We begin this week with a developing story. Its long run of disseminating news to overseas countries under restrictive regimes may not be all over after all for the Voice of America. VOA has succeeded in its court challenge to the US government's decision to dismantle the international news service. Workers at the VOA were among a number of international news services within the US Agency for Global Media who were told they were being taken off the air and put on administrative leave.
Responding to a lawsuit by a group of VOA employees, a Manhattan federal judge acted on March 28th to halt the order that originated from the White House. The US District Court judge called the agency's action "a classic case of arbitrary policymaking." Radio Free Asia, another international news organization, is also seeking court action to halt its shutdown.
Meanwhile, the news service Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty was spared its own announced shutdown after a different US District Court judge ruled that the continued operation of these news services was in the public interest. Funding has since been restored through the end of the current federal fiscal year. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty has been on the air since the beginning of the Cold War.