“More than 1,000 employees of Voice of America will remain on administrative leave while the appeals court weighs the case, a process that could take months.”

New: A plan to bring back Voice of America’s employees, who have largely been sidelined by the Trump administration for a year, was halted late Tuesday by a three-judge appeals court panel. www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

NEW: Voice of America's employees have been in limbo for a year. A federal appeals court just ensured they'll stay there a little longer, halting a plan to return them to work. www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

"Ms. Lake, who still serves as the deputy chief executive of V.O.A.’s parent agency, did not answer a question on agency plans but said in an email that The Times journalists 'must be curled up in a ball, sobbing' after the appeals court ruling." [Statespersonlike] www.nytimes.com/2026/03/31/u...

Every day that VOA remains sidelined is a loss for press freedom, for workers, and for audiences around the world who rely on independent, fact-based journalism. www.nytimes.com/2026/03/31/u...

"We brought this case to defend the rule of law and the integrity of a critical public institution, and we will continue fighting to ensure that VOA staff can return to work to fulfill their mission."

A D.C. Circuit panel stayed the part of Judge Lamberth's Voice of America order that ordered USAGM employees back to work, until they can review the appeal. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

Trump "made a point of dismantling key pillars of the nation’s soft power apparatus. But now — amid an expanding war with Iran — the State Department is quietly rolling out a public diplomacy effort that seems a lot like soft power initiatives of the past."

We congratulate our @npr.org and @pbs.org colleagues on Judge Moss' ruling that First Amendment “does not tolerate viewpoint discrimination."

Alhurra and Radio Sawa stuff on auction ... "Middle East Broadcasting Networks, Inc. (MBN) is undertaking a strategic relocation and offering a comprehensive liquidation of surplus broadcast and production equipment." rasmus.com/auctions/5V0...

Sinclair Broadcast Group's "Full Measure" provides plenty of time to Kari Lake to repeat her accusations about the previous managements of USAGM and its entities. Where was this interview conducted? There are a couple of USAGM props, in front of big curtains. fullmeasure.news/newest-video...

"while Russia was not able to replicate China’s 'Great Firewall' approach ... it was quickly moving toward an Iranian model. That approach involves 'white lists' of approved sites, targeted outages and an internal intranet." www.nytimes.com/2026/03/31/w...

Voice of America journalists are suing the U.S. Agency for Global Media and its leadership, alleging illegal publication of propaganda and censorship. #SaveVOA

VOA Editorial quoting Trump: “we will conclude our lovely ‘stay’ in Iran by blowing up and completely obliterating all of their Electric Generating Plants, Oil Wells and Kharg Island (and possibly all desalinization plants!)" editorials.voa.gov/a/8132459.html

For decades, VOA’s Central Newsroom upheld editorial standards. Since last March, most journalists have been fired or put on leave—ending English coverage and weakening the VOA Charter. Without it, VOA risks becoming propaganda for whoever holds power. #SaveVOAvVOA

(1/2) RFE/RL Bulgarian and Romanian services close today. x.com/RFERLPress/s...

Starts with the VOA "Yankee Doodle" interval signal played from the transmitter site. Then VOA Chinese, back on shortwave ... x.com/atake/status...

For decades, VOA’s Central Newsroom upheld editorial standards. Since last March, most journalists have been fired or put on leave—ending English coverage and weakening the VOA Charter. Without it, VOA risks becoming propaganda for whoever holds power. #SaveVOA

"The BBC has been looking for other sources of funding as the number of people paying the licence fee dwindles. ... The mini-site is not viewable for people in the UK unless they use a VPN, because it is not funded by the licence fee." www.theguardian.com/media/2026/m...

Cohen Building, home of VOA. Rep. Lloyd Doggett "questioned why the government should sell a building it already owns in a central place among other federal buildings while it rents offices space in privately owned buildings in Washington, Maryland and Virginia." www.usatoday.com/story/news/p...

"The British and American governments have often been fiercely critical of the output of both the BBC and VOA. ... On the British side of the Pond, however, no government has dared to do worse things to the BBC than moan about it.'

"who has so soon and scandalously forgotten the legendary Ms. Yvonne Buckley - a globally renowned Liberian national and major broadcast luminary on VOA in the 1970s and the 1980s" [Actually Yvonne Barclay (1940-2020). She *was* a VOA luminary.] www.modernghana.com/news/1481958...

"The Labour government could raise a tidy sum by hiving off BBC Monitoring ... Private equity would pay a handsome sum. In return, the Foreign Office should once again sign up to fund the BBC World Service, the voice of British soft power." www.ft.com/content/4c8b...

