USAGM Watch Commentary
UPDATE
Voice of America Amanda Bennett and her deputy Sandy Sugawara have submitted their resignations on June 15, 2020 to the newly Senate-confirmed U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) CEO Michael Pack amid continuing accusations from China and Iran experts at U.S. universities and think tanks, leaders of Chinese-American and Iranian-American immigrant communities and Trump administration officials in the White House and the State Department that VOA has repeated Chinese and Iranian regime propaganda under their watch.
In an e-mail to staff announcing her resignation, Amanda Bennett did not refer to any criticism of her leadership or management and programming scandals at the Voice of America during her tenure and offered an upbeat message outlining what she described as her accomplishments.
AMANDA BENNETT: “This morning we sent our resignations to Michael Pack, the newly-arrived CEO of the US Agency for Global Media. As the Senate-confirmed CEO, he has the right to replace us with his own VOA leadership. We depart with the gratitude and joy that has marked our time together, with a dedication to our mission and admiration for each one of you.”
“Just think of what we have accomplished together! When we arrived in 2016 you said you wanted big change — and you were true to your word. Creating change was hard, complex, painstaking. It required days, weeks, months of hard work from so many of you. Yet the results are very clear — your rapid, can-do response to the Coronavirus crisis, your growing enthusiasm for collegiality and sharing; your leap to the top of your digital markets; your compassionate and compelling quest to tell America’s story; your focus on pushing back on untruths and disinformation around the world; your attention to the stories of women, of refugees and of your press colleagues around the world.”
Critics have blamed Amanda Bennett for allowing unprecedented U.S. domestic partisan propaganda in Voice of America programs, including a 2016 U.S. presidential campaign video posted online by VOA Ukrainian Service, in which a Hollywood actor Robert De Niro called Donald Trump “punk,” “dog,” “pig,” “con,” “bull**t artist,” “mutt,” “idiot,” “fool,” “bozo,” and “blatantly stupid.” The video, as presented by VOA with VOA logo, also appeared to condone physical violence against Trump. The partisan campaign message, which did not include any context or balance and violated the VOA Charter, was eventually removed by VOA after outside criticism. The video also appeared to condone physical violence against an American political figure–yet another unprecedented change during Amanda Bennett’s tenure at VOA.
No other Voice of America director had been a target of multiple and repeated public criticism from U.S. immigrant communities and from within the U.S. government for allowing foreign propaganda to seep into VOA programs as Amanda Bennett has been during the last years in her VOA job.
Amanda Bennett was Director of the Voice of America (VOA) since 2016. She was appointed during the Obama administration and kept her position until June 2020 because confirmation of President trump’s nominee Michael Pack to head USAGM, the parent federal agency for the Voice of America, was delayed in the U.S. Senate. This USAGM Watch Commentary Page includes her official biography (March 20, 2020) from the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) website, as well as links to media articles by her and about her and various opinions about her work. The USAGM oversees VOA’s taxpayer-funded operations.
Please note that BBG Watch and USAGM Watch neither represent nor endorse any of the individuals or groups profiled on this site.
The following official biography of Amanda Bennett appeared on the USAGM website.
Amanda Bennett
Director, Voice of America
Amanda Bennett is a Pulitzer Prize-winning author, investigative journalist and editor and was named Director of the Voice of America in March 2016. Through 2013, she was Executive Editor, Bloomberg News, where she created and ran a global team of investigative reporters and editors. She was also co-founder of Bloomberg News’ Women’s project. She was editor of The Philadelphia Inquirerfrom June 2003 to November 2006, and prior to that was editor of the Herald-Leader in Lexington, Kentucky. She also served for three years as managing editor/projects for The Oregonian in Portland. Bennett served as a Wall Street Journal reporter for more than 20 years. A graduate of Harvard College, she held numerous posts at the Journal, including auto industry reporter in Detroit in the late 70s and early 80s, Pentagon and State Department reporter, Beijing correspondent, management editor/reporter, national economics correspondent and, finally, chief of the Atlanta bureau until 1998, when she moved to The Oregonian.
Bennett shared the 1997 Pulitzer Prize for national reporting with her Journal colleagues, and in 2001 led a team from The Oregonian to a Pulitzer for public service. Projects by the Bloomberg Projects and Investigations team won numerous awards, including Loeb, Polk, Barlett & Steele, Headliners, Society of American Business Editors and Writers and Overseas Press Club Awards.
