this post was submitted on 01 Mar 2025

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393

Trump investigates public media reporters for criticizing his administration (www.alternet.org)

submitted 3 weeks ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

36 comments fedilink hide all child comments

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[–] [email protected] 187 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (2 children)

In the tweet, Herman quoted a nonprofit leader who criticized Trump's cuts to the U.S. Agency for International Development as making Americans "less safe at home and abroad." Grenell called Herman's tweet "treasonous."

“You don’t get to work against the official U.S. government policies while being paid by US taxpayers,” said Grenell, who is officially the Special Presidential Envoy for Special Missions. “You should be immediately fired.”

And there it is. It is now "treasonous" and a fireable offense for a member of the press to express an opinion critical of the Trump administration. This is where we are now. Freedom of speech, expression, and the press are no longer a thing. You can literally lose your job and be put under criminal investigation for criticizing Donald Trump.

[–] [email protected] 59 points 3 weeks ago

Complaining about the federal govt while being employed by it is the classic Republican stance.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

a fireable offense for a member of the press

VOA journalists are anything but. They are not free press.

[–] [email protected] 33 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

I'm not sure what you mean by this. They're state-sponsored, but they are at least supposed to be free, on account of the firewall and the VOA charter.

[–] Blooper 3 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

No no no - only paywalled, ad-supported, doomsday prep and gold bullion-slinging, enshittified news outlets are "free press". Honestly, if you're not creating value for shareholders, can you even consider yourself a journalist?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 weeks ago

Honestly, if you’re not creating value for shareholders, can you even consider yourself a journalist?

Surely not!

[–] [email protected] 29 points 3 weeks ago

Sooo... Fucking piece it together dude. It's to the point where VOA is not belligerently pro-America enough for Donnie Dickhead. Our freedom of press is deteriorated to the point that no journalist, no matter how pro-jingoist their legacy, is safe from reprisal. No one running a media network within our borders is capable of presenting truth. That's a thing of the past.

[–] [email protected] 51 points 3 weeks ago

Reminder, it’s pledge week for many public radio stations / NPR affiliates.

DONATE

Give whatever you can. This is the time to actually give. These poor journalists are having to pay for legal counsel with a shoe string budget.

[–] [email protected] 28 points 3 weeks ago

ITT, people living up to their namesake. "I'm not a - ... but ..."

The only reason he isn't getting impeached for this is because he isn't Biden and the GQP MAGA only projects and doesn't really care about what they project about.

[–] [email protected] 23 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Fascists will only leave power when they die

[–] [email protected] 7 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

Or killed.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 weeks ago

We can only hope it's a peaceful transition. Most of the idiots following the orange baboon are too incompetent to seize power

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 weeks ago

I'm sorry, the Internet has ruined me and I cannot resist memeing constantly into the apocalypse.

Obligatory "FUCKING FUCK DONALD J TRUMP, THE FUCKED-IN-THE-HEAD FASCIST FUCKER"

[–] [email protected] 16 points 3 weeks ago

If you’re on Mastodon, Steve Herman has been one of the most important critics of this shit show. Give @[email protected] a follow.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 2 weeks ago

The whole point of VOA is to create and independent and trusted base to counter propaganda. In order to this it has to report on the bad things about the United States. This was something explicitly considered during it's creation. The notion that a reporter is undermining the government by reporting critically on it is this absurd. This also very publicly calls into question the editorial independence of VOA.

Today, and every day from now on, we will be with you from America to talk about the war... The news may be good or bad for us – We will always tell you the truth.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 3 weeks ago

Is this platform public? Good. Fuck trump.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (9 children)

As much as I hate Trump, there's a logic in this. VOA has always been a publicly-funded propaganda mouthpiece. They are NOT an independent media. Independence entails not taking money from people you want to criticize.

If VOA refuses to spew out the latest flavor of propaganda, they're not doing their job.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

VOA takes money from US taxpayers, not the Trump administration. Criticizing Trump is about as pro-American as that news organization can get.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 weeks ago

Not only that, the VOA literally has its own law requiring it to be impartial and protecting it from direct interference by the US government.

VOICE OF AMERICA BROADCASTS

Sec. 206. Title V of the United States Information and Educational Exchange Act of 1948 is amended by adding the following new section:

Sec. 503. The long-range interests of the United States are served by communicating directly with the peoples of the world by radio. To be effective, the Voice of America must win the attention and respect of listeners. These principles will therefore govern Voice of America (VOA) broadcasts:

VOA will serve as a consistently reliable and authoritative source of news. VOA news will be accurate, objective, and comprehensive.

