Michael Sobolik
Appearances
Global News Podcast
US launches wave of air strikes on Yemen's Houthis
On the one hand, it's a gift to autocrats like Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin. I mean, when you look at Radio Free Asia, the whole model of RFA is surrogate broadcasting and surrogate journalism, which tries to bring a free press to nations that don't have it into regimes that are terrified of it. And RFA losing its funding is going to not just be a bad thing for the Chinese people.
Global News Podcast
US launches wave of air strikes on Yemen's Houthis
It's going to be bad for American policymakers because a lot of the sources on the ground that RFA has cultivated over the years has helped elected officials make better informed decisions strategically about U.S.-China relations. We've seen this with the Uyghur genocide and the COVID-19 pandemic a few years ago. And the shuttering of RFA is going to be a huge problem.
Global News Podcast
US launches wave of air strikes on Yemen's Houthis
And for VOA in particular, that's Washington's ability to tell America's story abroad in countries like China and Russia. And losing the ability to do that is going to be a bad thing for American interests.
Global News Podcast
US launches wave of air strikes on Yemen's Houthis
I think what we're seeing in some cases from this administration is a predetermined outcome. My impression is that many in the Trump administration – certainly not all, but there's several officials in key positions here – were not interested in hearing the arguments of the agency of VOA or RFA or others. And I think the knives were out already, which puts them in a very difficult situation.
Global News Podcast
US launches wave of air strikes on Yemen's Houthis
And I think we can probably expect to see a legal fight come up now because the president's executive order is going to be difficult to enforce because not all of USAGM's related entities are codified by the Congress, but many of them are.