NEWS AND REPORTS
Updated 18 March 2025
HFCC A25 DATA Transmission and Programme schedules by Broadcasters and Frequency Management Organisations (FMOs) for A25 are now available. The A25 season covers the period from 30 March to 25 October 2025. The HFCC page to check is: https://new.hfcc.org/data/a25/
US AGENCY FOR GLOBAL MEDIA The United States Agency for Global Media (USAGM), known until 2018 as the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), is an independent agency of the United States government that broadcasts news and information. It is considered an arm of U.S. diplomacy. The USAGM supervises Voice of America (VOA) and Office of Cuba Broadcasting as well as state-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia, Middle East Broadcasting Networks and Open Technology Fund. In March 2025, President Trump issued an executive order that directed that the USAGM be eliminated "to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law", along with several other agencies. On 15 March 2025, journalists from VOA, RFE/RL, and other U.S.-funded media outlets were placed on leave after Trump moved to freeze funding for media organisations with global correspondents covering regions such as Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Critics claim the decision weakens U.S. influence and strengthens adversaries, while the White House justifies it as cutting taxpayer-funded propaganda. (Wikipedia)
Lots of reports can be found online concerning President Donald Trump's decision and a few selected ones can be found below. The best place to check for the latest changes that may interest shortwave and mediumwave listeners is undoubtedly Glenn Hauser's World of Radio IO Group: https://groups.io/g/WOR
Reuters report, 15 March 2025: Voice of America staff put on leave, Trump ally says agency 'not salvageable': More than 1,300 Voice of America employees were placed on leave on Saturday and funding for two U.S. news services that broadcast to authoritarian regimes was terminated, one day after President Donald Trump ordered the gutting of the government-funded media outlet's parent and six other federal agencies. Michael Abramowitz, Voice of America's director, said nearly his entire staff of 1,300 journalists, producers and assistants had been put on administrative leave, crippling a media broadcaster that operates in almost 50 languages. "I am deeply saddened that for the first time in 83 years, the storied Voice of America is being silenced," Abramowitz said in a post on LinkedIn, saying it has played an important role "in the fight for freedom and democracy around the world." VOA's parent agency, the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), also terminated its grants to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, which broadcasts to countries in Eastern Europe, including Russia and Ukraine, as well as to Radio Free Asia, which broadcasts to China and North Korea. Trump's directives look set to devastate an organization that serves as a rare source of reliable news in authoritarian countries. Founded in 1942 to counter Nazi propaganda, VOA now reaches 360 million people a week. As a group, USAGM employs roughly 3,500 workers with an $886-million budget in 2024, according to its latest report to Congress. VOA's Seoul Bureau Chief William Gallo said on Sunday he had been locked out of all company systems and accounts. "All I've ever wanted to do is shoot straight and tell the truth, no matter what government I was covering. If that's a threat to anyone, so be it," he said on Bluesky. Kari Lake, the former news anchor and Trump loyalist nominated to be director of VOA, issued a statement describing USAGM as "a giant rot and burden to the American taxpayer" and said it was "not salvageable." Lake, referring to herself as a USAGM senior adviser, said she would shrink the agency to its minimum possible size under the law. On its website, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty notes that it has been declared an "undesirable organization" by the Russian government and warns readers in Russia and Russia-occupied Ukraine that they could "face fines or imprisonment" for liking or sharing its content. Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky said Radio Free Europe had been a "beacon" for populations under totalitarian rule. "From Belarus to Iran, from Russia to Afghanistan, RFE and Voice of America are among the few free sources for people living without freedom," he wrote on X. The move follows Trump signing an executive order on Friday instructing USAGM and six other little-known agencies to reduce their operations to the minimum mandated by statutes, saying it was necessary to shrink bureaucracy. (https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/trump-signs-order-gut-voice-america-other-agencies-2025-03-15/)
