Press freedom coalition: Congress must protect USAGM’s independence
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) joined a coalition of 27 organizations dedicated to press freedom, journalism, and free expression to express support for the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM) as it faces elimination by the Trump administration. The letter, published March 19, stresses the vital role of USAGM media outlets like Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) in providing reliable information to the global public, and condemns USAGM’s dismantling as a gift to authoritarian regimes. RSF calls on Congress to protect these news organizations and do everything in their power to free the nine USAGM journalists detained around the world.
On March 14, President Donald Trump issued an executive order to eliminate the USAGM, the parent organization of numerous independent news media outlets that provide vital journalism primarily to audiences in zones where press freedom is most threatened. The USAGM and its entities are editorially separate and independent from the government, and Trump’s order may have violated US law.
“Reporters Without Borders and the whole press freedom community stand in solidarity with the thousands of staffers across all of the USAGM platforms who were laid off. We are especially concerned about the fate of the nine journalists currently in jail who are detained for their journalism — which is not a crime. The United States Congress must step up to protect these reporters, and all of the USAGM entities which Congress itself created and funded.”
Clayton Weimers
Executive Director, RSF USA
Read the full letter below.
