GEOFF BENNETT: For the better part of a century, Voice of America has broadcasted to countries whose government censored free information.

That mission continued with agencies such as Radio Free Europe and Radio Free Asia.

But now the Trump administration has dismantled VOA's parent organization, put all of its employees on leave, and ended federal funding for independent media agencies.

Nick Schifrin reports on a decision that ends a long bipartisan tradition.

ANNOUNCER: The courier, a ship without guns, goes into battle armed with the greatest weapon of all, truth.

NICK SCHIFRIN: For more than 80 years, the U.S. government believed government-funded information supported freedom and democracy.

MAN (through translator): This is a voice speaking from America.

NICK SCHIFRIN: That began with Voice of America, which beamed its first broadcast in 1942.

MAN: The news may be good or bad.

We shall tell you the truth.

RONALD REAGAN, Former President of the United States: My name is Ronald Reagan.

This powerful 135,000-watt Radio Free Europe transmitter pierces the Iron Curtain with the truth.

NICK SCHIFRIN: It expanded with Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty, funded by Congress, first run by the CIA, part of a - - quote -- "crusade for freedom."

In the 1980s, the geography expanded.

Radio Marti, today the Office of Cuba Broadcasting, reached into communist Cuba.

Radio Free Asia began in the 1990s to reach over China's great firewall and across the region.

And when U.S. government information started being blocked by adversaries' technology... ANNOUNCER: And citizens around the world are being tortured, imprisoned, and even killed for their online speech.

NICK SCHIFRIN: ... VOA's digital descendant, the Open Technology Fund, created its own technology so freedom fighters could communicate and spread the truth.

But since his first administration, President Trump has targeted VOA... DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States: And if you heard what's coming out of the Voice of America, it's disgusting.

NICK SCHIFRIN: ... and on Friday night released an executive order eliminating parent company U.S. Agency for Global Media.

This is the video that is now on loop for Voice of America, and all staff have been put on leave.

ANNOUNCER (through translator): Fifteen transgender women who were apprehended by Border Patrol agents.

NICK SCHIFRIN: The White House singled out this and other VOA stories as evidence VOA had become -- quote -- "radical propaganda."

And it highlighted these external publications and quoted a former employee calling VOA a hubris-filled rogue operation often reflecting a leftist bias.

And, separately, the independent agencies Radio Free Europe, Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia, Middle East Broadcasting Networks, and the Open Technology Fund all had their federal funding ended.

LISA CURTIS, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Radio Free Europe, Radio Liberty is a foreign policy tool.

It is furthering U.S. national security interests.

And, look, you get a lot of bang for your buck.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Lisa Curtis is the chair of the board of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and a former senior director on President Trump's first National Security Council staff.

LISA CURTIS: While it's understandable that President Trump wants to cut down on government waste and fraud, I think this is the wrong organization to be attacking.

Russia, Iran, China, these countries are spending billions in their own propaganda, their own anti-American propaganda.

So I think it's critical that the U.S. government is supporting organizations like RFE/RL that are pushing back against that disinformation, misinformation.

NICK SCHIFRIN: And she says RFE/RL's content reaches more than 10 percent of Iranians, many of whom have protested the regime.

LISA CURTIS: So I think it really is part of U.S. soft power, but they actually call it the hard edge of soft power because it is so effective in getting out the truth about America, about what's happening in their local environments.

And this is absolutely critical.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Curtis said she considers the freeze and their funding illegal because the money is congressionally appropriated and RFE/RL's mission is congressionally mandated.

And they will sue the Trump administration to get it restored.

To discuss this, I turn to Michael Abramowitz, who since last year has been the president of Voice of America and before that was the president of Freedom House.

Michael Abramowitz, thanks very much.

Welcome back to the "News Hour."

As you heard, President Trump in his statement on Friday night referred to VOA as a radical propaganda with a liberal bias.

Is it?

MICHAEL ABRAMOWITZ, Director, Voice of America: I don't think so.

I do think that people at many different news organizations have been accused of bias on both right and left, like many different news organizations.