Radio Free Asia report, 15 March 2025: RFA operations may cease following federal grants termination: The federal grants that fund Radio Free Asia and partner networks were terminated Saturday morning, according to a grant termination notice received by RFA. An executive order issued by U.S. President Donald Trump late Friday calls for the reduction of non-statutory components of the United States Agency for Global Media, or USAGM, the federal agency that funds RFA and several other independent global news organizations. The U.S. Congress appropriates funds to USAGM, which disburses the monies to the grantee news outlets. The brief order calls for the elimination “to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law” of USAGM and six other unrelated government entities that work on museums, homelessness, minority business development and more. While the order addresses “non-statutory components” of USAGM, RFA is statutorily established, meaning it was congressionally established by a statute in the International Broadcasting Act. But a letter sent to the president of RFA Saturday and signed by USAGM special adviser Kari Lake, whose title is listed as “Senior Advisor to the Acting CEO with Authorities Delegated by Acting CEO,” notes that the agency’s federal grant has been terminated and that RFA is obliged to “promptly refund any nobligated funds.” It says that an appeal can be made within 30 days. It was not immediately clear how and when operations would cease, but RFA is solely funded through federal grants. In a statement issued Saturday, RFA President Bay Fang said the outlet planned to challenge the order. “The termination of RFA’s grant is a reward to dictators and despots, including the Chinese Communist Party, who would like nothing better than to have their influence go unchecked in the information space,” the statement says. “Today’s notice not only disenfranchises the nearly 60 million people who turn to RFA’s reporting on a weekly basis to learn the truth, but it also benefits America’s adversaries at our own expense.” An editorially independent news outlet funded through an act of Congress, RFA began its first Mandarin language broadcasts in 1996, expanding in subsequent years to a total of nine language services: Cantonese, Uyghur, Tibetan, Korean, Khmer, Vietnamese, Burmese and Lao. RFA news programming is disseminated through radio, television, social media and the web in countries that have little to no free press, often providing the only source of uncensored, non-propaganda news. Because RFA covers closed-off countries and regions like North Korea, Tibet and Xinjiang, its English-language translations remain the primary source of information from many of these areas. Its parent agency, USAGM, oversees broadcasters that work in more than 60 languages and reach an audience of hundreds of millions. These include Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, which reported Saturday that its grants had also been terminated. Voice of America and the Office for Cuba Broadcasting, which are directly run by USAGM, put all staff on paid administrative leave Saturday. In a post on Facebook, VOA Director Michael Abramowitz wrote: “I learned this morning that virtually the entire staff of Voice of America—more than 1300 journalists, producers and support staff—has been placed on administrative leave today. So have I.” Committee to Protect Journalists Program Director Carlos Martinez de la Serna urged Congress to restore funding to USAGM, “which provides uncensored news in countries where the press is restricted.” “It is outrageous that the White House is seeking to gut the Congress-funded agency supporting independent journalism that challenges narratives of authoritarian regimes around the world,” he said in a statement. China watchers cautioned that cuts to RFA in particular could impact Washington’s ability to counter Beijing. “Radio Free Asia plays a vital role in countering China’s influence by providing accurate and uncensored news to audiences facing relentless propaganda from the People’s Republic of China,” Rep. Ami Bera, a California Democrat, wrote in a post on X. “RFA helps advance American values amidst our ongoing Great Power Competition with China and exposes egregious human rights abuses like the Uyghur genocide and Beijing’s covert activities abroad.” Former U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul called the dismantling of RFA and its sister publications “giant gifts to China,” while Human Rights Watch’s Maya Wang posted that in places like Xinjiang and Tibet: “Radio Free Asia has been one of the few which can get info out. Its demise would mean that these places will become info black holes, just as the CCP wants them.” In a statement issued by USAGM Saturday evening and posted to X by Lake, the agency deemed itself “not salvageable” due to a range of alleged findings of security violations and self-dealing, though few details were provided. “From top-to-bottom this agency is a giant rot and burden to the American taxpayer — a national security risk for this nation — and irretrievably broken. While there are bright spots within the agency with personnel who are talented and dedicated public servants, this is the exception rather than the rule,” the statement read. (https://www.rfa.org/english/china/2025/03/15/radio-free-asia-voa-rfa-usagm-executive-order-federal-grants-termination/)
