurasia |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220408170711/https://www.insidevoa.com/a/voa-fact-sheets/3780820.html#Eurasia |archive-date=April 8, 2022 |access-date=2022-04-19 |website=insidevoa.com |publisher=Voice of America Public Relations}}

In 1993, the Clinton administration advised cutting funding for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, as it believed post-Cold War information and influence was not needed in Europe. This plan was not well received, and US President Bill Clinton then proposed the compromise of the International Broadcasting Act, which he signed into law in 1994. This law established the International Broadcasting Bureau as a part of the United States Information Agency (USIA), and established the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) with oversight authority, which took control from the Board for International Broadcasters which previously had overseen funding for RFE/RL.Raghavan, Sudarsan V., Stephen S. Johnson, and Kristi K. Bahrenburg. "Sending cross-border static: on the fate of Radio Free Europe and the influence of international broadcasting," Journal of International Affairs, Vol. 47, 1993, access on March 25, 2011. In 1998, the Foreign Affairs Reform and Restructuring Act was signed into law, and mandated that the BBG become an independent federal agency as of October 1, 1999. This act also abolished the USIA, and merged most of its functions into those of the State Department.{{Cite web|url=https://www.archives.gov/research/foreign-policy/related-records/rg-306|title=Records of the United States Information Agency (RG 306)|date=August 15, 2016|website=National Archives}}

The Arabic Service was abolished in 2002 and replaced by a new radio service, called the Middle East Radio Network or Radio Sawa, with an initial budget of $22 million. Radio Sawa offered mostly Western and Middle Eastern popular songs with periodic brief news bulletins. It then expanded to television with Alhurra in February 2004 (and later to various social media and websites).{{Cite web |title=USAGM |url=https://www.usagm.gov/networks/mbn/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220703122757/https://www.usagm.gov/networks/mbn/ |archive-date=July 3, 2022 |access-date=July 23, 2019}} In May 2004, the US government's international English language TV service Worldnet, became part of VOA as "VOA TV".

As part of an effort to allocate resources to broadcasts in the Muslim world,{{Cite news |last=Lakshmi |first=Rama |date=September 12, 2008 |title=India Set to Lose Voice of America |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/11/AR2008091103305.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181228210333/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/11/AR2008091103305.html |archive-date=December 28, 2018 |access-date=December 3, 2014 |newspaper=The Washington Post}}{{Cite web |date=July 3, 2008 |title=Voice of America to Cut Language Services |url=https://www.propublica.org/article/voice-of-america-to-cut-language-services-709 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190611160646/https://www.propublica.org/article/voice-of-america-to-cut-language-services-709 |archive-date=June 11, 2019 |access-date=December 3, 2014 |publisher=propublica.org}} radio programs in Russian, Hindi, Ukrainian, Serbian, Macedonian and Bosnian ended in 2008. In September 2010, VOA began radio broadcasts in Sudan. As U.S. interests in South Sudan grew, there was a desire to provide people with free information.Abedje, Ashenafi. "Voice of America Expands its Sudan Programming," Voice of America News, September 17, 2010. Retrieved on March 25, 2011 In 2013, budget cuts led VOA to end foreign-language transmissions on shortwave and medium wave to Albania, Georgia, Iran, and Latin America, as well as English-language broadcasts to the Middle East and Afghanistan.{{Cite web |date=March 26, 2013 |title=VOA Reducing Radio Frequencies |url=http://www.insidevoa.com/content/voa-reducing-radio-frequencies/1629194.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150405082510/http://www.insidevoa.com/content/voa-reducing-radio-frequencies/1629194.html |archive-date=April 5, 2015 |access-date=December 3, 2014 |publisher=insidevoa.com}} Then, in 2014, most of its English-language transmissions to Asia were cut,{{Cite web |date=July 1, 2014 |title=Voice of America Makes More Cuts to International Shortwave Broadcast Schedule |url=http://www.arrl.org/news/voice-of-america-makes-more-cuts-to-international-shortwave-broadcast-schedule |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190331141645/http://www.arrl.org/news/voice-of-america-makes-more-cuts-to-international-shortwave-broadcast-schedule |archive-date=March 31, 2019 |access-date=December 3, 2014 |publisher=arrl.org}} as well as shortwave transmissions in Azerbaijani, Bengali, Khmer, Kurdish, Lao, Uzbek, and Greek.{{Cite web |date=August 11, 2014 |title=Voice of America Ends Greek Broadcasts |url=http://www.bbg.gov/blog/2014/08/11/voice-of-america-ends-greek-broadcasts/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140816115316/http://www.bbg.gov/blog/2014/08/11/voice-of-america-ends-greek-broadcasts/ |archive-date=August 16, 2014 |access-date=December 3, 2014 |publisher=bbg.gov}}{{Cite web |date=August 12, 2014 |title=After 72 years on air, VOA's Greek Service goes silent |url=http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite6_1_12/08/2014_542099 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140819233735/http://ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite6_1_12/08/2014_542099 |archive-date=August 19, 2014 |access-date=December 3, 2014 |publisher=Kathimerini}}

In 1994, Voice of America became the first broadcast-news organization to offer continuously updated programs on the Internet.{{Cite web |last=Kern |first=Chris |title=The Voice of America: First on the Internet |url=http://www.chriskern.net/history/voaFirstOnTheInternet.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070709043008/http://www.chriskern.net/history/voaFirstOnTheInternet.html |archive-date=July 9, 2007 |access-date=January 15, 2008}}

From 1948 until its amendment in 2013, Voice of America was forbidden to broadcast directly to American citizens, pursuant to § 501 of the Smith–Mundt Act.{{Cite news |last=Chuck |first=Elizabeth |date=July 20, 2013 |title=Taxpayer money at work: US-funded foreign broadcasts finally available in the US |url=http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/07/20/19502580-taxpayer-money-at-work-us-funded-foreign-broadcasts-finally-available-in-the-us |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130723104400/http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/07/20/19502580-taxpayer-money-at-work-us-funded-foreign-broadcasts-finally-available-in-the-us |archive-date=July 23, 2013 |work=NBC News}} The intent of the 1948 legislation was to protect the American public from propaganda by its own government and to avoid any competition with private American companies.Broderick, James F., and Darren W. Miller. Consider the Source: A Critical Guide to 100 prominent news and information sites on the Web. Medford, NJ: Information Today, 2007. {{ISBN|978-0-910965-77-4}}, p. 388. The act was amended via the passage of the Smith-Mundt Modernization Act provision of the National Defense Authorization Act for 2013.{{Cite news |last=Hudson |first=John |date=July 14, 2013 |title=U.S. Repeals Propaganda Ban, Spreads Government-Made News to Americans |url=http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2013/07/12/us_backs_off_propaganda_ban_spreads_government_made_news_to_americans |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130716002319/http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2013/07/12/us_backs_off_propaganda_ban_spreads_government_made_news_to_americans |archive-date=July 16, 2013 |access-date=July 16, 2013 |work=Foreign Policy}} The amendment was intended to adapt the law to the Internet and to allow American citizens access to VOA content.{{Cite web |date=April 3, 2017 |title=VOA Through the Years |url=https://www.insidevoa.com/a/3794247.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220513105818/https://www.insidevoa.com/a/3794247.html |archive-date=May 13, 2022 |access-date=December 2, 2018}}

VOA Radiogram was an experimental Voice of America program that started in March 2013 and ended in June 2017, which transmitted digital text and images via shortwave radiograms.{{cite web |title=VOA Radiogram |url=https://voaradiogram.net/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240201161243/https://voaradiogram.net/ |archive-date=February 1, 2024 |access-date=11 August 2023 |website=Tumblr}}{{Cite web |title=VOA Radiogram |url=http://voaradiogram.net/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140518080209/http://voaradiogram.net/ |archive-date=May 18, 2014 |access-date=April 15, 2014 |publisher=VOA Radiogram}} There were 220 editions of the program, transmitted each weekend from the Edward R. Murrow transmitting station. The audio tones that comprised the bulk of each 30-minute program were transmitted via an analog transmitter, and could be decoded using a basic AM shortwave receiver with freely downloadable software of the Fldigi family. This software was available for Windows, macOS, Linux, and FreeBSD systems. Broadcasts could also be decoded using the free TIVAR app from the Google Play store using any Android device. The mode used most often on VOA Radiogram, for both text and images, was MFSK32, but other modes were also occasionally transmitted. The final edition of VOA Radiogram was transmitted during the weekend of June 17–18, 2017, a week before the retirement of the program producer from VOA. An offer to continue the broadcasts on a contract basis was declined, so a follow-on show called Shortwave Radiogram began transmission on June 25, 2017, from the WRMI transmitting site in Okeechobee, Florida.{{Cite web |title=VOA Radiogram, 20–21 May 2017: Special doomed edition |url=http://voaradiogram.net/post/160839098787/voa-radiogram-20-21-may-2017-special-doomed |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170626230952/http://voaradiogram.net/post/160839098787/voa-radiogram-20-21-may-2017-special-doomed |archive-date=June 26, 2017 |access-date=June 26, 2017 |website=VOA Radiogram}}[http://swradiogram.net/post/162168963047/shortwave-radiogram-25-june-2017-first-show Shortwave Radiogram, 25 June 2017: First show. Holding my breath.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170626193433/http://swradiogram.net/post/162168963047/shortwave-radiogram-25-june-2017-first-show|date=June 26, 2017}} VOA Radiogram Official Site

In 2021, Voice of America launched 52 Documentary, a series that publishes weekly films about human experiences.{{Cite web |date=December 9, 2021 |title=VOA Launches New Documentary Series |url=https://www.insidevoa.com/a/6346520.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220522065347/https://www.insidevoa.com/a/6346520.html |archive-date=May 22, 2022 |access-date=2022-08-22 |website=VOA |language=en}} The series is presented on the streaming app, VOA+, and YouTube. Films average 10–15 minutes and are translated with captions in several languages, including Russian, Persian, Mandarin, Urdu, and English. Euna Lee directs the program.{{Cite web |last=Shahbaz |first=Ali |title=Looking For Diverse Human Stories? Watch This Compelling New Documentary |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/alishahbaz/2022/02/07/looking-for-diverse-human-stories-watch-this-compelling-new-documentary/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220822152222/https://www.forbes.com/sites/alishahbaz/2022/02/07/looking-for-diverse-human-stories-watch-this-compelling-new-documentary/ |archive-date=August 22, 2022 |access-date=2022-08-22 |website=Forbes |language=en}}

