Harare – Zimbabweans face the potential loss of a crucial source of independent news as US billionaire Elon Musk, head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has called for the closure of Voice of America (VOA), the US government-funded broadcaster that operates the popular Studio 7 service.
Musk’s pronouncements, made on social media platform X, have ignited a fierce debate about the role of government-funded media and the impact on international news access.
Yes, shut them down.
1. Europe is free now (not counting stifling bureaucracy). Hello??
2. Nobody listens to them anymore.
3. It’s just radical left crazy people talking to themselves while torching $1B/year of US taxpayer money. https://t.co/PnmN4erD91
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 9, 2025
The threat to shut down VOA, which includes its Zimbabwean service Studio 7, could leave more than two dozen Zimbabwean journalists working for the Washington-based broadcaster jobless.
Musk’s comments came in response to a post by Richard Grenell, the US special envoy for special missions, who described VOA and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) as taxpayer-funded media outlets rife with “far-left activities.”
“These outlets are a relic of the past. We don’t need government-paid media outlets,” Grenell wrote.
Musk, echoing Grenell’s sentiments, stated: “Yes, close them. Europe is free now (not counting the stifling bureaucracy). Nobody listens to them anymore. They are just crazy radical leftists talking to themselves while burning American taxpayer money. That’s about $1 billion a year wasted.”
VOA, established in 1942, is the largest and oldest US international broadcaster. It delivers digital, television, and radio content in 48 languages to affiliated stations worldwide. Its Zimbabwean service, Studio 7, has been a vital source of information for Zimbabweans since its inception in 2003.
Studio 7 was established in response to the Zanu PF government’s stifling of independent media voices. It has since become a highly valued alternative point of reference on the airwaves for many thousands of Zimbabweans, providing objective, reliable, and balanced radio news broadcasts.
Studio 7 covers a wide range of topics, including politics, civil society, the economy, health, sports, music, the arts, and other aspects of life in Zimbabwe. It broadcasts in Shona, English, and Ndebele every Monday through Friday evening from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., followed by LiveTalk with hosts Blessing Zulu and Gibbs Dube from 8:30 to 9 p.m.
VOA reaches a weekly audience estimated at more than 362 million people around the world, providing news in 49 languages, including Shona and Ndebele. As of 2022, the agency employed over 960 staff members.
RFE/RL reports in 27 languages to 23 countries with more than 700 full-time journalists and 1,300 freelancers, reaching more than 47 million people every week.
Musk, who heads a Trump administration programme known as the “Department of Government Efficiency”, has also criticised federal payments to other media organisations such as Politico, the Associated Press, and The New York Times, deeming them inefficient uses of taxpayer funds and moving to eliminate them. Despite its name, DOGE does not have official Cabinet-level status like other US government departments.
The Trump administration has previously taken steps towards dissolving USAID, including making huge cuts to its workforce and ordering the immediate suspension of almost all of its aid programmes. These steps have already had significant consequences, freezing over $39 million in funding for human rights, pro-democracy, and independent media projects in Myanmar over the next three years, and triggering a healthcare crisis in refugee camps along the Myanmar-Thai border due to hospital closures.
The targeting of government-funded media and aid groups has triggered a debate in the US about the use of taxpayer funds. Critics of the cuts argue they will harm US efforts to counter misinformation and support independent journalism and humanitarian aid worldwide.
The first Trump administration sought to scale back funding for government-supported international media and foreign aid programmes, a move that was strongly opposed by congressional Democrats.
As of now, there have been no official reactions from either VOA or RFE/RL regarding Musk’s statements. The future of Studio 7, and its role in providing Zimbabweans with access to independent news, hangs in the balance.
