Koroi
Hawkins, RNZ Pacific Editor
The former
head of BenarNews’ Pacific Bureau says a United States court
ruling this week ordering the US Agency for Global Media
(USAGM) to release congressionally approved funding to Radio
Free Asia and its subsidiaries “makes us very
happy”.
However, Stefan Armbruster, who has played a
key role in expanding the news agency’s presence in the
region, acknowledged, “there’s also more to do.”
On 14
March, President Donald Trump signed
an executive order to defund USAGM outlets Radio Free
Asia and Middle East Broadcasting Networks, including
placing more than 1300 Voice of America employees on
leave.
“This order continues the reduction in the
elements of the Federal bureaucracy that the President has
determined are unnecessary,” the executive order
states.
Armbruster told Pacific Waves that the
ruling found the Trump administration failed to provide
evidence to support their actions.
“[Judge Royce
Lamberth] is basically saying that the actions of the Trump
administration [are] likely to have been illegal and
unconstitutional in taking away the money from these
organisations,” he said.
“The judgments are saying
that the US administration should return funding to its
overseas broadcasters, which include Voice of America [and]
Radio Free Asia.”
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He said that in America, they can
lay people off without a loss, and they can still remain
employees. But these conditions did not apply for overseas
employees.
“Basically, all the overseas staff have
been staff let go, except a very small number in the US who
are on visas, dependent on their employment, and they have
spoken out about this publicly.
“They have got 60 days
to find a job, a new sponsor for them, or they could face
deportation to places like China, Cambodia, and
Vietnam.
“So for the former employees, at the moment,
we are just waiting to see how this all plays
out.”
Armbruster said there were hints that a Trump
administration could take such action during the election
campaign, when the Trump team had flagged issues about the
media.
However, he added the speed at which this has
happened “was totally unexpected”.
“And the judge
ruled on that. He said that it is hard to fathom a more
straightforward display of arbitrary, capricious action,
basically, random and unexplained.
“In short, the
defendants had no method or approach towards shutting down
USAGM that this Court could discern.”
Armbruster said
the US Congress funds the USAGM, and the agency has a
responsibility to disburse that funding to Radio Free
Europe, Voice of America, and Radio Free Asia.
The
judge ruled that the President does not have the authority
to withhold that funding, he said.
“We were funded
through till September to the end of the financial year in
the US.
“In terms of how quickly [the executive order]
came, it was a big surprise to all of us. Not totally
unexpected that this would be happening, but not this way,
not this hard.”
BenarNews ‘gave a voice’
The
BenarNews Pacific Bureau was initially set up two-and-a-half
years ago but evolved into a fully-fledged bureau only 12
months ago. It had three fulltime staff based in Australia
and about 15 stringers and commentators across the
region.
“We built up this fantastic network of people,
and the response has been fantastic, just like Radio New
Zealand [Pacific].
“We were doing a really good thing
and having some really amazing stories on our pages, and big
successes. It gave a voice to a whole lot of Pacific
journalists and commentators to tell stories from
perspectives that were not being presented in other
forums.”
“It is hard to say if we will come back
because there has been a lot of court orders issued recently
under this current US administration, and they sometimes are
not complied with, or are very slowly complied with, which
is why we are still in the process.”
However,
Armbruster remains hopeful there will be “some interesting
news” next week.
“The judgment also has a little bit
of a kicker in the tail, because it is not just an order to
do [restore funding].
“It is an order to turn up on
the first day of each month, and to appraise the court of
what action is [the USAGM] taking to disburse the
funds.”
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