After the January 2017 inauguration of US President Donald Trump, tweets by Voice of America seemed to support debunked claims by White House press secretary Sean Spicer about the crowd size and related media coverage. This raised concerns over possible attempts by Trump to politicize VOA.[https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/01/26/voice-of-america-says-it-wont-become-trump-tv/ Voice of America says it won't become Trump TV] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180818125538/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/01/26/voice-of-america-says-it-wont-become-trump-tv/|date=August 18, 2018}}, The Washington Post[http://www.politico.com/story/2017/01/donald-trump-voice-america-234078 Trump moves to put his own stamp on Voice of America] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170331114406/http://www.politico.com/story/2017/01/donald-trump-voice-america-234078|date=March 31, 2017}}, Politico[https://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-ol-voice-of-america-cold-war-bennett-20170215-htmlstory.html Can Donald Trump turn Voice of America into his own private megaphone?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308101933/https://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-ol-voice-of-america-cold-war-bennett-20170215-htmlstory.html|date=March 8, 2021}}, LA Times[http://www.salon.com/2017/01/24/donald-trump-sends-two-aides-to-voice-of-america-studios-raising-fears-hes-going-to-politicize-the-outlet/ Donald Trump sends two aides to Voice of America studios, raising fears he's going to politicize the outlet] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170331031358/http://www.salon.com/2017/01/24/donald-trump-sends-two-aides-to-voice-of-america-studios-raising-fears-hes-going-to-politicize-the-outlet/|date=March 31, 2017}}, Salon An Obama-era law gave the powers of the board of the Broadcasting Board of Governors to a CEO appointed by the president, and Trump's selection of aides to work with the CEO - a former writer for the right-wing website The Daily Surge and a field director from Americans for Prosperity - during the presidential transition, raised concerns about VOA being transformed into a more traditional state propaganda platform. VOA officials responded with assurances that they would not become "Trump TV", citing existing laws that prevent interference in editorial processes.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, claims and messaging by the Trump administration diverged from that of public health experts and journalists.{{cite news |last1=Superville |first1=Darlene |last2=Woodward |first2=Calvin |date=March 4, 2020 |title=A disconnect between Trump and health officials on COVID-19 |url=https://apnews.com/7b4368cae934785657acac1f09873505 |access-date=May 15, 2020 |work=Associated Press}}{{cite news |last1=Paz |first1=Christian |date=April 27, 2020 |title=All the President's Lies About the Coronavirus |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/04/trumps-lies-about-coronavirus/608647/ |access-date=May 10, 2020 |work=The Atlantic}} In April 2020, the White House published an article in its daily newsletter critical of VOA coverage of the coronavirus pandemic.{{Cite web |date=April 10, 2020 |title=Amid a Pandemic, Voice of America Spends Your Money to Promote Foreign Propaganda |url=https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/articles/amid-a-pandemic-voice-of-america-spends-your-money-to-promote-foreign-propaganda/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210120200021/https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/articles/amid-a-pandemic-voice-of-america-spends-your-money-to-promote-foreign-propaganda/ |archive-date=January 20, 2021 |access-date=June 16, 2020 |website=whitehouse.gov |via=National Archives |quote=Even worse, while much of the U.S. media takes its lead from China, VOA went one step further: It created graphics with Communist government statistics to compare China's Coronavirus death toll to America's.}} Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) press official Michawn Rich sent a memo to agency employees telling them to deny interview requests by VOA.{{Cite news |last=Jerreat |first=Jessica |date=June 14, 2020 |title=CDC Media Guidance Blacklists VOA Interview Requests |url=https://www.voanews.com/a/press-freedom_cdc-media-guidance-blacklists-voa-interview-requests/6191106.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200903204825/https://www.voanews.com/press-freedom/cdc-media-guidance-blacklists-voa-interview-requests |archive-date=September 3, 2020 |access-date=June 16, 2020 |publisher=Voice of America}} When VOA reported that Vice President Mike Pence's office required the press to wear masks to cover his visit to the Mayo Clinic, his office then threatened retaliation against the reporter, according to the Washington Post.{{Cite news |last=Farhi |first=Paul |date=April 30, 2020 |title=Pence's staff threatens action against reporter who tweeted about visit to clinic without surgical mask |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/media/pence-staff-threatens-action-against-reporter-who-tweeted-about-visit-to-clinic-without-surgical-mask/2020/04/30/27c63056-8b0a-11ea-9df-990f9dcc71fc_story.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200830161659/https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/media/pence-staff-threatens-action-against-reporter-who-tweeted-about-visit-to-clinic-without-surgical-mask/2020/04/30/27c63056-8b0a-11ea-9dfd-990f9dcc71fc_story.html |archive-date=August 30, 2020 |access-date=September 3, 2020 |newspaper=The Washington Post}}

On June 3, 2020, the US Senate confirmed Michael Pack, a conservative documentarian and close ally of Steve Bannon, to serve as head of the US Agency for Global Media, which oversees VOA.{{Cite news |last=Edmondson |first=Catie |date=June 4, 2020 |title=Senate Confirms Conservative Filmmaker to Lead U.S. Media Agency |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/04/us/politics/senate-confirms-michael-pack-voa.html |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200604204058/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/04/us/politics/senate-confirms-michael-pack-voa.html |archive-date=2020-06-04 |access-date=June 20, 2020 |work=The New York Times}} Subsequently, Director Bennet and deputy director Sandy Sugawara resigned from VOA. On June 17, the heads of VOA's Middle East Broadcasting, Radio Free Asia, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and the Open Technology Fund were all fired, their boards were dissolved, and external communications from VOA employees required approval from senior agency personnel in what one source described as an "unprecedented" move.{{Cite news |last1=Hansler |first1=Jennifer |last2=Stelter |first2=Brian |date=June 18, 2020 |title='Wednesday night massacre' as Trump appointee takes over at global media agency |url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/17/media/us-agency-for-global-media-michael-pack/index.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210215031602/https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/17/media/us-agency-for-global-media-michael-pack/index.html |archive-date=February 15, 2021 |access-date=June 18, 2020 |work=CNN}} Four former members of the advisory boards filed suit challenging Pack's standing to fire them.{{Cite news |last=Folkenflik |first=David |date=June 26, 2020 |title=Citing A Breached 'Firewall,' Media Leaders Sue U.S. Official Over Firings |url=https://www.npr.org/2020/06/24/882654831/citing-a-breached-firewall-media-leaders-sue-u-s-official-over-firings |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200628201042/https://www.npr.org/2020/06/24/882654831/citing-a-breached-firewall-media-leaders-sue-u-s-official-over-firings |archive-date=June 28, 2020 |access-date=June 29, 2020 |publisher=National Public Radio}} On July 9, NPR reported VOA would not renew the work visas of dozens of non-resident reporters, many of whom could face repercussions in their home countries.{{Cite news |last=Folkenflik |first=David |date=July 9, 2020 |title=U.S. Broadcasting Agency Will Not Extend Visas For Its Foreign Journalists |url=https://www.npr.org/2020/07/09/889301025/u-s-broadcasting-agency-will-not-extend-visas-for-its-foreign-journalists |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200710213127/https://www.npr.org/2020/07/09/889301025/u-s-broadcasting-agency-will-not-extend-visas-for-its-foreign-journalists |archive-date=July 10, 2020 |access-date=July 11, 2020 |publisher=National Public Radio}} In late July, four contractors and the head of VOA's Urdu-language service were suspended after a video featuring extensive clips from a Muslim-American voter conference, including a campaign message from then-Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, was determined not to meet editorial standards and taken down.{{Cite news |last=Lippman |first=Daniel |date=July 30, 2020 |title=Deleted Biden video sets off a crisis at Voice of America |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2020/07/30/deleted-biden-video-sets-off-a-crisis-at-voice-of-america-388571 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200807132338/https://www.politico.com/news/2020/07/30/deleted-biden-video-sets-off-a-crisis-at-voice-of-america-388571 |archive-date=August 7, 2020 |access-date=August 14, 2020 |publisher=Politico}} The Post reported that VOA Spanish-language service White House correspondent's Brigo Segovia's interview with an official about the administration's response to Pack's personnel and other moves had been censored and his own access to VOA's computer system restricted.{{Cite news |last1=Ellison |first1=Sarah |last2=Farhi |first2=Paul |date=September 2, 2020 |title=New Voice of America overseer called foreign journalists a security risk. Now the staff is revolting. |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/new-voice-of-america-overseer-called-foreign-journalists-a-security-risk-now-the-staff-is-revolting/2020/09/01/da7fa0a8-eba2-11ea-ab4e-581edb849379_story.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200903033621/https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/new-voice-of-america-overseer-called-foreign-journalists-a-security-risk-now-the-staff-is-revolting/2020/09/01/da7fa0a8-eba2-11ea-ab4e-581edb849379_story.html |archive-date=September 3, 2020 |access-date=September 3, 2020 |newspaper=The Washington Post}}

In response to Pack's August 27 interview with The Federalist website, a group of VOA journalists sent a letter to VOA Acting Director Elez Biberaj complaining that Pack's "comments and decisions 'endanger the personal security of VOA reporters at home and abroad, as well as threatening to harm U.S. national security objectives.{{' "}}{{Cite news |last=Folkenflik |first=David |date=August 31, 2020 |title=Voice of America Journalists: New CEO Endangers Reporters, Harms U.S. Aims |url=https://www.npr.org/2020/08/31/907764105/voice-of-america-journalists-new-ceo-endangers-reporters-harms-u-s-aims |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200903033622/https://www.npr.org/2020/08/31/907764105/voice-of-america-journalists-new-ceo-endangers-reporters-harms-u-s-aims |archive-date=September 3, 2020 |access-date=September 3, 2020 |publisher=National Public Radio}} VOA's response indicated the journalists may be punished for sending the letter.

