Kari Lake, the senior advisor at the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), has shared with Fox News Digital that Voice of America’s (VOA) Persian news service is intensifying its coverage of the escalating tensions between Iran and Israel. Lake emphasized that the agency is responding to the heightened situation by recalling approximately 75 Farsi-speaking staff members, including journalists, from administrative leave, so they can provide comprehensive reporting on the ongoing conflict.
“History is being made, and VOA’s Persian news service is rising to the occasion to cover it,” Lake stated on Friday. “Farsi is a statutorily required language for USAGM. We are ramping up — as we’ve always planned to do — to meet this historic moment in Iran,” she added. This move comes after months of cost-cutting measures at VOA and USAGM, which have included layoffs and placing employees on administrative leave in an effort to focus on the agency’s core mission.
The decision to bring back the Farsi-speaking staff is significant, as it reflects the agency’s prioritization of its statutory requirement to provide news in languages like Farsi, which have been part of its mandate for years. Despite these efforts, some at VOA have raised concerns about the sustainability of such measures. “Are they going to bring back a language every time there is a crisis the administration has interest in?” one source told The Washington Post, highlighting potential tensions within the agency over the strategic focus of its reporting.
The recent recall of staff is in the context of an escalating conflict that began with Israel’s precision strike on Iranian nuclear sites and was followed by Iran’s missile barrage on Israeli cities. With the global situation closely watched, VOA’s Persian division is expected to resume full satellite TV broadcasts in Iran, not just online updates, marking a significant step in the agency’s coverage of the region. Meanwhile, as the conflict continues, the broader implications of U.S. media presence in the region and the agency’s role remain under scrutiny.