Voice of America does not broadcast in The United States. Since the early days of World War II, its radio broadcasts aired overseas. These days, news and information from Voice of America is broadcast online, via satellite television and FM radio around the world.
Steve Herman, an Ohio native, has been a journalist for the operation for nearly 25 years. On Friday, March 14, 2025, President Donald Trump, who has suggested Voice of America is biased, signed an executive order shutting down its federal parent agency, The U.S. Agency for Global Media.
“I don’t think anyone saw it coming like this, where effectively VOA would be totally shut down within a matter of hours and that is what has happened,” said Herman.
According to Title V of the United States Information and Educational Exchange Act of 1948, Voice of America will "serve as a consistently reliable and authoritative source of news..." and “…represent America, not any single segment of American society.”
“For the first time in 83 years, the storied Voice of America is being silenced,” Michael Abramowitz, the organization’s director, said in a statement to the Associated Press. He added that “virtually” the entire staff of about 1,300 was placed on leave.
Herman, who has reported from war zones and served as the Chief White House Correspondent at VOA most recently held the title of Chief National Correspondent. In a commentary he wrote about the closure, Herman called it a national security issue.
“For a lot of these countries and regions, we're the only credible source of information, because a lot of them, the press in their countries is totally under the control of the government”, said Herman. “And these are authoritarian regimes. I've met people over the years who have said they learned about democracy from Voice of America, or they decided to defect from their country because of what they heard on the Voice of America.”
Legal strategies to halt the closure are being investigated, according to Herman.
“There have been some positive orders issued by federal judges, so that is the hope,“ he said. "But the damage that's being done right now is irreparable, probably. We're off the air. We're losing audiences."
Congress can decide to reopen the Voice of America, Herman said, pointing out that so far legislators have not ordered its funding be eliminated.
Herman had been on an “extended excused absence” from Voice of America since February. In March, the Voice of America began a formal review of his social media postings for potential bias against the Trump administration, according to NPR. The investigation sparked concerns of political interference at the broadcaster.
“I'm absolutely certain I'm wrongly accused,” said Herman, who told Ideastream he's being used as a “political scapegoat.”
“I do not give opinions in my posts,” Herman said. “I do post different points of view, whether they're coming from the White House, Democrats on Capitol Hill, activist groups, whatever. That's part of the mission of Voice of America, is to have those diverse voices of the country heard. My social media has been reflective of that.”
The shutdown is part of broader moves against the media, according to the New York Times, which reports the White House has barred The Associated Press from covering certain events over its refusal to refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America and Trump and his allies have sued news outlets and may be eyeing more litigation.
Herman didn’t agree or disagree with the assessment but said, “I think anytime an independent voice, a mainstream or alternate voice that's doing effective and unbiased journalism goes silent, it's a tragedy.”
