Radio Free Asia Will Halt News Operations Amid Shutdown

Radio Free Asia, one of four federally funded news organizations the Trump administration has aimed to close, will shut down its news operations on Friday for the first time since its founding in 1996, removing one of the few independent journalism outlets in Asian countries with limited press freedoms.

On Friday, the organization will start laying off dozens of its remaining journalists, close its regional offices in large Asian cities like Istanbul and Yangon, Myanmar, and halt language services targeting China, Vietnam, North Korea, Myanmar and Cambodia.

The news group’s expected closure can be attributed to the Trump administration’s broad efforts to cut federal funding, and to the government shutdown, which is entering its fifth week. Though it will still exist as a shell of its former self, it is unclear if or when Radio Free Asia will resume its news operations, even after the government reopens.

“Instead of passing a new budget or a new appropriation of any variety, the government shut down,” said Cameron Lang, a general counsel at Radio Free Asia. “So there’s no money coming through.”