Freedom Now is deeply concerned about the potential closure of U.S.-funded media outlets that serve a critical role in delivering rigorous, fact-based reporting to hundreds of millions of people in parts of the world where independent media is virtually non-existent. This action deals a devastating blow to freedom of information globally and undermines efforts to support free and democratic societies.
European leaders, recognizing the potential negative impact on access to information worldwide, are rightly considering helping fill the void. Freedom Now encourages the European Union, its Member States, and others committed to free and independent journalism to immediately fill the funding gap, even as we continue calling on the Trump Administration to reverse its decision.
“The decision to cut off funding to some of the most critical media outlets in authoritarian states is likely being celebrated by autocrats and dictators,” said Andrea J. Prasow, executive director of Freedom Now. “People living in closed societies deserve accurate, independent reporting. This decision undercuts decades of bipartisan support for these initiatives.”
On March 14, 2025, President Trump signed an Executive Order instructing the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) to eliminate its functions and personnel “to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law.” USAGM, an independent agency, oversees various media outlets worldwide, including Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL). RFE/RL was created more than 75 years ago to deliver unbiased, quality news to audiences behind the Iron Curtain. Today, its vast network of journalists works to safely provide independent, locally driven reporting and programming to counter disinformation in some of the most repressive countries in the world, including Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Belarus, and Russia.
Journalists often carry out their work at great personal risk. Freedom Now supports the cases of two journalists affiliated with RFE/RL who have been wrongfully detained for years: Igor Losik a Belarussian journalist detained since June 2020 , and Vladyslav Yesypenko, a Ukrainian journalist arrested by Russian security agents while reporting in Crimea in March 2021. These professionals face harsh sentences on trumped-up charges meant to silence their reporting on corruption and human rights violations by governments that must be held to account.
RFE/RL learned on March 15 that USAGM would immediately terminate its Congressionally approved federal grant, which funds its global operations. Congressional leaders should demonstrate the bipartisan support RFE/RL has long enjoyed by urging the Trump Administration to reverse its decision and ensure funding to USAGM. In the meantime, the EU should move forward with providing funding to sustain RFE/RL’s operations. Ensuring the viability of outlets like RFE/RL would help protect independent journalists and free media while sending a critical message to populations under authoritarian rule that efforts to silence independent voices will not be tolerated.