Less than two months ago, when the Trump administration turned off the Voice of America’s networks and websites, Kari Lake said the agency is "unsalvageable."
Now, though, Lake is working on salvaging it, and VOA might be about to come back on the air and online. Staffers were told Friday night that their email accounts are active again and that programming would resume next week. Lake said a return-to-office plan would take effect in phases. "We look forward to working with you all," Lake wrote in a memo to the staffers she sidelined back in March.
On Saturday, however, there was another twist: An appeals court put a pause on the April 22 ruling that triggered the back-to-work memo. So VOA's journalists might not be back at work next week, after all.
The legal developments are admittedly hard to follow. So just picture a light switch that keeps getting flicked off and on. That's what it has felt like for the journalists who are suing the Trump administration to save their jobs and their networks.
Here's my latest CNN.com story about the situation. VOA White House bureau chief Patsy Widakuswara, one of the plaintiffs, told me she was at a #SaveVOA picnic on Saturday, where folks were celebrating the apparent win, when she heard about the appeals court setback.
"We knew from the start that this would be a long process," Widakuswara said.
I have reached out to the U.S. Agency for Global Media's public affairs office to ask about what happens next, and haven't heard back.
But Widakuswara had this to say: "All that the journalists want is to get back into the newsroom and report to our audiences who rely on us. We are confident in our lawyers and in our case. We will continue to push for our full return to VOA's congressional mandate to tell America's story to the world through factual, balanced and comprehensive reporting."
