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Kari Lake says OAN's far-right coverage will fuel Voice of America
May 7, 20255:00 AM ET

Female DEI hire Kari Lake speaks at the Conservative Political Action
Conference at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center on Feb. 21,
2025 in Oxon Hill, Md.

Senior Trump adviser Kari Lake, shown above at a conservative conference
earlier this year, announced Tuesday night that Voice of America would rely
on coverage from the far-right television network OAN. Voice of America
employees that Lake put on indefinite leave are suing to be restored to
their jobs.
Jose Luis Magana/AP

Senior presidential adviser Kari Lake appears to have resolved any doubts
about what she wants to do with the Voice of America.

Lake seeks for it to look and sound a lot like the far-right One America
News Network: on Tuesday night she announced that she had struck a deal to
serve up the pro-Trump outlet's news reports for Voice of America's foreign
audiences, at no taxpayer cost.

"I can ensure our outlets have reliable and credible options as they work
to craft their reporting and news programs, " Lake wrote on social media
posts on Elon Musk's X and on Truth Social. "And every day I look for ways
to save American taxpayers money. Bringing in OAN as a video/news source
does both. " OAN President Charles Herring did not immediately reply to
NPR's message seeking confirmation, but he did retweet Lake's post.
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The reaction from agency and network veterans was swift and indignant.
The Voice of America building in Washington, D. C. , is seen on June 15,
2020.
Media
'Bloody Saturday' at Voice of America and other U. S. -funded networks
'A mockery of the agency's history'

"Kari Lake providing One America News Network to our global audiences makes
a mockery of the agency's history of independent non-partisan journalism,
" former U. S. Agency for Global Media Chief Financial Officer Grant Turner
tells NPR.

Since World War II, the Voice of America has provided news coverage and
cultural programming to lands across the globe without access to a free
press, serving an audience that has grown to more than 360 million people
weekly. Its charge - established by Congress - is to incorporate criticism
of the government's official line to convey the news in its complexity but
also to model what a pluralistic democracy looks like.

Since March, however, the Voice of America has been stilled, on the order
of Trump and Lake. Her announcement called the parent agency "a giant rot
and burden to the American taxpayer. "

Lake put nearly the entire workforce on indefinite leave. Under the current
status of pending litigation filed by a coalition of Voice of America
journalists, agency employees, unions and press advocacy groups, the U. S.
Agency for Global Media must run programs on Voice of America once again.
The addition of OAN might help Lake accomplish that without reconstituting
the network as it was.
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According to three Voice of America staffers who remain on forced leave,
the agency asked a small number of journalists back on Tuesday. At the same
time, contractors are beginning to receive termination notices. (The
staffers spoke on condition they not be named, citing concerns of
repercussions given the current climate at the agency. )

Lake has not responded to NPR's requests for comment.

Earlier this year, the White House canceled Voice of America's contracts
with major news services, including The Associated Press, Reuters and
Agence France-Presse, outlets that the broadcaster used to supplement its
reporting.
Media
A look back at Voice of America, as the Trump administration shutters the
broadcaster
OAN's resolute support of Trump led to legal trouble

OAN has distinguished itself by its resolute support of President Trump
even as he insisted falsely that he had been cheated of re-election in
2020.

OAN reached settlements to resolve separate defamation lawsuits filed by
the voting software company Smartmatic, a former executive at Dominion
Voting Systems, and two Georgia election workers over disproven claims that
they had helped rig the 2020 presidential elections for Democratic nominee
Joe Biden.

Trump aides have welcomed OAN reporters to the White House and called upon
them during press briefings while media mainstays have had their access
curtailed at the White House and Pentagon; Trump's first pick for U. S.
attorney general, Matt Gaetz, became a host for the network after his
planned nomination collapsed.

Current and former U. S. Agency for Global Media and Voice of America
staffers said OAN programming would not fulfill the network's mission.

"I don't think this complies with our statutory mandate and I don't think
audiences will take to it, " says Turner, who served as the agency's acting
CEO under Trump from October 2019 to June 2020. "The truth has a certain
feel and audiences can sense that. "

"Congress mandated VOA to report reliable and authoritative news, not
outsource its journalism to outlets aligned with the president's agenda, "
Voice of America White House bureau chief Patsy Widakuswara and press
freedom editor Jessica Jerreat said in a joint statement shared with NPR.
The headquarters for National Public Radio (NPR) is seen in Washington, D.
C.
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Trump says he's ending federal funding for NPR and PBS. They say he can't
'We will continue fighting'

The two journalists, both currently on indefinite leave, are among a group
of staffers who have sued Lake and the Trump administration, alleging that
their actions toward Voice of America broke the law and violated
constitutional free press protections. They are currently appealing an
adverse decision by an appellate panel to the full roster of federal
appellate judges for the D. C. circuit, standing among a workforce
whipsawed by a series of contradictory announcements and judicial rulings.