By 
Voice of America’s Studio 7 program which broadcasts to Zimbabwe in Shona, Ndebele and English is on the brink of closure as Elon Musk threatens to shut down Voice of America (VOA). Voice of America provides news, information, and cultural programming through the Internet, mobile and social media, radio, and television.
Xinhua reported that Elon Musk, the South African-born U.S. billionaire and head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), recently took to X to advocate for the closing down of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Voice of America, both of which are funded by the U.S. government in the name of not wasting money.
By Gamuchirai Mapako
Musk passed the remarks after the U.S. special envoy for special missions, Richard Grenell criticized these media outlets for being taxpayer-funded and filled with “far-left activities.”
“Radio Free Europe and Voice of America are media outlets paid for by the American taxpayers. It is state-owned media. These outlets are filled with far-left activists. I’ve worked with these reporters for decades. It’s a relic of the past. We don’t need government-paid media outlets”, wrote Grenell.
Musk backed up Grenell’s comments, saying,
“Yes, close them. Europe is free now (not counting the stifling bureaucracy). Nobody listens to them anymore. They are just crazy radical leftists talking to themselves while burning American taxpayer money. That’s about $1 billion a year wasted.”
VOA, is the oldest and largest U.S. international broadcaster, established in 1942,. The diverse platform creates content in 48 languages across digital platforms, TV, and radio, including a special service for Zimbabwe called Studio 7, which has been airing since 2003. It covers a wide range of subjects, including politics, civil society, health, sports, and the arts.
Grenell called the outlets “relic of the past” and added that government funded media are no longer needed.
If the threat to shut down VOA goes through, like the cutting of AID to South Africa, it could leave over two dozen Zimbabwean journalists in Washington without jobs.
Musk echoed Grenell.
“Yes, shut them down,” wrote Musk on X.
“It’s just radical left crazy people talking to themselves while torching 1 billion U.S. dollars a year of U.S. taxpayer money.”
Comments