She was a member of the board of the Pulitzer Prizes from 2003 to 2011 and served as co-Chair of the Pulitzer Board in 2010. She also served on the boards of the Loeb Awards, the American Society of News Editors; and of the Fund for Investigative Journalism as well as the board of advisers of the Temple University Press; the board of directors of Axis Philly, a nonprofit local news site; and of the Rosenbach Museum, a Philadelphia museum of rare books.
She is the author of six books including “In Memoriam” (1998), co-authored with Terence B. Foley; “The Man Who Stayed Behind” (1993), co-authored with Sidney Rittenberg; “Death of the Organization Man” (1991) and “The Quiet Room” (1996), co-authored with Lori Schiller. “The Cost of Hope,” her memoir of the battle she and Foley, her late husband, fought against his kidney cancer, was published in June 2012 by Random House.
Together with her husband, Donald Graham, she is a co-founder of TheDream.US, which provides college scholarships to the children of undocumented immigrants.
New Voice of America Director Robert Reilly Promises to Resist Political Pressure
USAGM Watch Commentary In a message today to Voice of America (VOA) staff, new VOA director Robert Reilly, recently appointed by U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) CEO Michael Pack, promised that he will follow the VOA Charter and “will resist any political pressure from above that would compromise our mission and the integrity of […]
VOA – ‘The voice of which America?’ by Juliana Geran Pilon
USAGM Watch Commentary By Ted Lipien I would like to wish BBG – USAGM Watch readers who celebrate these holidays, Happy Hanukkah and Merry Christmas. TED LIPIEN USAGM Watch readers may have seen former Voice of America (VOA) director Amanda Bennett’s Washington Post op-ed in which she attacks new Voice of America VOA diector Robert […]
Former Voice of America Head Robert Reilly Was Chosen By USAGM CEO Michael Pack To Return As VOA Director
USAGM Watch Commentary USAGM Watch has learned that former Voice of America (VOA) director Robert Reilly was chosen by Michael Pack, Trump-appointed and Senate-confirmed CEO of U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), to again assume the position of the VOA director which was left vacant after the resignation last June of Amanda Bennett. She was […]
2016 Report Confirmed Problem of Political Bias At Voice of America
OPINION Trump USAGM CEO Michael Pack Was Attacked For Attempts to Focus on Problem by Dan Robinson It was May of 2016 and Amanda Bennett was only a few weeks into what would become a nearly four year stint as director of the Voice of America, among the “plum” jobs in Washington, D.C. Bennett was […]
USAGM CEO Michael Pack Rehired Chinese American Journalists Fired by Former Management EXCLUSIVE
USAGM Watch Commentary Regardless of who wins the White House, Michael Pack, Trump-nominated and Senate-confirmed CEO of the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), has rehired three Voice of America (VOA) Chinese American refugee journalists who were fired by the former agency management over their dispute with former VOA director Amanda Bennett on the handling […]
Trump’s USAGM CEO Set to Rehire Chinese American VOA Refugee Journalists Fired by Former Management EXCLUSIVE
USAGM Watch Commentary Regardless of who wins Tuesday’s U.S. presidential election, Michael Pack, Trump-nominated and Senate-confirmed CEO of the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), is, according to sources, set to rehire three Voice of America (VOA) Chinese American refugee journalists who were fired by the former agency management over their dispute with former VOA […]
USAGM CEO Promises Journalistic Freedom Under Voice of America Charter
USAGM Watch Commentary Michael Pack, CEO of the U.S. Agency for Global Media, joined The Federalist Radio Hour Senior Editor Chris Bedford to discuss what The Federalist described as “public broadcasting’s failure to adhere to its objective standards and what his agency is doing about it.” Pack said that while he will never tell a […]
United States Agency for Global Media Arrivals and Departures
OPINION Analyzing US Government International Media United States Agency for Global Media (USAGM) Arrivals and Departures By The Federalist After languishing in the nomination process equivalent of Purgatory for about three years, Michael Pack was confirmed by the Senate on June 4, 2020. It was a contentious process with Democrat Senator Robert Menendez doing everything […]
MALONE, BORGIDA, ROBINSON, ANONYMOUS VOA on Letter to Editor About USAGM CEO Michael Pack and Voice of America
USAGM Watch Commentary Two former Voice of America (VOA) reporters Jim Malone and David Borgida wrote in their Letter to the Editor of The Washington Post: Regarding the June 16 Style article “Top editors at Voice of America resign”: With the departure of leadership at the Voice of America, the new chief executive for international broadcasting, Michael […]
