VOA employees hope a comedy show in DC will raise awareness for laid off journalists

In March President Donald Trump signed an executive order firing hundreds of journalists and other employees at the Voice of America an international multimedia broadcast news function funded by the U S establishment run by the United States Agency for Global Media It was part of the Trump administration s efforts to radically reshape the federal leadership by eliminating tens of thousands of positions across the ruling body Related stories Judge suspends Trump administration s plan to eliminate hundreds of Voice of America jobs Trump is cutting -plus jobs at Voice of America and its parent agency despite legal challenges Judge orders Trump administration to explain why order to restore Voice of America wasn t followed What shuttering of Voice of America other US-funded media would mean to millions worldwide Several lawsuits ensued and judges issued temporary restraining orders blocking the effort which specific observers have called illegal A movement emerged among the displaced employees called SAVEVOA and it seeks to raise awareness about the agency and funds for struggling employees Kate Neeper served as director of strategy and performance assessment for USAGM and is one of the plaintiffs in a lawsuit that aims to stop the administration s efforts She communicated WTOP about their latest effort to benefit VOA employees A comedy show A colleague of ours got in touch with this organization that I guess has been running a number of fundraisers for folks affected by everything that s been happening in the federal ruling body in the last minimal months And they offered to host a fundraising event for the SAVEVOA campaign Neeper explained The acting head of USAGM Kari Lake cited radical propaganda and misuse of taxpayer funds as reasons for the firings A continuing resolution passed by Congress the same month had provided funding for VOA and its sister networks through September We just want people to know what VOA does Neeper revealed We want them to really understand that there s been this American government-funded press outlet established for years talking about what s happening in the world to people who live in places where they don t have press freedom The show is scheduled for Saturday Oct at the Festival Center in Adams Morgan The lineup hasn t been settled yet but they are offering prizes for the best Halloween costume You can learn more about the event and purchase tickets here Source