VOA will represent America, not any single segment of American society, and will therefore present a balanced and comprehensive projection of significant American thought and institutions.

VOA will present the policies of the United States clearly and effectively, and will also present responsible discussions and opinion on these policies. (Public Law 94-350)

[–] [email protected] 20 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

The President has plenty of propaganda tools at his disposal without having a "news organization" make shit up.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (2 children)

But what you don't understand is that VOA is not a news organization. It was created during WW2 by the Office of the Coordinator of Information for the express purpose of spreading pro-American propaganda in Germany and in Japan. And it has kept doing exactly that ever since.

I remember it showering the USSR with pro-American high-power shortwave radio broadcasts in Russian and in English when I was a kid in the 70's. Everybody knew VOA was America's response to radio Moscow.

VOA is quite explicitely a propaganda thing. Really! You guys can downvote me all you want, it's the plain truth. VOA journalists are quite literally paid to spread American propaganda.

His Orangeness has decided to turn the country around 180 degrees and make it a fascist pro-Russia state and I despise him with all my heart. But Trump is right: the VOA has no business not being 100% aligned with him.

That makes the VOA an enemy of freedom, democracy and common decency, just like Trump.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

From the VOA website:

An essential guarantee of the journalistic credibility of Voice of America content is the “firewall” enshrined in the 1994 U.S. International Broadcasting Act. The firewall prohibits interference by any U.S. government official in the objective, independent reporting of news, thereby safeguarding the ability of our journalists to develop content that reflects the highest professional standards of journalism, free of political interference.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Also: Elon Musk says he’s a genius.

Man of course VOA says they’re independent media. Now please find a truly independent analysis that says the same?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 weeks ago

The point is they're supposed to at least keep up the pretext of not being propaganda, and this is done by being critical when permitted. Trump doesn't want them to be critical of him at all, which goes against their mandate from Congress.

Elon Musk managed to more or less keep up the appearance of being smart for a long while, up to when he called that diver a pedo.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 weeks ago

VOA, RFA, RFE, and a shitton of others are nothing but propaganda machines for the US

[–] [email protected] 13 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

So you're going with "freedom of speech doesn't apply if you work for the government"?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

It would be better if it did, but you shouldn't be surprised if it doesn't, anymore than you should expect the Washington Post to criticize Bezos or Fox News Rupert Murdoch.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 weeks ago

Except for the whole "first amendment" part, remember? Bezos isn't legally prohibited from infringing on freedom of the press.

The government isn't allowed to do things an individual might be able to.
You're literally arguing that the first amendment doesn't apply to government employees, which is absolute horseshit.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 3 weeks ago

Independence entails not taking money from people you want to criticize.

No it doesn't. Criticizing those that fund you would literally be one of the more independent things a group could do.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 weeks ago

VOA is less objective than RT.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 weeks ago

I think you are getting down voted, not because you are wrong, but because that truth is particularly unpleasant.

It would be like radio free Europe criticising Regan's policies during the cold war.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Bootlicker.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

What part of "As much as I hate Trump" don't you understand?

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 weeks ago

The part where you then licked the boots, most likely.

"I'm a staunch vegetarian, but even I like a big ribeye once in a while". You can see why people might disregard the first part.

It's hard to focus on where you say you dislike trump when the following bit is where you justify calling criticism of him treason.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 weeks ago

You shouldn't be downvoted, but this isn't true. While partially funded by Congress, the VOA's mission is not propaganda.

Since its creation in 1942, Voice of America has been committed to providing comprehensive coverage of the news and telling audiences the truth. Through World War II, the Cold War, the fight against global terrorism, and the struggle for freedom around the globe today, VOA exemplifies the principles of a free press.

VOA is part of the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), the government agency that oversees all non-military, U.S. international broadcasting. It is funded by the U.S. Congress.

Now, we can debate how much this is true in practice, and I'm sure the governmental structure of the organisation means the government can put their thumb on the scale somewhat, but the mission means they're at least meant to keep the pretext of being independent and free.

But Trump doesn't understand that. In his eyes, he's paying for it (not Congress nor the American voters/taxpayers) and if he's paying for it he gets to boss them around.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 weeks ago

The number of people thinking the AID in USAID implies assistance is insane. The number of media outlets receiving propaganda money from USAID to spread US propaganda is insane.