RSF - Reporters sans frontières
RSF - Reporters sans frontières
02/10/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 02/10/2026 20:50
USA: New funding for USAGM signals sustained bipartisan support for its crucial international journalism
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) welcomes the inclusion of funds for Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, and the other public media outlets supported by the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM) in the 2026 appropriations bill signed by President Trump on February 3. The decision sends a strong, bipartisan message that USAGM outlets are vital sources of reliable news worldwide. This funding supports life-saving, critical news reporting in many closed countries where local journalists are attacked for trying to keep the public informed.
On February 3, President Donald Trump signed a long-awaited annual spending bill into law, which includes funding for USAGM for the next year. The international public broadcasters supported by USAGM - Voice of America (VOA), Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), The Office of Cuba Broadcasting(Radio and Television Martí), Radio Free Asia(RFA) and The Middle East Broadcasting Networks(MBN) - provide reliable information in some of the world's most difficult environments, including Cuba, Iran, Myanmar, China, Russia and Venezuela. In 2024, USAGM's networks reached a weekly audience of 427 millionpeople worldwide. USAGM funding will also go to The Open Technology Fund, which supports internet freedom technologies for journalists and their audiences.
The fact that the inclusion of funding for USAGM was supported by both Democrats and Republicans, and in both the House and the Senate, sends a clear signal that Congress supports the agency and its journalists. This funding is a particularly important development as the Trump administration has been waging a war against USAGM media - and journalism at large - since the US president took office for a second time one year ago. On March 14th, he signed an Executive Orderattempting to dismantle USAGM. Since then, Kari Lake, who has managed USAGM under the Trump administration, has continued to freezethe ability of USAGM journalists to do their congressionally mandated work, notably by trying to slash the agency's workforce. RSF has brought a lawsuitagainst the Trump administration to save VOA alongside its journalistsand their unions. In September, a district court ordered Lake to reversethe VOAlayoffs and keep its journalists on USAGM's payroll, yet Lake refuses to let them report and is keeping them on furlough.
Although the funding passed for USAGM is a roughly 25% cut from previous years, it still sends a strong message that Lake must end her efforts to erode USAGM and let the journalists do their jobs.
"By funding Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, and the US Agency for Global Media's other entities for the next year, Congress sent a rare, strong, and bipartisan message that access to reliable information matters. That basic truth has guided RSF's defense of USAGM, including a lawsuit to save VOA. Journalists working for VOA and the other outlets that USAGM supports shine a light in places where the truth is threatened and reporters are in danger. They provide an invaluable service for millions of people who want to be better informed. It's time for Kari Lake to end her campaign of destruction and let these journalists get back to work.
Clayton Weimers
Executive Director of RSF North America
Published on10.02.2026
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