Media
Judge slaps down Trump appointee who has sought to reshape Voice of America and related agencies
By
Paul Farhi
November 21, 2020 at 12:24 a.m. EST
A federal judge issued a series of preliminary injunctions against a Trump appointee who has enacted sweeping and controversial changes at
Voice of America and other government-funded news networks, effectively stopping the appointee’s efforts to reshape the international broadcasters. ... The ruling late Friday by Chief U.S. District Judge
Beryl A. Howell in Washington was a setback for Michael Pack, who in June took over VOA’s parent agency, the
U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), and immediately set about firing senior leaders and disbanding oversight boards.
Pack had
asserted the right to direct how journalists at VOA and sister networks such as
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and
Radio Free Asia covered the news, a violation of the traditional “firewall” that ensures the networks aren’t government mouthpieces. Pack’s declaration was viewed by journalists at the networks as both alarming and ironic, given that their broadcasts — which are intended to counter foreign government’s official censorship and propaganda — would themselves be subjected to potential censorship by a political appointee of the U.S. government.
Pack’s actions and statements, including evidence-free suggestions that
VOA was a nest of foreign spies, raised concerns that Pack was seeking to create news favorable to President Trump, his political patron.
Howell’s ruling was in response to
a lawsuit filed last month by five senior executives at USAGM whom Pack had fired or suspended in August in what was seen as a purge of those opposed to Pack’s plans. The former employees sought to stop Pack from interfering in the editorial affairs of the broadcasters his agency oversees.
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Paul Farhi
Paul Farhi is The Washington Post's media reporter. He started at The Post in 1988 and has been a financial reporter, a political reporter and a Style reporter. Follow
https://twitter.com/farhip
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