Military Reporters & Editors calls for the protection of the First Amendment and freedom of the press
President Donald Trump has signed an executive order dismantling the Voice of America, an organization that has shared American values with people living in the darkness of totalitarian nations for decades. A bulwark against communism, and particularly the old Soviet Union and Vladimir Putin’s Russia, VOA shined a light in those countries and bolstered national security. Yet on Saturday VOA, which aired news reports in more than 40 languages, was deemed by the president to be “radical,” “leftist,” “partisan” and “anti-Trump.”
The network that put a spotlight on our shared values as Americans regrettably has, for the first time since World War II, gone dark.
Trump’s order will put 1,300 journalists out of work, including the secretary of our board, whose award-winning work could hardly be described as “radical” or “partisan.” In one of her reports last week, she provides a thorough overview of the state of U.S. shipbuilding, which President Donald Trump just devoted an entire office in the White House toward. During the withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, she shared the plight of an American trapped in Afghanistan mere days after members of the Biden administration said they had no evidence that Americans had been denied access to the Kabul airport, a report circulated by the Right and the left as evidence of the withdrawal’s shortcomings. Her questions to Biden administration officials, including the secretary of defense, were widely considered among the most pointed.
The president’s hostility toward the sacred First Amendment is a clear and present danger to the United States. Trump’s attacks on Voice of America and the free press are jeopardizing our democratic nation. Military Reporters & Editors call on Congress and the courts to repudiate these actions immediately, to reinstate Voice of America’s employees, and resume its vital mission overseas.
Trump’s latest action is part of a larger effort to wage an unprecedented war on the Fourth Estate. This danger to our Republic is grave and only the harshest rebuke can force the president to retreat.
Military Reporters & Editors exists to advance the cause of journalists covering the armed forces, but on this day is here to defend all of us as we report the news. We are here to inform our readers and viewers, a task that is becoming increasingly difficult. If we falter or are impeded in that task, Americans will be left in the same vacuum of information as millions of VOA listeners, viewers and readers.
MRE | Military Reporters & Editors Mission
- Advance the public understanding of the military, national security, and homeland defense.
- Represent the interests of working journalists to the government and military.
- Assure journalists have access to places where the U.S. military and its allies operate.
- Provide resources, support. educational and networking opportunities for members, fostering excellence in journalism.
For more information, visit the MRE website at https://www.militaryreporters.org.