The Shift of Power in the US The War on the Media

US Media Channels Go Silent After 83 Years on the Air

Voice of America has been broadcasting since 1942, but now its broadcasts have gone silent, writes the New York Times.

Donald Trump made the decision on Friday and just hours later hundreds of journalists were told they would no longer be going to work. Radio channels in Asia, the Middle East and elsewhere went silent or started playing only music, employees told the newspaper.

Other media sources such as Radio Free Europe and Radio Free Asia are facing the same fate as the agency that controls US media channels now appears to be shutting down completely.

– Operationally, they have pulled the plug, says lawyer David Seide, who represents some of the employees, to the New York Times.

According to a statement from the White House on Saturday, the agency is spreading “radical propaganda” and the employees are alleged to have a deep-rooted leftist bias, writes AFP.

China and Russia Celebrate Trump's Shutdown: "Die, You Disgusting Bastards"

Russian propagandist Vladimir Solovyov is overjoyed after Donald Trump's shutdown of US international media channels.

Russia has invested heavily in propaganda and fake news, and Solovyov says in his television broadcast that his colleagues at RT and Sputnik are "celebrating today".

- This is a cool decision by him, says Solovyov according to the Kyiv Post.

Solovyov also has a message for independent journalists.

- Die, you bastards, because you are lying, disgusting and disgusting traitors of the motherland.

The US has also sent news into the dictatorship of China through, among other things, Voice of America. Here too, there is jubilation on Monday, and the state-run and nationalist Global Times calls Voice of America a “lie factory” and a “propaganda tool,” writes NBC News.

Among the media channels that are being shut down are Voice of America, Radio Free Europe and Radio Free Asia. Voice of America has been broadcasting since 1942.

EU foreign policy chief: “Has been a beacon of democracy”

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas says that the EU Commission will investigate whether it is possible to help the American Radio Free Europe, which is now being shut down by Donald Trump.

“For us on the other side of the Iron Curtain, it was the radio station from which we received a lot of information about what was really going on. It has been a beacon of democracy,” says Kallas, who was previously the prime minister of Estonia, according to TT.

At the same time, Kallas warns that the EU cannot automatically step in and take over the financing of the radio station, which has its headquarters in Prague, Czech Republic.