On September 29, six senior USAGM officials filed a whistleblower complaint in which they alleged that Pack or one of his aides had ordered research conducted into the voting history of at least one agency employee, which would be a violation of laws protecting civil servants from undue political influence.{{Cite news |last=Lippman |first=Daniel |date=September 30, 2020 |title=6 whistleblowers allege misconduct by government media boss |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2020/09/30/whistleblowers-allege-misconduct-agency-for-global-media-423758 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201005112909/https://www.politico.com/news/2020/09/30/whistleblowers-allege-misconduct-agency-for-global-media-423758 |archive-date=October 5, 2020 |access-date=October 7, 2020 |publisher=Politico}} NPR reported that two Pack aides had compiled a report on VOA White House bureau chief Steven L. Herman's social media postings and other writings in an attempt to charge him with a conflict of interest, and that the agency released a conflict of interest policy stating in part that a "journalist who on Facebook 'likes' a comment or political cartoon that aggressively attacks or disparages the President must recuse themselves from covering the President."{{Cite news |last=Folkenflik |first=David |date=October 4, 2020 |title=VOA White House Reporter Investigated For Anti-Trump Bias By Political Appointees |url=https://www.npr.org/2020/10/04/919266194/political-aides-investigate-voa-white-house-reporter-for-anti-trump-bias |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201007012527/https://www.npr.org/2020/10/04/919266194/political-aides-investigate-voa-white-house-reporter-for-anti-trump-bias |archive-date=October 7, 2020 |access-date=October 7, 2020 |publisher=National Public Radio}} A preliminary injunction issued on November 20 barred Pack "from making personnel decisions involving journalists at the networks; from directly communicating with editors and journalists employed by them; and from investigating any editors or news stories produced by them," and characterized the investigation of Herman as an "unconstitutional prior restraint" of his, his editors', and fellow journalists' free speech.{{Cite news |last=Farhi |first=Paul |date=November 20, 2020 |title=Judge slaps down Trump appointee who has sought to reshape Voice of America and related agencies |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/media/judge-slaps-down-trump-appointee-who-has-sought-to-reshape-voice-of-america-and-related-agencies/2020/11/21/125d285a-2baa-11eb-92b7-6ef17b3fe3b4_story.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201121055435/https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/media/judge-slaps-down-trump-appointee-who-has-sought-to-reshape-voice-of-america-and-related-agencies/2020/11/21/125d285a-2baa-11eb-92b7-6ef17b3fe3b4_story.html |archive-date=November 21, 2020 |access-date=November 21, 2020 |newspaper=The Washington Post}}

Suspended officials from Voice of America sued the agency news outlet on October 8. They accused Pack of using Voice of America as a vehicle to promote the personal agenda of President Trump and of violating a statutory firewall intended to prevent political interference with the agency, and they sought their reinstatement.[https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-politics-michael-pack-lawsuits-district-of-columbia-15dcdd15d92bd8ce2c07fab82a6c6070 Suspended officials sue agency that runs Voice of America] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201009171737/https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-politics-michael-pack-lawsuits-district-of-columbia-15dcdd15d92bd8ce2c07fab82a6c6070|date=October 9, 2020}}, Associated Press (AP), October 9, 2020In November 2020, US District Court Judge Beryl Howell found Pack violated the First Amendment rights of Voice of America journalists.{{Cite web |last=Robertson |first=Nicky |date=November 22, 2020 |title=Judge rules Voice of America head curbed First Amendment rights of journalists |url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/21/business/voice-of-america-violated-journalists-rights/index.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201122025551/https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/21/business/voice-of-america-violated-journalists-rights/index.html |archive-date=November 22, 2020 |access-date=November 22, 2020 |website=CNN}}

In December 2020, The Washington Post reported that Pack was refusing to cooperate with President-elect Biden's transition team and, in an end run around the court order, had persuaded VOA Acting Director Biberaj to step down, replacing him with Robert Reilly, a former VOA director who had written critically of Muslims, gays, and lesbians.{{Cite news |last=Farhi |first=Paul |date=December 9, 2020 |title=Voice of America interim director pushed out by Trump-appointed overseer in final flurry of actions to assert control |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/media/voice-of-america-director-fired-trump-michael-pack/2020/12/08/3d9539f4-3997-11eb-98c4-25dc9f4987e8_story.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201209030816/https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/media/voice-of-america-director-fired-trump-michael-pack/2020/12/08/3d9539f4-3997-11eb-98c4-25dc9f4987e8_story.html |archive-date=December 9, 2020 |access-date=December 9, 2020 |newspaper=The Washington Post}}{{Cite news |last=Farhi |first=Paul |date=December 8, 2020 |title=Trump appointee who oversees Voice of America refuses to cooperate with Biden transition team |url=https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-appointee-who-oversees-voice-of-america-refuses-to-cooperate-with-biden-transition-team/ar-BB1bK51F |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201208175329/https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-appointee-who-oversees-voice-of-america-refuses-to-cooperate-with-biden-transition-team/ar-BB1bK51F |archive-date=December 8, 2020 |access-date=December 9, 2020 |newspaper=The Washington Post}} On December 19, 33 days before President-elect Biden's inauguration, Pack named Ted Lipien, a former VOA veteran journalist who had since become an outspoken critic of the platform, as head of RFE/RL, and Breitbart writer Jeffrey Scott Shapiro as head of the Office of Cuba Broadcasting.{{Cite news |last=Folkenflik |first=David |date=January 22, 2021 |title=USAGM Chief Fires Trump Allies Over Radio Free Europe And Other Networks |url=https://www.npr.org/2021/01/22/959848852/usagm-chief-fires-trump-allies-over-radio-free-europe-and-other-networks |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220217230144/https://www.npr.org/2021/01/22/959848852/usagm-chief-fires-trump-allies-over-radio-free-europe-and-other-networks |archive-date=February 17, 2022 |access-date=February 17, 2022 |publisher=National Public Radio}}{{Cite web |last=USAGM |date=December 18, 2020 |title=Ted Lipien returns to U.S. international broadcasting as head of RFE/RL |url=https://www.usagm.gov/2020/12/18/ted-lipien-returns-to-u-s-international-broadcasting-as-head-of-rfe-rl/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220217230148/https://www.usagm.gov/2020/12/18/ted-lipien-returns-to-u-s-international-broadcasting-as-head-of-rfe-rl/ |archive-date=February 17, 2022 |access-date=February 17, 2022 |website=U.S. Agency for Global Media}}{{Cite news |last=Farhi |first=Paul |date=December 18, 2020 |title=Trump appointee names conservative allies to run Radio Free Europe and Cuba broadcast agency |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/media/radio-free-europe-marti-michael-pack/2020/12/18/1c48f86c-418f-11eb-8db8-395dedaaa036_story.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201220002303/https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/media/radio-free-europe-marti-michael-pack/2020/12/18/1c48f86c-418f-11eb-8db8-395dedaaa036_story.html |archive-date=December 20, 2020 |access-date=December 20, 2020 |newspaper=The Washington Post}}{{Cite news |last=Matthew Lee |date=December 18, 2020 |title=Pro-Trump shakeups continue at VOA's parent agency |url=https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-donald-trump-michael-pack-f779133aeb9ab6d3abdec63e104f1c4c |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210501211817/https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-donald-trump-michael-pack-f779133aeb9ab6d3abdec63e104f1c4c |archive-date=May 1, 2021 |access-date=May 1, 2021 |work=Associated Press}} Pack attempted to add contractual language that would make it impossible to fire the broadcasting board members he had installed for two years, but it was withdrawn after inquiries from media and Congress.{{Cite news |last=Folkenflik |first=David |date=December 30, 2020 |title=Trump Appointee Seeks Lasting Control Over Radio Free Europe, Radio Free Asia |url=https://www.npr.org/2020/12/30/951126591/trump-appointee-seeks-lasting-control-over-radio-free-europe-radio-free-asia |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210115075446/https://www.npr.org/2020/12/30/951126591/trump-appointee-seeks-lasting-control-over-radio-free-europe-radio-free-asia |archive-date=January 15, 2021 |access-date=January 14, 2021 |publisher=National Public Radio}}

File:Secretary Pompeo Delivers Remarks at the Voice of America (50828046222).jpg speaks at VOA headquarters in January 2021.]]

On January 11, 2021, VOA interim director Reilly ordered veteran reporter Patsy Widakuswara off the White House beat. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo gave a speech critical of VOA and conducted an interview with VOA Director Robert Reilly about the dangers of censorship, then did not take permit press questions to Widakuswara followed Pompeo out, trying to ask questions.{{Cite news |last1=Gaouette |first1=Nicole |last2=Hansler |first2=Jennifer |last3=Atwood |first3=Kylie |date=January 13, 2021 |title=Voice of America reassigns White House reporter who tried to ask Mike Pompeo a question |url=https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/12/media/voa-reassigns-reporter/index.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211023050054/https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/12/media/voa-reassigns-reporter/index.html |archive-date=October 23, 2021 |access-date=23 October 2021 |work=CNN}}{{Cite news |last=Folkenflik |first=David |date=January 12, 2021 |title=Voice Of America White House Reporter Reassigned After Questioning Pompeo |url=https://www.npr.org/2021/01/12/955976976/voice-of-america-white-house-reporter-reassigned-after-questioning-pompeo |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211019173808/https://www.npr.org/2021/01/12/955976976/voice-of-america-white-house-reporter-reassigned-after-questioning-pompeo |archive-date=October 19, 2021 |access-date=23 October 2021 |work=NPR}}{{Cite news |last=Oktavianti |first=Tri Indah |date=January 16, 2021 |title=Patsy Widakuswara: Jakarta native asking Trump administration tough questions |url=https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2021/01/16/patsy-widakuswara-jakarta-native-asking-trump-administration-tough-questions.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211023051850/https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2021/01/16/patsy-widakuswara-jakarta-native-asking-trump-administration-tough-questions.html |archive-date=October 23, 2021 |access-date=23 October 2021 |work=The Jakarta Post}}{{Cite news |last=Farhi |first=Paul |date=January 12, 2021 |title=Voice of America reassigns White House reporter after she sought to question Mike Pompeo |url=https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/voice-of-america-reassigns-white-house-reporter-after-she-sought-to-question-mike-pompeo/ar-BB1cFBq5 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112064458/http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/voice-of-america-reassigns-white-house-reporter-after-she-sought-to-question-mike-pompeo/ar-BB1cFBq5 |archive-date=January 12, 2021 |access-date=January 12, 2021 |newspaper=The Washington Post |publisher=MSN News}} In response, dozens of VOA journalists, including Widakuswara, wrote and circulated a petition calling on Reilly and public affairs specialist Elizabeth Robbins to resign.{{Cite news |last=Farhi |first=Paul |date=January 14, 2021 |title=Voice of America journalists demand resignation of news agency's top leadership |url=https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/voice-of-america-journalists-demand-resignation-of-news-agencys-top-leadership/ar-BB1cLd9b |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114194616/http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/voice-of-america-journalists-demand-resignation-of-news-agencys-top-leadership/ar-BB1cLd9b |archive-date=January 14, 2021 |access-date=January 14, 2021 |newspaper=The Washington Post}} In a statement, U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Gregory Meeks and ranking member Michael McCaul supported her reinstatement.

