Voice of America's 5 Months Under Trump CEO: Lawsuits, Bias Claims, And A Sex Scandal
Crisis has been the defining constant at the Voice of America and its parent agency for the past five months.
That's how long Michael Pack, the conservative documentary maker picked by President Trump to lead the U.S. Agency for Global Media, has been in charge.
In that time, he's noisily erased protections for government journalists, ousted leaders from executive suites to the newsroom, and rejected visas for foreign staffers. There have been scattershot accusations of ideological bias and national security lapses, outrage from Democratic and Republican lawmakers alike, lawsuits and even a sex scandal.
Crises all around.
The question that remains is how Pack will play the end game at USAGM and the federally funded foreign broadcasters under its umbrella, which include VOA, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Radio Free Asia. President-elect Joe Biden has named former State Department official and magazine managing editor Richard Stengel; he is widely believed to be Biden's pick to replace Pack.