(1/3) BBC Persian reports on the No Kings and anti-war rallies in the United States, including White House criticism of the event: "'the only people who care about this issue are journalists who are paid to cover their news'" www.bbc.com/persian/arti...

The Trump Administration may soon sell the Cohen Federal Building, home of what's left of the Voice of America, described as "'the Sistine Chapel of the New Deal' because of its exquisite frescoes and murals by Ben Shahn [et al]" newrepublic.com/article/2082...

"Environmentalists are terrorists." - President Trump during White House remarks to farmers

Saturday 2000 UTC. We can still access BBC Radio 4 in North America. www.bbc.com/audio/play/l...

The acting head of VOA's parent agency says the "focus remains on advancing President Trump's agenda…"He's already being sued for breaking the law as VOA is mandated to "present a balanced and comprehensive projection of significant American thought and institution." washingtonreporter.news/exclu...

"Since its inception, America has assured itself it was simply too big, too far away and too richly endowed to suffer any serious consequences for its actions." www.nytimes.com/2026/03/26/o...

Another loss for Kari Lake and USAGM in court. The Open Technology Fund won summary judgment today, with Judge Lamberth ordering the agency to disburse the full $43.5M in appropriated funds. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

"Another problem is that after VOA laid off these hundreds of workers, it downsized its office space — so now there is nowhere to put the people returning to work."

“The fired journalists sued, and the case wound up on the docket of Judge Royce Lamberth, who ordered USAGM to bring back the fired employees and resume programming.” www.publicnotice.co/p/kari-lake-...

“The lawsuit alleges that VOA transmissions to populations in Iran, China, North Korea and to Kurdish populations are not being run as objective news sources, as required by law.”

The BBC says former Google executive Matt Brittin will be the UK broadcaster’s next director-general.

The new lawsuit argues that “Lake and USAGM are promoting pro-Trump propaganda on air and have upended the network’s editorial independence in violation of federal law and First Amendment principles.” pen.org/voice-of-ame...

“For example, coverage of the Iran war sent into that country has not included any news of death tolls from U.S. air strikes or the perspectives of political and world leaders outside of the administration,” www.pbs.org/newshour/pol...

VOA Burmese advances U.S. interests—countering China/Russia and delivering trusted news where press is silenced. This is strategic. #SaveVOA #VOABurmese

The location-finding is attributed to Priyom.org , a site specializing in numbers stations. It makes sense that a Farsi (Persian) language numbers station would transmit from the West into Iran, because operatives located inside Iran likely do not have internet access during the present shutdown.

“The journalists said in the complaint that the administration was trying to force them to be a ‘mouthpiece’ and that one official demanded ‘loyalty’ if reporters wanted to ‘keep their jobs.’” www.nytimes.com/2026/03/23/u...

The announcement to Voice of America staff about a phased return to work from USAGM's acting CEO and Deputy Secretary of State Michael Rigas misspells his surname.

"The Federal Vacancies Reform Act (FVRA) allows for appointments without Senate confirmation as a 'first assistant' to the acting CEO. So Lake was first appointed as a deputy CEO. When VOA CEO Victor Morales stepped down, the FVRA allowed Lake to replace him" townhall.com/columnists/r...

"administration plans to ... Fold USAGM into the State Department ... 'will undermine the credibility and the editorial independence that these media organizations have by statute and which you need in order to operate and be credible around the world'" www.poynter.org/business-wor...

Today (3/23) a group of VOA journalists Barry Newhouse, Ayesha Tanzeem, Dong Hyuk Lee and Ksenia Turkova filed a new lawsuit against the administration to protect VOA’s editorial independence and restore our credibility. Read their statement here. #SaveVOA

"In a time of crisis and conflict, like what we have right now in Iran, people count on the U.S. government broadcasts, and in particular, the Voice of America, to tell the truth."

The entire series is available at archive (dot) org - 1399 eps. (URL is misleading). Plus there is a subseries of archived shows as aired on KIXI Seattle. These are cool because they have the full hour with CBS news at top of hour, & occasionally at the end of the show. archive.org/details/cbsr...

The soon-to-disappear CBS Radio, in contrarian move, broadcast the CBS Radio Mystery 1974-82, television be damned. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CBS_Rad...

Patsy Widakuswara, Voice of America's White House bureau chief and a plaintiff in the lawsuit to restore VOA, discussed a federal judge this week ordering the Trump administration to restore the government-run agency's operations after it had been shuttered last year.

"One person in front of a microphone speaking to one person on the other side"

"Our signature broadcast, 'World News Roundup,' remains the longest-running newscast in the country." Categorize "World News Roundup" as a podcast rather than a broadcast, and suddenly it would be hip and popular. But continue to make it available on radio, for listening in cars and kitchens.