As of 2024, the audience was larger than the next-largest international broadcaster, the BBC World Service.{{Cite news |date=March 19, 2025 |title=Donald Trump shoots his own global mouthpiece |url=https://www.economist.com/international/2025/03/19/donald-trump-shoots-his-own-global-mouthpiece |access-date=2025-05-08 |newspaper=The Economist |issn=0013-0613}}

On January 19, the last full day of the Trump presidency, Pack named a slate of five directors to head each of the three USAGM boards for RFE/RL, Radio Free Asia, and Middle East Broadcasting Networks: conservative radio talk show host Blanquita Cullum, Liberty Counsel officer Johnathan Alexander, former White House staffer Amanda Milius, conservative writer Roger Simon, and Center for the National Interest Fellow Christian Whiton.{{Cite web |title=USAGM CEO Michael Pack names Board of Directors |url=https://www.usagm.gov/2021/01/19/usagm-ceo-michael-pack-names-board-of-directors/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210119224436/https://www.usagm.gov/2021/01/19/usagm-ceo-michael-pack-names-board-of-directors/ |archive-date=January 19, 2021 |access-date=January 20, 2021 |website=usagm.com |publisher=US Agency for Global Media}} The following day, Pack resigned at the request of the Biden administration.{{Cite news |last=Lee |first=Matthew |date=January 20, 2021 |title=Trump global broadcasting chief quits amid VOA staff revolt |url=https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-donald-trump-media-michael-pack-4c3796bf47085218b94ac7a080634bf1 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210121033456/https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-donald-trump-media-michael-pack-4c3796bf47085218b94ac7a080634bf1 |archive-date=January 21, 2021 |access-date=January 20, 2021 |publisher=Associated Press}} On January 21, Shapiro resigned from the Office of Cuba Broadcasting. Biden named veteran VOA journalist Kelu Chao to replace Pack. Chao in turn dismissed Riley and Robbins from VOA, naming Yolanda Lopez, another VOA veteran, as acting director; Lopez had also been reassigned in the wake of the Pompeo interview.{{Cite news |last=Farhi |first=Paul |date=January 21, 2021 |title=At Voice of America, a sweeping ouster of Trump officials on Biden's first full day |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/media/at-voice-of-america-a-sweeping-ouster-of-trump-officials-on-bidens-first-full-day/2021/01/21/4827f3cc-5c2c-11eb-8bcf-3877871c819d_story.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210122010722/https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/media/at-voice-of-america-a-sweeping-ouster-of-trump-officials-on-bidens-first-full-day/2021/01/21/4827f3cc-5c2c-11eb-8bcf-3877871c819d_story.html |archive-date=January 22, 2021 |access-date=January 22, 2021 |newspaper=The Washington Post}} On January 22, the Biden administration fired Victoria Coates and her deputy Robert Greenway from the Middle East Broadcasting Networks, naming Kelley Sullivan as acting head.{{Cite news |last=Lippman |first=Daniel |date=January 21, 2021 |title=Biden administration ousts Victoria Coates, who was falsely accused of being 'Anonymous' |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2021/01/22/biden-victoria-coates-anonymous-461532 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210123015315/https://www.politico.com/news/2021/01/22/biden-victoria-coates-anonymous-461532 |archive-date=January 23, 2021 |access-date=January 23, 2021 |work=Politico}}{{Cite news |last=Lee |first=Matthey |date=January 23, 2021 |title=More heads roll at US-funded international broadcasters |url=https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-donald-trump-cuba-media-middle-east-052e16ac28ac264e3ed9b17eb6bf5031 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210124012812/https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-donald-trump-cuba-media-middle-east-052e16ac28ac264e3ed9b17eb6bf5031 |archive-date=January 24, 2021 |access-date=January 24, 2021 |publisher=Associated Press}}

In December 2024, Donald Trump, as president-elect, announced Kari Lake would be his choice for VOA Director. Lake had called for imprisoning journalists whose reporting she called "lies",{{Cite news |last=Dale |first=Daniel |author-link=Daniel Dale |date=October 16, 2021 |title=Fact-checking Kari Lake, serial promoter of election lies and early frontrunner in GOP primary for Arizona governor |url=https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/16/politics/fact-check-kari-lake-arizona-governor-election-lies/index.html |access-date=October 17, 2021 |publisher=CNN}} called for imprisoning a political opponent,

lost elections for Arizona governor and senator, advanced false claims around both her and Trump's election losses and left her previous job with the Phoenix, Arizona, affiliate of Fox News after controversies including spreading COVID-19 misinformation.{{cite news |last1=Treisman |first1=Rachel |last2=Folkenflik |first2=David |date=12 December 2024 |title=Trump says Kari Lake will lead Voice of America. He attacked it during his first term |url=https://www.npr.org/2024/12/12/nx-s1-5226920/voice-of-america-kari-lake-voa |access-date=14 December 2024 |publisher=National Public Radio}} Though the president may make a nomination, under the International Broadcasting Act only the International Broadcasting Advisory Board has the authority to approve the appointment or removal of the VOA Director.{{cite web |title=Statute, ByLaws, and Functions |url=https://www.ibab.gov/about-us/statute-bylaws-and-functions/ |access-date=14 December 2024 |website=www.ibab.gov |publisher=International Broadcasting Advisory Board}}{{cite news |last1=VOA News |title=Trump names Kari Lake as choice for VOA director |url=https://www.voanews.com/a/trump-names-kari-lake-as-choice-for-voa-director/7899195.html |access-date=14 December 2024 |publisher=Voice of America}}

In February 2025, Elon Musk, the functional leader of DOGE,{{Cite web |last1=Shalal |first1=Andrea |last2=Bose |first2=Nandita |date=February 20, 2025 |title=Trump appears to contradict White House, says Elon Musk in charge of DOGE |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-appears-contradict-white-house-says-elon-musk-charge-doge-2025-02-20/ |access-date=March 23, 2025 |website=Reuters}} called for VoA and Radio Free Europe to shut down,{{cite news |last1=Pravda |first1=Ukrainska |author-link1= |date=February 9, 2025 |title=Elon Musk calls for Radio Free Europe and Voice of America to be shut down |url=https://finance.yahoo.com/news/elon-musk-calls-shutting-down-171116744.html |url-access= |access-date=March 7, 2025 |work= |publisher=Yahoo! Finance |location= |publication-place= |publication-date=February 9, 2025 |arxiv= |asin= |asin-tld= |bibcode= |doi= |isbn= |issn= |jfm= |jstor= |lccn= |mr= |oclc= |ol= |osti= |pmc= |pmid= |rfc= |ssrn= |zbl= |id= |quote=American billionaire Elon Musk, who heads the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has called for the US-funded radio stations Radio Free Europe and Voice of America to be shut down. |trans-quote= |bibcode-access= |doi-access= |hdl-access= |jstor-access= |ol-access= |osti-access= |script-work= |trans-work= |biorxiv= |citeseerx= |eissn= |hdl= |ismn= |medrxiv= |pmc-embargo-date= |sbn= |s2cid= |s2cid-access= |archive-format= |quote-page= |quote-pages= |script-quote=}} coming after previously made suggestions by other government officials to shutter the agency.{{cite news |last1=Robinson |first1=Dan |author-link1= |date=February 11, 2016 |title=Shut Down the Voice of America? |script-title= |trans-title= |url=https://www.uscpublicdiplomacy.org/blog/shut-down-voice-america |url-access= |access-date=March 7, 2025 |publisher=USC Center on Public Diplomacy |publication-place= |publication-date=February 11, 2016 |via= |arxiv= |asin= |asin-tld= |bibcode= |doi= |isbn= |issn= |jfm= |jstor= |lccn= |mr= |oclc= |ol= |osti= |pmc= |pmid= |rfc= |ssrn= |zbl= |id= |quote= |trans-quote= |bibcode-access= |doi-access= |hdl-access= |jstor-access= |ol-access= |osti-access= |trans-work= |biorxiv= |citeseerx= |eissn= |hdl= |ismn= |medrxiv= |pmc-embargo-date= |sbn= |s2cid= |s2cid-access= |archive-format= |quote-page= |quote-pages= |script-quote=}}{{cite news |last1=Belida |first1=Alex |author-link1= |name-list-style= |date=February 11, 2017 |title=The Fate of VOA in the Balance |script-title= |trans-title= |url=https://www.uscpublicdiplomacy.org/blog/fate-voa-balance |url-access= |access-date=March 7, 2025 |publisher=USC Center on Public Diplomacy |edition= |publication-place= |publication-date=February 11, 2017 |via= |arxiv= |asin= |asin-tld= |bibcode= |doi= |isbn= |issn= |jfm= |jstor= |lccn= |mr= |oclc= |ol= |osti= |pmc= |pmid= |rfc= |ssrn= |zbl= |id= |quote= |trans-quote= |bibcode-access= |doi-access= |hdl-access= |jstor-access= |ol-access= |osti-access= |title-link= |trans-work= |biorxiv= |citeseerx= |eissn= |hdl= |ismn= |medrxiv= |pmc-embargo-date= |sbn= |s2cid= |s2cid-access= |archive-format= |quote-page= |quote-pages= |script-quote=}} In February and March 2025, it was reported that at VOA, a chief national correspondent was placed on paid absence and veteran reporter Patsy Widakuswara was reassigned from the White House beat. Widakuswara had been given the same reassignment during the first Trump administration, which was reversed under Biden.{{Cite news |last=Beitsch |first=Rebecca |date=January 22, 2021 |title=VOA reinstates White House reporter reassigned after questioning Pompeo |url=https://thehill.com/policy/international/535387-voa-reinstates-white-house-reporter-reassigned-for-questioning-pompeo |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211023061637/https://thehill.com/policy/international/535387-voa-reinstates-white-house-reporter-reassigned-for-questioning-pompeo |archive-date=October 23, 2021 |access-date=23 October 2021 |work=The Hill}} At the same time, it was also reported that at least two articles containing criticism of Trump were not published or were changed after publication. A Trump administration official, Richard Grenell, called the VOA chief correspondent's comments "treasonous" in a post on X.{{Cite news |last1=Enrich |first1=David |last2=Kim |first2=Minho |date=2025-02-28 |title=Voice of America Journalists Face Investigations for Trump Comments |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/28/business/media/voice-of-america-trump.html |access-date=2025-03-16 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite news |last=Folkenflik |first=David |author-link=David Folkenflik |date=2025-03-01 |title=Voice of America bias inquiry sparks concerns of political meddling |url=https://www.npr.org/2025/03/01/g-s1-51489/voice-of-america-bias-inquiry |access-date=2025-03-16 |work=NPR |language=en}}

