Amid an attempt by US President Donald Trump’s administration to halt congressionally allocated funding from Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), the broadcaster’s audiences in the countries it covers are voicing support and admiration for its journalism.
From Iran to Belarus, Afghanistan to Russia, Pakistan to Ukraine: Readers and listeners praised RFE/RL journalists for their brave, impartial, and honest reporting on the front lines of war and in some of the world’s most repressive political and media landscapes -- and expressed concern that it could vanish.
“I live in a small village. We don’t have satellite or reliable Internet. Your radio [is] giving me hope,” one listener in Iran wrote in a Telegram message to Radio Farda, RFE/RL’s Persian-language service.
Another listener from Iran posted on social media that Radio Farda “is my main source of information because of its unbiased and professional reporting."
“Losing it would be very difficult. I hope that day never comes,” the listener wrote.
Trump on March 14 signed an executive order aiming to reduce seven federal agencies – including the US Agency for Global Media, which oversees RFE/RL and other US taxpayer-funded broadcasters like Voice of America (VOA).
After the executive order was published, Kari Lake, senior adviser to the agency's acting CEO, sent a letter saying the Congress-approved grant that funds RFE/RL had been terminated.
RFE/RL is nonetheless continuing its work and on March 18 filed a federal lawsuit to block USAGM’s attempt to terminate the broadcaster's federal grant that provides funds necessary to operate.
Unlike VOA, which is a federal agency, RFE/RL is a private, nonprofit corporation, with corporate headquarters in Delaware and editorial headquarters in Prague.
Breaking Through 'The Darkness Of Lies'
In Ukraine, where RFE/RL has covered Russia’s full-scale invasion from the front lines since it was ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin in February 2022, reader Oleh Prozorov thanked RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service for its “protection of political freedoms.”
“Sometimes you were like a ray of light that broke through the darkness of lies,” Prozorov wrote on Facebook.
In a message to RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service, reader Lesya Bondaruk expressed fear of losing “a bastion of real freedom of speech and thought."
“An attack on Radio Liberty is an attack on humanity’s freedom of speech. This cannot be allowed,” she wrote.
Readers and viewers of RFE/RL’s Russian-language services expressed gratitude for their coverage of the country amid a steady decline in press freedoms during Putin’s 25 years in power that intensified following the Ukraine invasion.
“I am in Russia, engulfed in the zombifying, villainous propaganda of the Kremlin. Current Time is the only Russian-language TV channel that can be trusted, with objective information and many documentary programs,” wrote one viewer of RFE/RL’s 24/7 Russian-language television channel.
“I am endlessly amazed by your reporters who risk working in front-line areas, the professionalism of your anchors, and the high level of journalism,” another Current Time viewer wrote in a message to the network.
'Ray Of Hope' In Afghanistan
Hundreds of messages and calls have poured in from RFE/RL listeners in Afghanistan and Pakistan expressing deep concern about the fate of the broadcaster’s Afghan Service, known locally as Radio Azadi, which broadcasts in the Dari and Pashto languages, and Radio Mashaal, a Pashto-language service in Pakistan.
“Radio Azadi is very important for us. It keeps me informed about the world. I listen to it day and night, both on the radio and my phone,” Radio Azadi listener Haji Khodaiberdi wrote in a WhatsApp message.
“Radio Azadi is a ray of hope for countries that are often forgotten. Its programs connect people from small villages to the world. Living in a remote village with only one radio, I find its voice truly comforting. I hope your programs always remain strong and vibrant,” listener Safa Mehr wrote.
Another listener, Nabiullah Zabuli from Afghanistan’s southern Zabul Province, urged Trump and “everyone who can influence this decision to reconsider” cutting funding for Radio Azadi.
“Please do not betray your millions of loyal listeners. Keep this beacon of information alive,” he wrote.
Heela Darkhast Ahmadzai, a Radio Azadi and Mashaal listener, said in a Pashto-language Facebook post that both channels are “sources of enlightening our minds and thinking.”
“We Pashtun women learned a lot from those two radio stations,” she wrote. “And we came to know about our rights, education, and about the world from those two platforms.”
Another Radio Mashaal listener, Ebadullah Khan from the Shangla district in northwestern Pakistan, said on Facebook that the broadcaster’s journalists “did their job with courage” and that their “journalistic efforts in spreading awareness among the people are great.”
'This Story Must Go On'
In Belarus, where the government of Belarusian autocrat Aleksandr Lukashenko has all but wiped out independent media, RFE/RL’s Belarusian-language service is one of just a handful of news organizations continuing to report critically on authorities.
After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, one reader, Zmitrok Siemieniuk, said that he immediately rushed to find out what was going on and came across Radio Svaboda’s YouTube channel.
“There were millions of views, which helped me grasp what was really going on, and I still use Radio Svaboda’s channels,” he wrote on Instagram. “You provide news free of propaganda and hatred. I can learn about the most important events happening in the world. And, of course, here I can read the news in my native language.”
Another reader, Tatsiana, said that Radio Svaboda “is the only place in the world where I could truly feel like a citizen of a free, European Belarus.”
“In 2020, millions of Belarusians who took part in the peaceful revolution against Lukashenko’s brutal authoritarianism embraced Radio Svaboda’s values, while it live-streamed these historic events in real time,” she wrote in a private message.
“Its mission remains unfinished today -- this story must go on.”