Current and Former Voice of America Journalists Look at Resignation of VOA Director Amanda Bennett
USAGM Watch Commentary By Current and Former VOA Journalists VOA Director Amanda Bennett and her deputy, Sandy Sugawara, resigned on Monday, a widely expected development as the federal agency that runs VOA transitions to a new CEO nominated two years ago by President Donald Trump and recently confirmed by the Republican-led U.S. Senate. In a […]
Voice of America Director Amanda Bennett Resigned Amid Accusations of Failing to Stop China and Iran Propaganda in VOA Programs
USAGM Watch Commentary UPDATE Voice of America Amanda Bennett and her deputy Sandy Sugawara have submitted their resignations on June 15, 2020 to the newly Senate-confirmed U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) CEO Michael Pack amid continuing accusations from China and Iran experts at U.S. universities and think tanks, leaders of Chinese-American and Iranian-American immigrant […]
Voice of America Director Amanda Bennett Says ‘VOA’s protest coverage…nothing short of extraordinary’ as New CEO Starts Work
USAGM Watch Commentary Michael Pack, President Trump’s appointee to head the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) was sworn in and assumed his position as USAGM CEO after his nomination was confirmed last week by the U.S. Senate with all but one among Democratic senators who voted opposing his appointment. The final vote in favor […]
U.S. Senate Confirms Michael Pack As Head of USAGM
USAGM Watch Commentary By Former Voice of America Reporters The U.S. Senate on Thursday voted to confirm Michael Pack to head the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), the $800 million a year agency that that runs Voice of America (VOA) and numerous other U.S. – government funded international media. The vote was 53 to […]
WHITE HOUSE on VOICE OF AMERICA (VOA) Why are US Taxpayers Funding a ‘Voice of the Mullahs’ in Iran?
USAGM Watch Comentary West Wing Reads page on the WhiteHouse.gov official White House website has a link to an op-ed article in the New York Post in which Brian Hook, the U.S. Special Representative for Iran, Senior Policy Advisor to the Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and former Director of the Policy Planning Staff, comments on […]
President Trump said Voice of America is run in ‘a terrible manner,’ is ‘opposite of the Voice of America’
USAGM Watch Commentary President Trump has renewed his criticism of the Voice of America (VOA) which is now managed by VOA Director Amanda Bennett who was appointed to her position during the Obama administration. On May 15, 2020, Trump responded briefly to a reporter’s question, saying that “I know that Voice of America is run […]
Ranking Member Menendez Statement on Michael Pack
STATEMENT BY SENATOR BOB MENENDEZ (D-NJ) Ranking Member Menendez Statement on Michael Pack May 14, 2020 WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today issued the following statement on the nomination of Michael Pack to be CEO of the U.S. Agency for Global Media. Mr. Pack’s nomination has been held up […]
ALIREZA NADER Voice of America to Iran Has Self-Destructed
USAGM Watch Commentary Alireza Nader (@AlirezaNader), a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (@FDD), a nonprofit, nonpartisan research institute focusing on foreign policy and national security, has written an op-ed for Washington Examiner in which he argues that the Voice of America (VOA) Persian news network, which he describes as “once a […]
Amanda Bennett Is First Voice of America Director at War with Refugees From Communism and Iran EXCLUSIVE
USAGM WATCH COMMENTARY Amanda Bennett @abennett·Apr 9·16.7K Followers: “At the @VOANews, we love facts. The fact is Wuhan has ended their lockdown and this video shows exactly that.” 一土 @Jessie201907· Apr 11·14.9K Followers: “VOA has become a propaganda tool of the CCP, can you give yourself some dignity?” No Voice of America (VOA) director prior to current […]
Chinese Immigrant Objects to Voice of America Imitating Beijing’s Anti-U.S. Propaganda
USAGM WATCH COMMENTARY We have been contacted in the last several days by a young Chinese immigrant who finished his education and now works in the United States and wanted to let us know that the taxpayer-funded Voice of America (VOA) in the $800 million (annual) U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) is repeating propaganda […]
From ‘Dysfunctional’ and ‘Defunct’ to ‘Disgusting’ and ‘Disgrace’
COMMENTARY By The Federalist US Government International Broadcasting – US Agency for Global Media – Voice of America Collecting Ds from “Dysfunctional” and “Defunct” to “Disgusting” and “Disgrace The US Agency for Global Media (ISAGM or U-Sag-M, as I like to call it): finding new ways to get itself in trouble. It is adding to […]