File:VOA Burmese Myanmar Evening 2025-03-15.webm

On the night of March 14, Trump signed an executive order, calling the agency "the Voice of Radical America" and reducing the functions of several agencies including the U.S. Agency for Global Media to the minimum required by law.{{Cite web |date=2025-03-15 |title=Trump signs order to gut staff at Voice of America and other US-funded media organizations |url=https://apnews.com/article/trump-voice-of-america-cuts-3faf72e620dbc5f42e5508a2b9d8c8da |access-date=2025-03-19 |website=AP News |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=2025-03-15 |title=Continuing the Reduction of the Federal Bureaucracy |url=https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/continuing-the-reduction-of-the-federal-bureaucracy/ |access-date=2025-03-19 |website=The White House |language=en-US}} The next day, all employees could not access VOA headquarters, and many VOA foreign language broadcasts replaced news and other regularly scheduled programming with music.{{Cite web |last1=Schick |first1=Camilla |last2=Gómez |first2=Fin Daniel |last3=Jiang |first3=Weijia |date=2025-03-17 |title=Voice of America's full-time staff and contractors placed on leave following Trump directive |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-signs-order-to-cut-staff-at-voice-of-america-media/ |access-date=2025-03-19 |website=CBS News |language=en-US}} More than 1,300 Voice of America employees were placed on leave. VOA has also set about ending contracts with the Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse. Kari Lake, the special advisor to the USAGM selected by Trump, estimated ending these contracts would save $53 million.{{Cite web |last=Bauder |first=David |date=2025-03-14 |title=Voice of America ending contracts with Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France Presse |url=https://apnews.com/article/voa-government-media-contracts-2bd47cf0c1bbcdc5cbe08eea030c1454 |access-date=2025-03-16 |website=AP News |language=en}} Michael Abramowitz, the director of VOA, said in a Facebook post on March 15, that he was also placed on leave, along with “virtually the entire staff” of 1,300. The announcement came exactly 24 hours after President Trump signed an executive order to gut VOA’s parent agency as well as the network having a move to terminate contracts with The Associated Press, Reuters, and Agence France-Presse. Some of VOA’s local-language radio stations have stopped broadcasting news reports and switched over to music automation to fill the airtime.{{Cite web |last=Stelter |first=Brian |author-link=Brian Stelter |date=2025-03-15 |title=Voice of America channels fall silent as Trump administration guts agency and cancels contracts |url=https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/15/media/voice-of-america-trump-cuts/index.html |access-date=2025-03-16 |website=CNN Business |language=en}} The decision to cut the service, which has primarily served to counter propaganda in authoritarian countries, was met with praise from Russian state media pundits and condemnation by Reporters Without Borders, who said it sends a "chilling signal" to China and Russia that they "now have free rein to spread their propaganda unchecked."{{Cite news |last=Sanger |first=David E. |date=2025-03-22 |title=How Elon Musk's DOGE Cuts Leave a Vacuum That China Can Fill |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/22/us/politics/elon-musk-doge-china.html |access-date=2025-03-23 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite web |date=2025-03-17 |title=Russian TV celebrates Trump's "awesome" move to shut down Voice of America |url=https://www.newsweek.com/russian-tv-trump-shut-down-voice-america-2045867 |access-date=2025-03-23 |website=Newsweek |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=2025-03-17 |title=VOA journalists sound off on 'betrayal' after Trump dismantles broadcaster |url=https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-media-voice-america-bloody-saturday-b2716583.html |access-date=2025-03-23 |website=The Independent |language=en}}

In response, lawsuits were filed against the Trump administration in March 2025. One lawsuit noted that some VOA employees were foreign nationals with J-1 visas and faced risks to their safety if they were forced to return to their home countries if their visas were to be revoked due to loss of employment. In March 2025, the District Court for the Southern District of New York issued a temporary restraining order, preventing the Trump administration from carrying out any further actions resulting from the executive order, including terminating staff, ending contracts or closing offices.{{cite web | url=https://www.justsecurity.org/109984/voice-of-america-litigation/ | title=Unpacking the Voice of America Litigation | date=April 10, 2025 }}{{Cite web | title=Archived copy | url=https://www.justsecurity.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/3-Widakuswara-v-Kari-Lake-tro.pdf | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250331130938/https://www.justsecurity.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/3-Widakuswara-v-Kari-Lake-tro.pdf | archive-date=2025-03-31}}

On April 22, 2025, a federal ruling from the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ordered the Trump administration to restore VOA and return its employees and contractors to work.{{Cite news |last=Feng |first=Emily |date=2025-04-22 |title=Judge blocks Trump administration plans to dismantle Voice of America |url=https://www.npr.org/2025/04/22/nx-s1-5372530/voa-trump-radio-free-asia |access-date=2025-05-04 |work=NPR |language=en}} On May 3, the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit blocked the ruling in a 2-1 decision citing a lack of jurisdiction by the district court.{{Cite web |last=Shepardson |first=David |date=May 3, 2025 |title=US court halts ruling ordering Voice of America employees back to work |url=https://www.reuters.com/legal/us-court-halts-ruling-ordering-voice-america-employees-back-work-2025-05-03/ |access-date=May 4, 2025 |website=Reuters}}

On May 6, 2025, Kari Lake announced that One America News (OAN), a far-right, pro-Trump network known for promoting conspiracy theories, will provide news coverage for VOA.

File:Voice of America (18183).jpg

•   1941–1942 Robert E. Sherwood (Foreign Information Service)

{{div col|colwidth=20em}}

1. 1942–1943: John Houseman
2. 1943–1945: Louis G. Cowan
3. 1945–1946: John Ogilvie
4. 1948–1949: Charles W. Thayer
5. 1949–1952: Foy D. Kohler
6. 1952–1953: Alfred H. Morton
7. 1953–1954: Leonard Erikson
8. 1954–1956: John R. Poppele
9. 1956–1958: Robert E. Burton
10. 1958–1965: Henry Loomis
11. 1965–1967: John Chancellor
12. 1967–1968: John Charles Daly
13. 1969–1977: Kenneth R. Giddens
14. 1977–1979: R. Peter Straus
15. 1980–1981: Mary G. F. Bitterman
16. 1981–1982: James B. Conkling
17. 1982: John Hughes
18. 1982–1984: Kenneth Tomlinson
19. 1985: Gene Pell
20. 1986–1991: Dick Carlson
21. 1991–1993: Chase Untermeyer
22. 1994–1996: Geoffrey Cowan
23. 1997–1999: Evelyn S. Lieberman
24. 1999–2001: Sanford J. Ungar
25. 2001–2002: Robert R. Reilly
26. 2002–2006: David S. Jackson
27. 2006–2011: Danforth W. Austin
28. 2011–2015: David Ensor
29. 2016–2020: Amanda Bennett
30. 2020–2021: Robert R. Reilly
31. 2021–2024: vacant
32. 2024–present: Michael Abramowitz

{{end div col}}

The current director, Michael Abramowitz, assumed the position in July 2024. He previously served as president of Freedom House and spent nearly 25 years as a reporter and editor for The Washington Post.{{Cite news |last=Robertson |first=Katie |date=2024-04-19 |title=Voice of America Will Get a New Director |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/19/business/media/voice-of-america-director.html |access-date=2024-07-23 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}

In December 2024, president-elect Trump announced he would name former news anchor Kari Lake to be the director of VOA.{{Cite web |date=December 12, 2024 |title=Trump picks hardline Republican Kari Lake to lead Voice of America |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-picks-hardline-republican-kari-lake-lead-voice-america-2024-12-12/ |website=Reuters}} Under the International Broadcasting Act only the International Broadcasting Advisory Board has the authority to approve the appointment or removal of the VOA Director.

Voice of America has been a part of several agencies. From its founding in 1942 to 1945, it was part of the Office of War Information, and then from 1945 to 1953 as a function of the State Department. VOA was placed under the U.S. Information Agency in 1953. When the USIA was abolished in 1999, VOA was placed under the BBG which is an autonomous U.S. government agency, with bipartisan membership. The Secretary of State has a seat on the BBG.{{harvp|Rugh|2006|p=14}} The BBG was established as a buffer to protect VOA and other U.S.-sponsored, non-military, international broadcasters from political interference. It replaced the Board for International Broadcasting (BIB) that oversaw the funding and operation of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, a branch of VOA.

Voice of America's editorial policies are intended to cultivate a reputation for accuracy.{{Cite web |title=Voice of America Goes Quiet. And, Apocalypse Now? {{!}} On the Media |url=https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/otm/articles/voice-of-america-goes-quiet-and-apocalypse-now?tab=transcript |access-date=2025-03-26 |website=WNYC Studios |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=2025-01-17 |title=Voice of America is required by law to report the news accurately. Could Donald Trump change that? |url=https://apnews.com/article/voice-america-democracy-trump-lake-fake-news-90039c76a8915d7906f5d7608c9e05f4 |access-date=2025-03-26 |website=AP News |language=en}} It has enacted several policies over time to reduce the ability of politicians to interfere.

Under the Eisenhower administration in 1959, VOA Director Henry Loomis commissioned a formal statement of principles to protect the integrity of VOA programming and define the organization's mission, and was issued by Director George V. Allen as a directive in 1960 and was endorsed in 1962 by USIA director Edward R. Murrow.{{harvp|Rugh|2006|pp=13–14}} VOA's charter was signed into law by President Gerald Ford.{{Rp|page=218}} The charter requires it to "present the policies of the United States clearly and effectively."{{Cite journal |last=Workneh |first=Téwodros W. |date=2019-06-26 |title=Journalistic Autonomy in Voice of America's Amharic Service: Actors, Deterrents, and Safeguards |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1461670x.2019.1634484 |journal=Journalism Studies |volume=21 |issue=2 |pages=217–235 |doi=10.1080/1461670x.2019.1634484 |issn=1461-670X}}{{Rp|page=218}} Academics including Téwodros W. Workneh have described this as a public diplomacy function.{{Rp|page=218}} VOA's charter also requires it to be "a reliable and authoritative source of news" which "shall be accurate, objective, and comprehensive".{{Rp|page=218}} According to former VOA correspondent Alan Heil, the internal policy of VOA News is that any story broadcast must have two independently corroborating sources or have a staff correspondent witness an event.Columbia University Press. [http://www.columbia.edu/cu/cup/publicity/heilinterview.html Interview with Alan Heil, author of Voice of America] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070706051252/http://www.columbia.edu/cu/cup/publicity/heilinterview.html|date=July 6, 2007}}

The Voice of America "Firewall" was put into place with the 1976 VOA Charter and laws passed in 1994 and 2016. The firewall's aim is to guard against propaganda while promoting unbiased and objective journalistic standards in the agency.{{Cite web |date=July 2, 2019 |title=VOA and the Firewall – Law for More than 40 Years |url=https://docs.voanews.eu/en-US-INSIDE/2019/07/02/a2cdade1-ffb3-41b5-a086-2a09861ae452.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190723154331/https://docs.voanews.eu/en-US-INSIDE/2019/07/02/a2cdade1-ffb3-41b5-a086-2a09861ae452.pdf |archive-date=July 23, 2019 |access-date=July 23, 2019 |website=VOA}}{{Cite news |last=Beitsch |first=Rebecca |date=April 6, 2021 |title=In departure from Trump, State affirms editorial freedom of Voice of America |url=https://thehill.com/policy/international/546793-in-departure-from-trump-state-affirms-editorial-freedom-of-voice-of |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220701170614/https://thehill.com/policy/international/546793-in-departure-from-trump-state-affirms-editorial-freedom-of-voice-of/ |archive-date=July 1, 2022 |access-date=23 October 2021 |work=The Hill}}

File:VOA SiteB building.JPG, the VOA broadcasting station in North Carolina's Inner Banks]]

File:2009-0725-CA-Delano-VOArelay.jpg Transmitting Station was closed in 2007.]]