VOA is not perfect, but we're unusual among news organizations because we are one of the few news organizations that by law has to be fair and balanced.

Every year, we look at each of our language services, review it for fairness, for balance.

I have been a journalist in this field for a long time, and I think the journalists at VOA stand up very well against people from CNN, FOX, New York Times, et cetera, in terms of the commitment to balance.

When we do talk shows, for instance, broadcasting into Iran, we will have Republicans, we will have Democrats.

We are presenting the full spectrum of American political opinion, which is required by our charter.

NICK SCHIFRIN: You have heard from other administration officials or allies of the president.

Ric Grenell, who is a special envoy, called it -- quote -- "a relic of the past.

We don't need government-paid media outlets."

Elon Musk says: "Shut them down.

Nobody listens to them anymore."

Fundamentally, why do you believe taxpayers should pay for VOA journalism?

MICHAEL ABRAMOWITZ: You know, the media is changing, the world is changing, and the Cold War doesn't exist anymore.

But what is happening around the world is that there is a huge, really, battle over information.

The world is awash in propaganda and lies, and our adversaries like Russia and China, Iran are really spreading narratives that directly undermine accurate views about America.

And we have to fight back.

And VOA in particular has been an incredible asset for fighting back by providing objective news and information in the languages, in 48 languages that people in the local markets we serve.

No other news organization does that.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Let me ask a little bit about the status of the agency.

You and every employee were put on leave over the weekend.

Today, all contractors have been terminated.

Do you have any notion of what the goal is from the administration?

Is it to reform VOA, or is it simply to destroy it?

MICHAEL ABRAMOWITZ: Candidly, I don't know.

Ms. Kari Lake, who is supposed to be my successor at some point she's given some interviews, and I think she clearly recognizes in those interviews that VOA serves an important purpose.

I think there are a lot of Republicans, in particular, especially on the Hill, who recognize the value of Voice of America, who recognize that, if we shut down, for instance, our program on Iran, which is really an incredible newsroom -- we have 100 journalists, most of whom speak Farsi, has a huge audience inside Iran.

When the president of Iran, when his helicopter went down over the summer, there was a huge spike in traffic on the VOA Web site because the people of Iran knew that they could not get accurate information about what was going on, so they came to VOA to get it.

That's the kind of thing that we can do.

NICK SCHIFRIN: I want to point out, we heard from Lisa Curtis, the chair of the board of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

Voice of America and the Cuba Broadcasting, previously known as Radio Marti -- we have got a graphic to show this -- those are fully federal networks.

NICK SCHIFRIN: What RFE/RL is talking about, they are a grantee.

They get a grant from the U.S. government.

RFE/RL will sue.

Does VOA have any recourse today?

MICHAEL ABRAMOWITZ: Well, I think we are -- I mean, there's a lot of discussion about some lawsuits that different parties are making.

I know that the employees may be thinking about that.

I think -- I'm not sure that litigation in the end is going to be the most productive way.

Maybe -- I mean, you have to see what happens.

But I think what would be really great is if Congress and the administration get together, recognize that this is a very important service, recognize that it's sorely needed in a world in which our adversaries are spending billions of dollars, like Lisa said, and reformulate VOA to be effective for the modern age.

NICK SCHIFRIN: And, finally, how -- what's the impact of this decision and the language that we have heard from the Trump administration on the very idea that information, that journalism sponsored by the U.S. government can support freedom and democracy?

MICHAEL ABRAMOWITZ: We have been on the air essentially for 83 years through war, 9/11, government shutdown.

VOA has kept -- has kept its - - has kept the lights on, has not been silent.

So we're silenced for the first time in 83 years.

That's devastating to me personally.

It's devastating to the staff.

It's devastating to all the thousands of people who used to work at VOA.

I mean, this is a very special and unique news organization.

It deserves to live.

It doesn't mean we can't reform, but it deserves to survive.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Michael Abramowitz, thank you very much.

MICHAEL ABRAMOWITZ: Thanks for having me.