Have you ever been angry? Like really angry? Like hand-shaking, fist-clenching, ready-to-tear-a-black-hole-where-the-world-is, angry? Welcome to Q1 2025.

The latest? President Donald Trump’s administration began making deep cuts to Voice of America and other government-run, pro-democracy news organizations on March 15, according to The Associated Press. Most of VOA’s employees were put on administrative leave with an unspecified return date.

Other affected employees include Radio Free Europe and Asia, and Radio Martí.

To us at Central Michigan Life, that brings to mind a few reminders we’d like to provide about why and how we (and every other reputable news organization in the country) are doing what we do. If defunding VOA doesn’t sound like a big deal to you, just take two minutes to hear us out as to why you should give a shit.

The First Amendment

Let’s start here. The First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States instilled five specific freedoms into the new nation our forefathers started almost 250 years ago:

Religion
Speech
Press (hey, that’s us!)
Peaceful assembly
Petitioning the government

Why is this important? Because (not to brag, but) other than government officials, that means working to publish the news is the only constitutionally protected job in the country. Well, maybe that’s not as much of a brag anymore.

What that looks like is the creation of a Fourth Estate—a source of checks and balances built into the Constitution disconnected from the government itself. Incredible, iconic.

The founding fathers took an opportunity to essentially say: Look, there has to be a bridge connecting what the government is doing to the public. A bridge of essential knowledge.

As members of the press, what we desperately want is to put information into your hands so you can take action. We won’t tell you what action to take (that’s your business) but without the press, members of the public only really get to hear what politicians want their constituents to know.

We’ll take the whole truth without the rose-colored glasses, thank you very much. And moreover, we understand that other civic-minded individuals want the same.

There are, of course, more parts of the First Amendment than freedom of the press. We’re not the only ones under attack.

Freedom of speech and peaceful assembly are also under fire. With Trump posting on Truth Social about taking funding from colleges and universities that host student demonstrators and the … extralegal … arrest of Mahmoud Khalil for pro-Palestine activism, there is reason for concern.

Regardless of whether your opinion aligns with that of Khalil, the attempted deportation of a green card holder for protesting and holding an opinion opposite of the federal government’s policy should be a red flag.

The point is, if they stepped on us, they’ll step on legacy journalists, too.

VOA and presidential press

But what is the VOA? Voice of America was created by the federal government in 1942, and has since been the largest U.S. international broadcaster, according to its website, with a weekly audience of over 354 million people on digital, T.V. and radio platforms.

It’s part of the larger independent body called the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM).

The official VOA charter, or guiding document, was signed by President Gerald Ford in 1976. According to the VOA, the charter protects the editorial independence and integrity of VOA programming, stipulating three requirements:

“The 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.”

There’s really not much more to ask for from a news organization, other than perhaps a diversity and accessibility statement.

Having these values is one thing, but walking the walk is another. And neither of these is what the Trump administration’s beef with the organization is about. It’s because VOA and the other outlets under the USAGM are news outlets with financial levers he can pull.

For anyone just tuning in, the President has had a less than peaceful relationship with news media for a while. On the campaign trail, he verbally attacked various media sources over 100 times, according to Reporters Without Borders.

He has also been referring to the press as the enemy of the people since his first campaign.

More recently, the President has also been restricting press access to the White House— upending the nonpartisan press pool selection system in favor of only giving access to pro-Trump media outlets.

Their reporters are more likely to do things like insult Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for not wearing a suit during a meeting in the Oval Office. A real journalist wouldn’t do that. Also, Zelenskyy probably has more important things to worry about.

What happens when press is gone

It’s no secret that the number of news organizations — especially local newspapers — is shrinking. The 2024 State of Local News report from the Medial Local News Initiative showed that between 2005 and 2024 the number of non-daily local newspapers went from 7,419 to 4,558 nationwide.

According to an article by Natalie Gemini Stroud and Emily Van Duyn, published in the October 2023 Journal of Communication, there are consequences when local news organizations disappear, including:

Declines in civic and political engagement
People know less about politics
Split-ticket voting declines
Elections are less competitive
Congressional representatives work less on behalf of their districts.

“The contemporary local news crisis is a story of economic and democratic liability, of community and commercial repair,” the article reads.

The bottom line is that journalists are the watchdogs of democracy. When we are not operating to put information (good, bad or otherwise) in the hands of the public, no one else does.

And the VOA is one more news organization that could (but shouldn’t) go dark, leaving even bigger shoes left to fill.