The Bethany Relay Station, operational from 1944 to 1994, was based on a {{convert|625|acre|km2|adj=on}} site in Union Township (now West Chester Township) in Butler County, Ohio, near Cincinnati.{{Cite web |title=Voice of America – Ohio History Central |url=http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/w/Voice_of_America |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181202155050/http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/w/Voice_of_America |archive-date=December 2, 2018 |access-date=December 2, 2018 |website=ohiohistorycentral.org |language=en}} Major transmitter upgrades first were undertaken around 1963, when shortwave and medium-wave transmitters were built, upgraded, or rebuilt. The site is now a recreational park with a Voice of America museum. Other former sites include California (Dixon and Delano), Hawaii, Okinawa, Liberia (Monrovia), Costa Rica, Belize, and at least two in Greece (Kavala and Rhodos).

Between 1983 and 1990, VOA made significant upgrades to transmission facilities in Botswana (Selebi-Phikwe), Morocco, Thailand (Udon Thani), Kuwait, and São Tomé (Almas).{{Cite news |title=VOA Through the Years |url=https://www.insidevoa.com/a/3794247.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220513105818/https://www.insidevoa.com/a/3794247.html |archive-date=May 13, 2022 |access-date=December 2, 2018 |work=VOA |language=en}} Some of them are shared with Radio Liberty and Radio Free Asia.

VOA and USAGM continue to operate shortwave radio transmitters and antenna farms at International Broadcasting Bureau Greenville Transmitting Station (known as "Site B") in the United States, close to Greenville, North Carolina. They do not use FCC-issued call signs, since the FCC does not regulate communications by other federal government agencies. The International Broadcasting Bureau also operates transmission facilities on São Tomé and Tinang, Concepcion, Tarlac, Philippines, for VOA.{{Cite web |date=September 2007 |title=Report of Inspection: The International Broadcasting Bureau's Philippines Transmitting Station |url=https://www.stateoig.gov/system/files/104117.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210617071115/https://www.stateoig.gov/system/files/104117.pdf |archive-date=June 17, 2021 |access-date=August 27, 2021 |publisher=United States Department of State and the Broadcasting Board of Governors Office of Inspector General}}

The Voice of America website had five English-language broadcasts as of 2014 (worldwide, Learning English, Cambodia, Zimbabwe, and Tibet). Additionally, the VOA website has versions in 48 foreign languages.{{Cite web |title=USAGM |url=https://www.usagm.gov/networks/voa/ |website=USAGM}}

Radio programs are marked with an "R"; television programs with a "T":

{{div col|colwidth=10em}}

1. Afan Oromo ^{{small|R}}
2. Albanian ^{{{small|R, T}}}
3. Amharic ^{{small|R}}
4. Armenian ^{{small|T}}
5. Azerbaijani ^{{small|T}}
6. Bambara ^{{small|R}}
7. Bangla ^{{{small|R, T}}}
8. Bosnian ^{{small|T}}
9. Burmese ^{{{small|R, T}}}
10. Cantonese ^{{{small|R, T}}}
11. Dari Persian ^{{{small|R, T}}}
12. English ^{{{small|R, T}}}
13. French ^{{{small|R, T}}}
14. Georgian ^{{small|R}}
15. Haitian Creole ^{{small|R}}
16. Hausa ^{{small|R}}
17. Indonesian ^{{{small|R, T}}}
18. Khmer ^{{{small|R, T}}}
19. Kinyarwanda ^{{small|R}}
20. Kirundi
21. Korean ^{{small|R}}
22. Kurdish ^{{small|R}}
23. Lao ^{{small|R}}
24. Lingala ^{{small|R}}
25. Macedonian ^{{small|T}}
26. Mandarin ^{{{small|R, T}}}
27. Ndebele
28. Pashto ^{{small|T}}
29. Persian ^{{{small|R, T}}}
30. Portuguese ^{{small|R}}
31. Rohingya
32. Russian ^{{small|T}}
33. Sango ^{{small|R}}
34. Serbian ^{{small|T}}
35. Shona ^{{small|R}}
36. Sindhi
37. Somali ^{{small|R}}
38. Spanish ^{{{small|R, T}}}
39. Swahili ^{{small|R}}
40. Thai ^{{small|R}}
41. Tibetan ^{{{small|R, T}}}
42. Tigrinya ^{{small|R}}
43. Turkish ^{{small|T}}
44. Ukrainian ^{{small|T}}
45. Urdu ^{{{small|R, T}}}
46. Uzbek ^{{{small|R, T}}}
47. Vietnamese ^{{{small|R, T}}}
48. Wolof

{{div col end}}

The number of languages varies according to the priorities of the United States government and the world situation.{{Cite web |title=FAQs, How do you make decisions to cut or add languages or programs? |url=http://www.bbg.gov/about-the-agency/history/faqs/#q8 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141201064438/http://www.bbg.gov/about-the-agency/history/faqs/#q8 |archive-date=December 1, 2014 |access-date=December 3, 2014 |publisher=bbg.gov}}{{Cite web |title=VOA Languages |url=https://docs.voanews.eu/en-US-INSIDE/2019/06/25/7719dfbe-792c-4f43-9759-f24100444dca.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211125045325/https://docs.voanews.eu/en-US-INSIDE/2019/06/25/7719dfbe-792c-4f43-9759-f24100444dca.pdf |archive-date=November 25, 2021 |access-date=August 27, 2021 |publisher=Voice of America}}

Voice of America is generally seen by scholars and listeners as having a positive impact and serving as US diplomacy, while others see it as American propaganda.{{Cite web |last=Robinson |first=Dan |date=March 30, 2017 |title=Spare the indignation: Voice of America has never been independent |url=https://www.cjr.org/opinion/broadcasting_board_of_governors_house_trump.php |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220520112752/https://www.cjr.org/opinion/broadcasting_board_of_governors_house_trump.php |archive-date=May 20, 2022 |access-date=June 25, 2022 |website=Columbia Journalism Review}} Voice of America has attended to more remote areas that are poorly covered by other media, helping to boost democracy efforts by shining a spotlight on autocrats so the people can make them accountable.{{Cite news |last=Grynbaum |first=Michael M. |date=2025-03-28 |title=U.S. Judge Orders Halt to Trump's Effort to Dismantle Voice of America |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/28/business/media/voice-of-america-lawsuit-trump.html |access-date=2025-05-08 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite web |date=2025-03-28 |title=Voice of America wins in court, for now, as judge blocks Trump administration from firing staff |url=https://apnews.com/article/voice-of-america-trump-a1ed0ad37917055a1565da5325bd4fd8 |access-date=2025-05-08 |website=AP News |language=en}}

A study was done on Chinese students in America. It found that through the VOA, they disapproved of the actions of the Chinese government.{{Cite journal |last=Zhang |first=Lena Liqing |date=2002 |title=Are They Still Listening? Reconceptualizing the Chinese Audience of the Voice of America in the Cyber Era. |url=https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals%2Fjradstud9&div=31&id=&page= |url-status=live |journal=Journal of Radio Studies |volume=9 |issue=2 |pages=317–337 |url-access=subscription |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220627020703/https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals%2Fjradstud9&div=31&id=&page= |archive-date=June 27, 2022 |access-date=November 29, 2020}} Another study was done on Chinese scholars in America, and found that the VOA had an effect on their political beliefs. Their political beliefs did not change in relation to China, though, as they did not tend to believe the VOA's reports on China.{{Cite journal |last1=Zhang |first1=Liquing |last2=Dominick |first2=Joseph R. |date=1998 |title=Penetrating the Great Wall: the ideological impact of Voice of America newscasts on young Chinese intellectuals of the 1980s |journal=Journal of Radio Studies |volume=5 |issue=1 |pages=82–101 |doi=10.1080/19376529809384531}}

In February 2013, a documentary released by China Central Television interviewed a Tibetan alleged self-immolator who survived his suicide attempt. The interviewee said he was motivated by Voice of America's broadcasts of commemorations of people who committed suicide in political self-immolation. VOA denied instigating self-immolations and demanded that the Chinese station retract its report.{{Cite news |last=Flanagan |first=Ed |date=February 7, 2013 |title=Chinese documentary alleges US broadcaster incites Tibetan self-immolations |url=http://behindthewall.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/07/16878280-chinese-documentary-alleges-us-broadcaster-incites-tibetan-self-immolations |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130210005405/http://behindthewall.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/07/16878280-chinese-documentary-alleges-us-broadcaster-incites-tibetan-self-immolations |archive-date=February 10, 2013 |access-date=February 26, 2013 |work=Behind the Wall |publisher=NBC News}}File:Guo Wen-gui in April 2017.jpg]]

On April 19, 2017, the VOA Mandarin Service interviewed Chinese real estate tycoon Guo Wengui in a live broadcast. The government of China warned VOA representatives not to interview Guo about his "unsubstantiated allegations".{{Cite web |last=Shih |first=Gerry |date=April 20, 2017 |title=China says Interpol notice issued for outspoken tycoon Guo |url=https://apnews.com/article/8dd2d876a4ec4fcc964aa8c79874bcde |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220914203808/https://apnews.com/article/8dd2d876a4ec4fcc964aa8c79874bcde |archive-date=September 14, 2022 |access-date=December 12, 2020 |website=Associated Press}}{{Cite web |title=China says Interpol notice issued for outspoken tycoon Guo |url=https://www.yahoo.com/news/china-says-interpol-notice-issued-billionaire-guo-wengui-095609234.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181226092137/https://www.yahoo.com/news/china-says-interpol-notice-issued-billionaire-guo-wengui-095609234.html |archive-date=December 26, 2018 |website=Yahoo! News |publisher=Associated Press}} During the interview, Guo said he had evidence of corruption among the members of the Politburo Standing Committee of China, the highest political authority of China. It was then abruptly halted by VOA leadership less than half-way into the three-hour interview. Guo's allegations involved Fu Zhenhua and Wang Qishan (a member of the Politburo Standing Committee, and the leader of the anti-graft movement).[https://qz.com/968941/what-you-need-to-know-about-chinas-most-wanted-man/ China's most wanted man is in the United States] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190831113006/https://qz.com/968941/what-you-need-to-know-about-chinas-most-wanted-man/|date=August 31, 2019}}. Quartz. The following August, four U.S. Congressmen requested an investigation into the event, with the Office of Inspector General (OIG) concluding that the VOA leadership decision to curtail the Guo interview was based solely on journalistic best practices, rather than due to any pressure from the Chinese government.{{Cite web |date=September 30, 2017 |title=Members of Congress request OIG investigation of VOA and BBG handling of Guo Wengui interview |url=http://bbgwatch.com/bbgwatch/members-of-congress-request-oig-investigation-of-voa-and-bbg-handling-of-guo-wengui-interview-exclusive/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190725144425/http://bbgwatch.com/bbgwatch/members-of-congress-request-oig-investigation-of-voa-and-bbg-handling-of-guo-wengui-interview-exclusive/ |archive-date=July 25, 2019 |access-date=October 4, 2017 |website=BBG Watch}} Another investigation by Mark Feldstein, Chair of Broadcast Journalism at the University of Maryland, College Park, came to similar conclusions, criticizing the VOA Mandarin Service interview team for not following instructions by VOA leadership.{{Cite news |title=VOA fires journalist over interview with Chinese exile |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/erik-wemple/wp/2018/12/03/voa-fires-journalist-over-interview-with-chinese-exile/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201204211706/https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/erik-wemple/wp/2018/12/03/voa-fires-journalist-over-interview-with-chinese-exile/ |archive-date=December 4, 2020 |access-date=August 3, 2021 |newspaper=The Washington Post}}{{Cite news |title=VOA Dismisses Mandarin Service Chief Over Interview With Chinese Exile |url=https://www.voanews.com/usa/voa-dismisses-mandarin-service-chief-over-interview-chinese-exile |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210724183834/https://www.voanews.com/usa/voa-dismisses-mandarin-service-chief-over-interview-chinese-exile |archive-date=July 24, 2021 |access-date=August 3, 2021 |work=Voice of America |language=en}}

