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 of his confirmation was 53 to 39. The oath was administered earlier this week in a non-public setting, but a public ceremony may be held later. Pictures of USAGM Governors, who previously had an executive and oversight function, have been removed from the agency’s official “Who We Are” website page. With the Senate confirmation of the first USAGM CEO under legislation signed by President Obama, the Broad of Governors will only have an advisory role. The agency was previously known as the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG). Pack is expected to come to the agency headquarters building in Washington, DC this week.
One of the first actions Pack already took as USAGM CEO was to put a temporary freeze on new contracts and their extensions, as well as on personnel actions on hiring or promotions. Such a freeze is not unusual in government operations when a new agency head starts to review programs and priorities. He will have authority over several U.S. government-funded media outlets, including the Voice of America (VOA).
USAGM has seen in recent years multiple management and programming scandals, which were especially frequent and serious at the Voice of America under executives appointed during the Obama administration. A key aide to former CEO who was appointed during the previous administration and resigned last year, was sent to prison for 3 months for stealing money from the agency.
The current Voice of America management team under VOA Director Amanda Bennett’s leadership has alienated Iranian-American and Chinese-American communities by allowing VOA to repeat propaganda from authoritarian regimes in Iran and China. Bennett strongly denies these charges. President Trump spoke critically about VOA’s current management and the White House issued highly critical statements.
Ethnic-oriented U.S. media and conservative think tanks welcomed Pack’s confirmation while The Washington Post, The New York Times and friends and former associates of Amanda Bennett criticized Pack. Bennett has past links with The Washington Post and her husband is the paper’s former publisher. One of her husband’s companies has done educational business in China which benefits from good bilateral relations, educational exchanges and open travel.
SEE: Did Trump’s pick to lead the VOA misuse nonprofit funds? D.C.’s AG is on it. By Colbert I. King, The Washington Post, May 15, 2020.
SEE: Why are US taxpayers funding a ‘Voice of the Mullahs’ in Iran? By Brian Hook, New York Post, May 27, 2020.
SEE: A Loss for Anti-Trump Media Forces: Michael Pack Confirmed as Agency for Global Media Head. By Helle Dale, The Daily Signal, Heritage Foundation, June 8, 2020.
SEE: With New Leadership, Voice of America May Shed Beijing’s Influence. By Bonnie Evans, The Epoch Times, June 10, 2020
Meanwhile, Voice of America Director Amanda Bennett, appointed during the Obama administration, under whose tenure multiple scandals were reported at VOA, said in an email to staff on Wednesday that “VOA’s protest coverage has been nothing short of extraordinary.”
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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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
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Chinese Immigrant Objects to Voice of America Imitating Beijing’s Anti-U.S. Propaganda
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From ‘Dysfunctional’ and ‘Defunct’ to ‘Disgusting’ and ‘Disgrace’
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