RFE/RL report, 15 March 2025: Trump Signs Executive Order For Major Cuts To 7 Agencies, Including RFE/RL Overseer USAGM: U.S. President Donald Trump has signed an executive order that aims to reduce seven federal agencies - including the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM), which oversees Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and other federal broadcasters. The order, signed late on March 14, also targets agencies that deal with homelessness, labor disputes, and community development. “Within 7 days of the date of this order, the head of each governmental entity listed [in the order] shall submit a report to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget confirming full compliance with this order and explaining which components or functions of the governmental entity, if any, are statutorily required and to what extent,” the order says. Hours after the executive order was published, media reports circulated a letter from the USAGM saying the Congress-approved grant that funds RFE/RL had been terminated. The letter was signed by Kari Lake, who lists her title as senior adviser to the (USAGM) acting CEO with authorities delegated by acting CEO. Lake has been nominated by Trump to take over as head of Voice of America, though her nomination must still be approved by the International Broadcasting Advisory Board. RFE/RL President and Chief Executive Officer Stephen Capus said cancelling the grant agreement would be "a massive gift to America’s enemies." "The Iranian Ayatollahs, Chinese communist leaders, and autocrats in Moscow and Minsk would celebrate the demise of RFE/RL after 75 years. Handing our adversaries a win would make them stronger and America weaker," he said in a statement. "We’ve benefitted from strong bipartisan support throughout RFE/RL’s storied history. Without us, the nearly 50 million people in closed societies who depend on us for accurate news and information each week won’t have access to the truth about America and the world,” Capus added. The USAGM is an independent US government agency that oversees the broadcasting of news and information in almost 50 languages to some 361 million people each week. The total budget request for the USAGM for Fiscal Year 2025 was $950 million to fund all of its operations and capital investments. This includes media outlets such as RFE/RL, Voice of America, Radio Free Asia, the Office of Cuba Broadcasting (Radio Marti), Middle East Broadcasting Networks (MBN) and the Open Technology Fund. According to media reports, VOA employees were informed early on March 15 that they had been put on administrative leave with pay, though if they are asked to work, they must do so. The situation at the other broadcasters was not immediately clear. (https://www.rferl.org/a/trump-executive-order-cuts-agencies-rfe-rl-usagm-voa/33348998.html)
Miami Herald report, 15 March 2025: Trump orders the dismantling of Radio and TV Martí, and employees are placed on leave: President Donald Trump has ordered the dismantling of the parent agency of the Office of Cuba Broadcasting, which oversees Radio and Televisión Martí, a Reagan-era effort to promote democracy and the free flow of information to Cubans on the island. In an executive order late Friday to “continue the reduction of the federal bureaucracy,” Trump mandated the U.S. Agency for Global Media and six other small agencies to “reduce the performance of their statutory functions and associated personnel to the minimum presence and function required by law.” On Saturday, all full-time employees and some contractors at the Martí stations, which are based in Miami-Dade County, were placed on administrative leave with full pay and benefits, according to sources familiar with the decision. “During the period that you are on administrative leave, you are not to enter USAGM premises,” the email obtained by the Miami Herald said. ”Since you will not have any official business during this time, on request, you will be immediately expected to surrender your official USAGM identification badge, press pass, telephone devices, and other equipment.” The executive order also affects other U.S. government media outlets overseen by the U.S. Agency for Global Media, including Voice of America. According to media reports, the agency also placed all VOA full-time staffers, including journalists with the Haitian Creole service, on leave and ended all contracts for the private nonprofit broadcasters it funds, including Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia and the Middle East Broadcasting Networks. The Office of Cuban Broadcasting had an annual budget of $12 million, after reductions in recent years. Previously, it received more than $20 million annually from Congress. The gutting of the stations is good news for Cuban authorities. Since its creation in 1983, Cuban diplomats regularly requested their dismantling during talks with their American counterparts. Over the years, the Martí stations weathered budget reductions, controversies surrounding their directors, plans to fuse with the Voice of America, and criticism about their journalistic standards. At every turn, Cuban-American members of Congress from South Florida helped them survive. Its television programming was kept running for decades, even if it could not be watched on the island because signals were jammed. However, Radio Martí could be heard in many parts of the country and succeeded in breaking the information monopoly of the Cuban state media for many years before Cubans could consume news online and on their cellphones. In recent years, television programming, which was mostly watched locally in Miami, was discreetly shut down as the office focused on promoting the online news site Martí Noticias and video content for social media. It’s unclear how the cutbacks will affect the radio and online efforts. The director of the Office of Cuban Broadcasting, Sylvia Rosabal, did not immediately reply to a request for comment. (https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/cuba/article302141299.html)