US Media Outlet Voice of America, or VOA shutdown of US President Donald Trump has had a particularly strong impact in countries such as Turkey where the press independence has been in danger for a long time.
As a result of defaming the International News Service funded by the US government on 14 March, the organization has effectively stopped operations. News websites in all languages have not been done for more than two months. Television and radio broadcasts have completely shut down Ether or switching only on music-cavalry programming.
Before suspending the service, VOA, which was one of the rare sources of sensor news in countries such as Turkey, broadcast in 49 languages for an estimated weekly audiences of 354 million people worldwide.
Restricted in Turkish
Turkey, where about 90% of the major media outlets are government-controlled, the VOA’s Turkish language website has been banned in 2022, as well as with all the language versions of Dutash Velle, or DW. Since then, VOA was trying to reach its audience in Turkey through a “mirror” website, which reproduced the contents of the original platform, which Trump completely closed the broadcaster in mid -March.
Without media rights group journalists, or RSF, rank Turkey at 159th in its 2025 World Press Freedom Index, citing the ongoing repression of journalists to Turkey. There are currently 17 journalists in jail in Türkiye.
RSF Turkish representative Erol Ondersoglu told DW that international media organizations such as VOA, BBC and DW have emerged as “creative” role models in recent years, as the country’s rapid polarly polarized press environment has seen a significant decline in quality and freedom.
The Turkish language services of the international broadcaster gained prominence as independent media in Türkiye has decreased. Their news rooms are based abroad, but language services are therefore appointing a small number of reporters within the country.
“VOA has played an important role in opening the Turkish civil society movement and the voice of the journalism community in the outside world and breaking the influences of separation,” said Onderglu.
VOA Türkiye was one of the most importing sources for audiences in Türkiye, which tells about Ankara and Washington.
One of the VOA Turkish audience told DW, “There was a development in the US that could put the Erdogan government in a difficult position – for example, the ANS accusations that could cause restrictions on Turkey on Iran – the first Vedit I would investigate that I was one of VOA,” One of the VOA audiences told DWW.
Journalist at risk
Following Trump’s decision to stop the federal amount of VOA’s original agency, about 1,300 employees of most news service in Washington were placed as the first step towards the end of administrative holiday.
A group of VOA employees, affected by the executive order of March, have filed a case against the Trump administration accusing the chairman of the Executive Overch. In early May, a federal appeal court blocked a decision that ordered the Trump administration to bring VOA employees back to work.
Following the appeal court’s decision on World Press Freedom Day, the Trump administration has intensified efforts to carry out the layoffs.
Around 600 contractors receiving the ending notice on 15 May were directed to return their press credentials, badges and other VOA property by 30 May.
VOA director Michael Abramovitz, that is, one of the plaintiffs in the court case, said many of those journalists have survived atrocities in their country to tell the story of today’s freedom and democracy in their country. “
On Thursday, Abramovitz said the decision of May 3 was effective after the appeal court rejected the request of N Batch review – a complete reconsideration by all eleven judges – and warned that the Trump administration could push for further layoffs.
Silence of unexpected ‘voice’
Talking to DW, a turkey -based VOA employee shut down the sudden operation to the broadcaster: “Our colleagues in Washington were asked to vacate their offices. The operation suddenly came.
The journalist, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that VOA was standing out in a media environment under the press “.
He said, “This was considered as a threat by the ruling party, both facilitated access and smear campaigns by pro -government outlets that the VOA targets employees. In that skethe, it is independently that the government of VOA shutdown,” he said.
So the VOA has produced critical broadcasting of US governments, he said: “For example, when experts criticized the US in the analysis of Turkish-American relations, the search comments were never censored.”
Trump’s ‘journalism’ was
Antony Bernard, director of advocacy and strategic litigation at RSF, told DW that Trump’s attempts to close the VOA should be understood in a big context of “his war on the press”.
“Hey targeted public media funding, politically launched the motor country’s investigation into the media, which he does not like, and banned the White House journalist to refuse to use accurate words he wants to use them.
The RSF recently warned of “a dangerous decline in press freedom” in the US under President Trump. The organization highlighted how Trump enhanced the difficult conditions already by cutting UND financial assistance for state-funded broadcast discovery as VOA and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL).
Earlier this month, Trump has so far signed another executive order, seeking to reduce the US public broadcasting service, or funding for PBS and National Public Radio, or NPR. The Trump administration launched the Federal Communication Commission investigation in major media outlets including ABC News, CBS News, PBS and NPR.
