China's state-run media is supporting President Donald Trump's recent direction to scale back the Voice of America.
"The so-called beacon of freedom, VOA, has now been discarded by its own government like a dirty rag," the Global Times editorialized this week, calling the VOA "a frontline propaganda tool in the ideological confrontation of the Cold War."
The Global Times is a daily newspaper published under supervision of the Chinese Communist Party.
"When it comes to China-related reporting, VOA has an appalling track record," the outlet wrote. "Perhaps the U.S. government has also realized that continuing to waste substantial national funds on these outdated and ineffective institutions is neither meaningful nor in the best interest of the country."
Last Friday, Trump signed an executive order to drastically reduced the size and scope of the U.S. government-funded media outlet, accusing it of not aligning with the new administration's vision.
Primarily a radio outlet, VOA was established during World War II to run counterprogramming to Nazi propaganda and currently reaches hundreds of millions of people each week. VOA Director Mike Abramowitz said he and almost all of the 1,300 staff have been placed on paid leave.
The White House released a list of the "radical propaganda" the VOA has allegedly engaged in over the years, which include some reporters posting anti-Trump comments on their professional social media accounts and downplaying the Hunter Biden laptop story in the fall of 2020.
The National Press Club opposed Trump's move, saying it "undermines America's long-standing commitment to a free and independent press. If an entire newsroom can be sidelined overnight, what does that say about the state of press freedom?"
James Morley III ✉
James Morley III is a writer with more than two decades of experience in entertainment, travel, technology, and science and nature.
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