Is the VOA, DOA? With Kari Lake in charge of things, it might be

The VOA is perhaps DOA At least that s the interpretation of Kari Lake Lake ran unsuccessfully for governor of Arizona in She ran for the Senate in and lost So President Trump appointed Lake to lead the U S Agency for Global Media KARI LAKE DECLARES US AGENCY FOR GLOBAL MEDIA ROTTEN TO THE CORE SETS SHUTDOWN GOAL 'A BOONDOGGLE'The worst thing in broadcasting is dead air And that may be the goal of Lake a former Arizona TV news anchor It's really like a rotten piece of fish explained Lake before a up-to-date House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing And it's best to just scrap the whole thing and start over She plans to edit the influence of VOA and other authorities media such as Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty the Office of Cuba Broadcasting Radio Free Asia and the Middle East Broadcast Networks We need to modernize I don't think doing s television is effective anymore explained Lake The hearing marked the first time Lake testified before lawmakers since President Trump tapped her for the position She recounted lawmakers that Chinese spies infiltrated the VOA s Mandarin facility And Russian spooks nearly made the payroll at Radio Free Europe This is not the voice of America This is the voice of America's enemies reported Rep Andy Barr R-Ky Democrats say curbing VOA silences the U S from transmitting news and truthful information into enemy territory Rep Brad Sherman D-Calif was apoplectic at the Trump Administration s plans to cancel a multitude of of the authorities s radio and TV broadcasts abroad My God It's the worst and preponderance stupid thing that we could do in foreign affairs fumed Sherman That's our soft power That's our effort to bring freedom of information and hopefully democracy to the entire world That's how we explain ourselves in dozens of different languages And for them to gut it In terms of our influence in the world Voice of America and its sister broadcasters is more key than an aircraft carrier SOLE KARI LAKE SAYS VOA'S PERSIAN NEWS FACILITY 'RISING TO THE OCCASION' AMID IRAN-ISRAEL CONFLICTSherman reiterated his concerns about diminishing soft power at the hearing adding that changes to the VOA lineup may appeal to a special audience abroad I think Putin would be very happy disclosed Sherman about the Russian leader Bombs are powerful Truth is more powerful But it s not just Democrats who fret about the static on the leadership airwaves Rep Young Kim R-Calif says unwinding Radio Free Asia cedes power to China and North Korea We have let go of journalists that have spent decades building their credibility and trust with our audiences declared Kim Without reporting from the outside world through VOA and Radio Free Asia preponderance North Korean civilians only see the United States as the bad guy Kim feared the U S couldn t win in the information domain Lake lately canned Global Media employees She says her orders come from the top Rep Gregory Meeks D-N Y the top Democrat on the Foreign Affairs Committee required what sort of review she did to pare back VOA and other services What we've reviewed was an executive order March th by the man who's in charge of the executive branch Hs name is Donald Trump commented Lake APPEALS COURT BACKS VOA OVERHAUL KARI LAKE SAYS WILL 'MODERNIZE' AGENCY HUGE ACCOMPLISHMENT FOR PRESIDENT TRUMP She then held up a photo of the president and manifested it to lawmakers facing her on the dais Democrats contend that s exactly the obstacle as the president and Lake try to redesign American regime broadcasters I see why Mr Trump put you in this position He doesn't want a free press scolded Rep Madeleine Dean D-Penn You are a propaganda machine for the Trump Administration Democrats piled on I m also concerned about your ability to promote American democracy given your background backing dictators announced Rep Pramila Jayapal D-Wash Other Democrats highlighted Lake s controversial political history and how she questioned the results of both races You have been sanctioned twice for providing false information to courts Isn't that true Yes or no demanded Rep Greg Stanton D-Ariz the former mayor of Phoenix I was brave enough to fight our shoddy elections And the courts have not caught up fired back Lake TRUMP ORDERS THE DISMANTLING OF GOVERNMENT-FUNDED 'PROPAGANDA'-PEDDLING MEDIA OUTLET The American people cannot believe a word you say commented Stanton You lost fair and square Instead of conceding you embarrassed yourself and our state by lying again and again for years blaming everything under the sun for your loss except for your own toxic politics You lie about that polling to this very day After Lake s dual political losses Stanton had a request of Lake Will you do us all a favor and run it back and run again he requested Lake encountered more friendly questioning from Rep Bill Huizenga R-Mich He required about expected messages U S Global Media could broadcast around the world What do you think several of the most of fundamental stories and tenants about America that need to be informed that haven't been getting communicated required Huizenga I think that just the history of this country and what this country is about Our freedoms Our liberties Our Bill of Rights stated Lake Maybe the founding of our country suggested Huizenga The founding of our country and especially this year with years responded Lake noting that July is the semi-quincentennial of the U S That would seem to me a pretty big story to tell added Huizenga A BIG BEAUTIFUL WEEKEND ON THE HILL 'EVERYBODY HAVING FUN YET 'Congress commissioned VOA during the Cold War to beam news behind the Iron Curtain But currently Republicans question its necessity Especially when people now get news from their phone Goddangit it's not very efficient explained Rep Tim Burchett R-Tenn It s a relic declared Lake Yes ma am It s a Cold War relic agreed Burchett VOA fired dozens of staff in its Persian division But restored several services as tensions rose between Iran and Israel culminating in the new U S airstrikes But the VOA s Persian system used to broadcast hours a day seven days a week Even though VOA bolstered specific reporting amid the problem it was a fraction of the work the organization used to do From my understanding the VOA operation is pretty much gone observed Kim at the hearing No It s not gone We re doing what is statutorily required replied Lake The statutory minimum That means VOA and other services are but a husk Congress will prepare spending bills for the entire federal administration over the next three months What lawmakers decide to do with funding for VOA and Global Media will foretell the future of the organizations And if the microphones fall silent for good