The Amharic Service was started in 1982.{{cite Q|Q122644264}}{{Better source needed|reason=The current source is insufficiently reliable (WP:NOTRS).|date=May 2025}} From 1982 to 1986 its staff included former members of the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Party (EPRP) and US-educated staff without strong political involvement in the 1974 Ethiopian Revolution and the associated student movement of the revolutionary period. Reporting was mostly critical of the Derg led by Mengistu Haile Mariam. From 1986 to 1996, the service opposed the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF)/Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), which took control of Ethiopia in 1991. According to Annette Sheckler, who led Horn of Africa service starting in 1998, the reporting became more politicized due to the loss of qualified staff, the anti-TPLF stance of EPRP-supporting staff, and the role of former Derg officials who were recruited to the Service. US ambassadors to Ethiopia, Mark Bass, Irvin Hicks and David Shinn, objected to what they saw as a lack of balance.{{Better source needed|reason=The current source is insufficiently reliable (WP:NOTRS).|date=May 2025}} Sheckler described the Horn of Africa service during an 18-month period in 1996–98 as "essentially ungovernable" with a "legacy of personal animosity, hostility and complete lack of professionalism".{{Better source needed|reason=The current source is insufficiently reliable (WP:NOTRS).|date=May 2025}} The Eritrean–Ethiopian War exacerbated ethnic conflicts within the service in 1998. Sheckler wrote memos to VOA leadership describing her assessment of serious problems in the service, and was fired on November 20, 1998, officially for "a lack of professional journalistic ethics"; she describes the reason for her firing as "telling the truth".{{Better source needed|reason=The current source is insufficiently reliable (WP:NOTRS).|date=May 2025}} Peter Heinlein led the service from 2012 to 2014. In 2013, he wrote a complaint about the service, citing role confusion whereby non-journalist translators took on the role of journalists.{{cite Q|Q122546796|url-status=live}}

The service was mostly seen as anti-Ethiopian government until 2018, when Negussie Mengesha, the head of the VOA Africa division for several years, met the newly appointed Ethiopian prime minister Abiy Ahmed. In May 2021, several former employees accused VOA's Amharic service, under Mengesha, of being biased in favor of the government of Ahmed and failing to report on atrocities committed during the Tigray War.{{cite news |author=Nick Turse |date=May 21, 2021 |title=Propaganda Machine: Voice of America Is Accused of Ignoring Government Atrocities in Ethiopia |url=https://theintercept.com/2021/05/21/voice-of-america-ethiopia-bias |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20230914230416/https://theintercept.com/2021/05/21/voice-of-america-ethiopia-bias |archive-date=2023-09-14 |newspaper=The Intercept}} VOA journalist Jason Patinkin reported the problems "at every level of the VOA hierarchy" and resigned, saying it had "sided with the perpetrators both by commission and omission" of "potential crimes against humanity, ethnic cleansing and perhaps even genocide". In June 2021, Mail & Guardian reported on an investigation which found that during the Tigray War, the only major foreign news service that was not harassed by Ethiopian security services was VOA. VOA frequently covered the Mai Kadra massacre, mostly attributed to Tigrayan youth and documented by Amnesty International, while later focusing on the Ethiopian government's dismissal of Amnesty International's report on the Axum massacre rather than on the methods and content of the report itself. A majority of the stories about the war only showed government or military officials' points of view. Instructions emailed to staff stated that the terms "civil war" and "war" were forbidden in reporting on the Tigray War, with Scott Stearns writing on 14 November, according to Mail & Guardian, "There are to be no deviations from these instructions by any member of any Africa division language service on any platform."

After the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, an email was sent to Voice of America staff from the associate editor for news standards with guidance related to how to refer to the actions ("terrorist acts" or "acts of terror") and advice about how to refer to individual members of Hamas, i.e. to use the term "terrorist" only in direct quotes from sources.{{cite news |last1=Farhi |first1=Paul |date=29 November 2023 |title=GOP senators blast Voice of America for Hamas 'militants' terminology |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/style/media/2023/11/29/voice-of-america-hamas-israel-terrorist-militant-hagerty/ |access-date=20 February 2024 |newspaper=Washington Post}} At the time, VOA was not the only news outlet with journalists discussing how to objectively refer to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. Six Republican members of Congress signed a letter sent by Senator Bill Hagerty, which criticized and strongly objected to the editorial guidance about how to refer to individual members of Hamas. USAGM chief executive Amanda Bennett sent a letter to the senators to clarify that the VOA email was guidance only, and "There is no policy prohibiting the use of the words 'terror,' 'terrorism,' or 'terrorist{{' "}} at VOA, and stating the news organizations within USAGM "counsel care and attention in the use of the words but do not place any restrictions on the appropriate use." The controversy prompted Congress to reduce the budget of VOA's parent organization, USAGM.{{Cite web |date=2024-07-03 |title=Darrell Issa: Congress Cut Voice of America's Budget over Hamas Controversy |url=https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/darrell-issa-congress-cut-voice-of-americas-budget-over-hamas-controversy/ |access-date=2024-07-24 |website=National Review |language=en-US}}

VOA's service in Iran had a negative impact on Kurds and Kurdistan according to the publication Kurdish Life in 2000. They claimed that the VOA exacerbated the conflict between the Talabani and the Barzani.{{Cite news |date=2000 |title=The Kurdish Disservice |work=Kurdish Life |url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A132000325/GIC?u=viva_gmu&sid=GIC&xid=47c |url-status=live |access-date=February 16, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220914203755/https://login.gmu.edu/idp/profile/cas/login?execution=e1s1 |archive-date=September 14, 2022}} They further claimed that the VOA covered up wrongful imprisonments, wrongful arrests, and the building of extremist mosques. According to the same publication, Kurds were being turned into fanatics, and a new generation of terrorists was forming because of the VOA. They claimed the VOA was doing this to help PUK.{{Cite news |title=Revisiting the Kurdish Disservice |work=Kurdish Life}}

On April 2, 2007, Abdul Malik Rigi, the leader of Jundullah, an Iranian Muslim Sunni Salafi militant group with possible links to al-Qaeda, appeared on Voice of America's Persian-language service. The interview was condemned by the Iranian government.{{Cite web |title=Iranian speaker says U.S. supports 'terrorists' |url=http://www.swissinfo.org/eng/international/ticker/detail/Iranian_speaker_says_U_S_supports_terrorists.html?siteSect=143&sid=7692846&cKey=1175790190000 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071205232531/http://www.swissinfo.org/eng/international/ticker/detail/Iranian_speaker_says_U_S_supports_terrorists.html?siteSect=143&sid=7692846&cKey=1175790190000 |archive-date=December 5, 2007 |access-date=January 15, 2008 |publisher=swissinfo}}{{Cite web |script-title=fa:گفتوگوي صداي آمريکا با قاتل مردم بلوچستان! |url=http://www.baztab.com/news/63969.php |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070410034234/http://baztab.com/news/63969.php |archive-date=April 10, 2007 |access-date=January 15, 2008 |language=fa}} Jundullah was linked to attacks on both Iranian military and civilians.{{Cite magazine |last=M. Hersh |first=Seymour |date=June 28, 2008 |title=Preparing the Battlefield |url=https://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/07/07/080707fa_fact_hersh?printable=true |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140627031726/http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/07/07/080707fa_fact_hersh?printable=true |archive-date=June 27, 2014 |access-date=February 20, 2020 |magazine=The New Yorker}}{{Cite news |last=Massoud |first=Ansari |date=January 16, 2006 |title=Sunni Muslim group vows to behead Iranians |url=http://www.washtimes.com/world/20060116-124019-6619r.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070403203656/http://www.washtimes.com/world/20060116-124019-6619r.htm |archive-date=April 3, 2007 |access-date=April 5, 2007 |work=The Washington Times}} Rigi was captured by the Iranian security services and executed in 2010 in Evin Prison in Tehran.{{cite news |date=20 June 2010 |title=Iran hangs Sunni militant leader Abdolmalek Rigi |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/middle_east/10359415.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160109135059/https://www.bbc.com/news/10359415 |archive-date=9 January 2016 |access-date=16 March 2011 |work=BBC News}}{{Cite web |date=20 June 2010 |title=Iran hangs Sunni group leader |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2010/06/201062034410244183.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111203064900/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2010/06/201062034410244183.html |archive-date=3 December 2011 |access-date=2020-03-05 |website=Al Jazeera}}

On June 12, 2024, the House Foreign Affairs Committee concluded that there was "credible evidence of corruption" regarding the matter of Setareh Derakhshesh Sieg, the former director of Voice of America's Persian News Network (PNN).{{Cite web |date=2024-06-12 |title=House Committee Alleges 'Credible Evidence of Corruption' at U.S. Agency for Global Media |url=https://www.nationalreview.com/2024/06/house-committee-alleges-credible-evidence-of-corruption-at-u-s-agency-for-global-media/ |access-date=2024-07-24 |website=National Review |language=en-US}} Sieg had been terminated in January 2021 for falsifying her education credentials and corruption-related offenses, but was later reinstated in February under the Biden administration.{{Cite news |last=Gertz |first=Bill |date=February 8, 2021 |title=VOA executive Setareh Derakhshesh Sieg fired under Trump rehired by Biden |url=https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2021/feb/18/voa-executive-setareh-derakhshesh-sieg-fired-under/ |access-date=July 24, 2024 |work=Washington Times}}

The VOA's DEEWA Radio airs in Pakistan. Although in 2015 some listeners were suspicious that the program was promoting an American agenda, others said they were experiencing a positive effect. Some listeners felt that the programs were giving a voice to the voiceless, giving them a sense of empowerment.{{Cite journal |last=Jan |first=F |date=2015 |title=International Broadcasting as Component of U.S. Public Diplomacy (A Case Study of Voice of America's DEEWA Radio) |url=http://qurtuba.edu.pk/thedialogue/The%20Dialogue/10_2/Dialogue_April_June2015_152-165.pdf |url-status=live |journal=Dialogue |volume=10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220422055243/https://qurtuba.edu.pk/thedialogue/The%20Dialogue/10_2/Dialogue_April_June2015_152-165.pdf |archive-date=April 22, 2022 |access-date=August 22, 2021}} In 2018, the Pakistani authorities blocked the website of VOA's Pashto and Urdu language radio service.{{Cite web|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2018/12/29/2018-a-year-of-media-suppression-and-rights-abuses-in-pakistan|title=2018: A year of media suppression and rights abuses in Pakistan|first=Rabia|last=Mehmood|website=Al Jazeera}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1451133|title=Urdu, Pashto VOA websites inaccessible in Pakistan|first=Ikram|last=Junaidi|date=December 13, 2018|website=DAWN}}

In January 2016, upon his arrival in Moscow, Russian authorities detained and then deported Jeff Shell, the Chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors that oversees the Voice of America, despite his having a valid Russian visa.{{Cite web |date=July 14, 2016 |title=Russia detains, deports U.S. Voice of America official | Arkansas Democrat Gazette |url=https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2016/jul/14/russia-detains-deports-us-voice-america-official/ |website=www.arkansasonline.com}} Russian authorities did not explain their actions.

Round-the-clock broadcasting of Current Time began on February 7, 2017.{{cite web |title=Current Time TV Channel Новости, видео и репортажи из России, Украины, стран Азии – Настоящее Время |url=https://www.currenttime.tv/p/6018.html |access-date=2020-03-28 |website=Настоящее Время |language=ky |ref={{sfnref | Настоящее Время}}}}{{cite web |title=Current Time TV |url=https://www.voanews.com/author/current-time-tv-rfe-rl-voa/kv-yo |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200328090933/https://www.voanews.com/author/current-time-tv |archive-date=2020-03-28 |website=Voice of America}}{{cite web |date=2019-02-12 |title=Current Time celebrates two years of impact and growth |url=https://www.usagm.gov/2019/02/12/current-time-celebrates-two-years-of-impact-and-growth/ |access-date=2020-03-28 |website=USAGM |ref={{sfnref | USAGM | 2019}}}}

In December 2017, under a new directive from Russia's Kremlin after a new law was passed by the State Duma (Russia's lower house of parliament) and the upper house Federation Council and signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin, Voice of America was deemed a "foreign agent" under the Russian foreign agent law.{{Cite web |title=Russia labels VOA and RFE as 'foreign agents' – DW – 12/06/2017 |url=https://www.dw.com/en/russia-labels-voice-of-america-and-radio-free-europe-as-foreign-agents/a-41651707 |website=dw.com}}[https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/12/05/568502826/russia-slaps-restrictions-on-voice-of-america-and-radio-free-europe "Russia Slaps Restrictions On 'Voice Of America' And 'Radio Free Europe'"] In June 2021, the Russian news agency TASS reported that Russia's state communications watchdog Roskomnadzor complained that the foreign agent Voice of America radio station challengingly refused to observe Russian law because it had not established a Russian legal entity.{{Cite web |title=Voice of America, Radio Liberty ignore Russian laws — watchdog |url=https://tass.com/society/1301669 |website=TASS}} Roskomnadzor also said that VOA was as a foreign agent "obliged to mark their content and provide information about all aspects of their activity, including a detailed description of contacts with the authorities."

In March 2022, VOA and other news broadcasters, including the BBC, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, and Deutsche Welle were blocked in Russia,{{cite news |date=March 4, 2022 |title=Russia blocks access to BBC and Voice of America websites |url=https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/russia-restricts-access-bbc-russian-service-radio-liberty-ria-2022-03-04/ |access-date=22 February 2024 |work=Reuters}} as after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russian authorities increased censorship of independent journalism, anti-war protests, and dissenting voices.{{cite news |last1=Troianovski |first1=Anton |last2=Safronova |first2=Valeriya |date=4 March 2022 |title=Russia Takes Censorship to New Extremes, Stifling War Coverage |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/04/world/europe/russia-censorship-media-crackdown.html |access-date=22 February 2024 |work=The New York Times}}{{Cite web |date=March 10, 2022 |title=Russia: Kremlin's ruthless crackdown stifles independent journalism and anti-war movement |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2022/03/russia-kremlins-ruthless-crackdown-stifles-independent-journalism-and-anti-war-movement/ |website=Amnesty International}}{{cite news |last1=Satariano |first1=Adam |last2=Hopkins |first2=Valerie |date=7 March 2022 |title=Russia, Blocked From the Global Internet, Plunges Into Digital Isolation |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/07/technology/russia-ukraine-internet-isolation.html |access-date=22 February 2024 |work=The New York Times}}{{Cite web |last=Klar |first=Rebecca |date=March 8, 2022 |title=Grassroots effort uses shortwave radio to broadcast VOA in Ukraine, Russia |work=The Hill |url=https://thehill.com/policy/technology/597411-grassroots-effort-uses-shortwave-radio-to-broadcast-voa-in-ukraine-russia/}} Nevertheless, many Russians have used VPNs and other software to get around Russian government blocks.{{cite news |last1=McGil |first1=Margaret Harding |date=March 12, 2022 |title=How Russians are evading the internet blockade |url=https://www.axios.com/2022/03/09/vpns-evading-russias-internet-blockade |access-date=22 February 2024 |work=Axios}}{{Cite web |last=Bicknell |first=John |date=June 21, 2022 |title=Radio to Russia: Can Old Technologies Make a Dent in Putin's Information Blockade? |url=https://information-professionals.org/radio-to-russia-can-old-technologies-make-a-dent-in-putins-information-blockade/ |website=Information Professionals Association}} As of March 2022, VOA broadcasts were reaching people in Russia and the region through TV, FM and medium wave radio, digital, and direct-to-home satellite. In May 2023, Russia banned then-acting VOA chief Yolanda Lopez from ever entering the country.{{Cite web |last=Weprin |first=Alex |date=May 19, 2023 |title=Russia Bans Late Night Hosts Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers From Entering the Country |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/politics-news/russia-bans-jimmy-kimmel-stephen-colbert-seth-meyers-rachel-maddow-1235496448/ |website=The Hollywood Reporter}}

On June 30, 2022, the Turkish media watchdog, Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK), blocked access to VOA's website amerikaninsesi.com in Turkey because VOA had not applied for the necessary licence, which would subject VOA to certain obligations.{{Cite web|url=https://balkaninsight.com/2023/08/23/us-concerned-by-turkeys-threat-to-silence-voa-turkish/|title=US 'Concerned' by Turkey's Threat to Silence VOA Turkish|first=Hamdi Firat|last=Buyuk|date=August 23, 2023|accessdate=March 3, 2025}}{{Cite news |date=2022-06-30 |title=Turkey blocks access to Deutsche Welle, Voice of America for not getting licenses – official |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/turkey-blocks-access-deutsche-welle-voice-america-not-getting-licenses-official-2022-06-30/ |url-status=live |access-date=2022-06-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220630211954/https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/turkey-blocks-access-deutsche-welle-voice-america-not-getting-licenses-official-2022-06-30/ |archive-date=June 30, 2022}} The RTÜK regulation requires foreign news outlets that publish in Turkey to apply for publication licenses, mandates that at least half of the media organization be owned by a Turkish citizen, and would force VOA to remove content deemed inappropriate by RTÜK.{{Cite web|url=https://www.duvarenglish.com/turkeys-media-watchdog-rtuk-once-again-orders-dw-to-apply-for-license-news-63301|title=Turkey's media watchdog RTÜK once again orders DW to apply for license|first=Duvar|last=English|date=October 11, 2023|website=www.duvarenglish.com }} VOA Turkish subsequently broadcast over a different VOA website domain name, voaturkce.com, which in August 2023 was blocked as well.{{Cite web|url=https://www.voanews.com/a/voa-website-banned-in-turkey-for-lack-of-broadcast-license/7246368.html|title=VOA Website Banned in Turkey for Lack of Broadcast License|date=August 29, 2023|website=Voice of America}} VOA said that "Given VOA's status as a public service international broadcaster legally required to provide 'accurate, objective, and comprehensive' news coverage to its global audience, VOA cannot comply with any directive intended to enable censorship." VOA Turkey, after it was blocked, shared instructions on its social media accounts as to how to use a VPN to access its content.{{Cite web|url=https://www.turkishminute.com/2023/08/23/us-press-organizations-slam-impending-access-ban-on-voa-turkish/|title=US, press organizations slam impending access ban on VOA Turkish|first=Turkish|last=Minute|date=August 23, 2023}}

• List of public broadcasters by country
• List of state media by country
• List of world news channels

{{notelist}}

{{reflist}}

{{Library resources box}}

{{refbegin}}

• {{Cite book |last=Cull |first=Nicholas J. |title=The Cold War and the United States Information Agency: American Propaganda and Public Diplomacy, 1945-1989 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2008 |isbn=978-0521819978}}
• {{Cite book |last=Dizard |first=Wilson P. |title=Inventing Public Diplomacy: The Story of the U.S. Information Agency |publisher=Lynne Rienner Publishers |year=2004 |isbn=1-58826-288-X}}
• {{Cite book |last=Heil |first=Alan L. |title=Voice of America: A History |publisher=Columbia University Press |year=2006 |isbn=0231126751}}
• Pomar, Mark G. (2022) Cold War Radio: The Russian Broadcasts of the Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (University of Nebraska Press, 2022) [https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showpdf.php?id=58687 online scholarly book review]
• {{Cite book |last=Rugh |first=William A. |url=https://archive.org/details/americanencounte00rugh |title=American Encounters with Arabs: The "Soft Power" of U.S. Public Diplomacy in the Middle East |publisher=Praeger |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-275-98817-3 |url-access=registration}}

{{refend}}

{{Commons-inline}}

• {{Official website|https://www.voanews.com/}}

{{Broadcasting Board of Governors}}

{{US Shortwave Radio}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Voice of America}}

Category:1942 establishments in the United States

Category:Anti-communist organizations in the United States

Category:Articles containing video clips

Category:Cold War broadcasting

Category:Democracy promotion

Category:International broadcasters

Category:Mass media companies based in Washington, D.C.

Category:Media listed in Russia as foreign agents

Category:Organizations established in 1942

Category:Peabody Award winners

Category:Publicly funded English language broadcasters

Category:Radio organizations in the United States

Category:Shortwave radio stations in the United States

Category:Television channels and stations established in 1942

Category:Tibetan-language radio stations

Category:United States government propaganda organizations

Category:Good Neighbor policy