America’s voice, the federally funded broadcasting body in the world, has long been boasting of the service as an accurate and fair source of news and to be independent of any president and party they are in power in the United States.
Since President Trump’s election, this independence is increasingly tested.
In recent months, the parent organization Voice of America, the US Media Service, has opened research on human resources for Voice of America journalists on the report of Mr Trump’s criticism or the comments that were considered critical of him, according to several officials. Some journalists have expressed concerns about investigations at a meeting this week with the director of the broadcasting body.
At least some articles that included Mr Trump’s criticism and his administration were not published or rendered after the publication in recent months, three Voice of America officials said, who spoke about the condition of anonymity because they are afraid of punishment.
And on Friday, the Global SME agency informed one of Voice of America reporters, Steven Herman, that he was placed in an extensive “exclusive absence” pending a human resource research, according to a copy of the letter examined by the New York Times. Mr Herman confirmed that he received the letter, which said the investigation concerned whether the “social media activity undermined the VOA audiences’ perceptions of the objectivity and/or credibility of VOA and the news”.
Weeks earlier, Mr Herman came under fire from Trump’s administration when he reported an excerpt in social media from a corruption group that criticizes cuts in the United States for international development.
Richard Grenell, Mr Trump’s envoy for “special missions”, wrote in X that Mr Herman’s comments were “treacherous”.
“You cannot work against the official US government policies while being paid by US taxpayers,” Mr Grenell continued. “You have to be fired right away.”
Also, on Friday, Voice of America officials informed Patsy Widakuswara, the long -term head of the White House office of the broadcasting station, that he was unintentionally refreshed at another pace, officials said. Some American voice reporters suspected that the move was part of an attempt to reduce friction with Trump’s administration, though an employee of the broadcasting body, who was not authorized to speak with the media, refused.
The World Media Organization refused to comment.
The turmoil in Voice of America comes amid a series of wide side against the media by Trump’s administration. The White House has begun to choose which news stores are part of the press group that covers the president and has prevented the Associated Press from the events because it will not overlook the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America. The Federal Communications Committee has been opened on whether broadcasting bodies are acting in the public interest. And Mr Trump has filed or threatened lawsuits against news equipment, whose coverage has opposed.
Voice of America journalists have overcome their future since Mr Trump said he would appoint Lake Kari, a former television news anchorage and has failed a Republican Senate candidate, who has often spread the radio and theories of conspiracy.
Mrs Lake rejected the calls from Elon Musk and Mr Grenell to completely abolish America’s voice. But he has said that the coverage of the broadcasting body will be free from what he described as “Trump Disorder Syndrome” or TDS
“There will not be Trump TV,” Ms Lake said during a speech this month at the Conservative Congress of Political Action, an influence of conservative concentration. ‘But surely it won’t be tds’
According to the federal law, the voice of the Director of America must be approved by a bilateral council that oversees the organization for the global media. The Board of Directors has not voted for the candidacy of Mrs Lake.
The Global SME agency told employees at e -mail on Thursday that, pending its official approval by the Board of Directors, Ms Lake had been named Supreme Counselor of the Mass Service and Voice of America.
“In this capacity, it will oversee and advise the leadership of the service on the priorities of the administration,” the email said.
Mr Trump has appointed Brent Bozell, a conservative activist and media critic, to run the organization for the world media. Mr Bozell must be confirmed by the Senate.
Even before the arrivals of Mr Bozell and Mr Bozell, officials of Voice of America and her parental service were taking off the anti-Trump Sentiment.
Shortly after the presidential election in November, Mr Herman, who is the head of the National Broadcasting Station, was asked about a Voice of America program and was asked about the criteria used by Mr Trump to select candidates.
“What we see again, faith is the feature of No. 1 and not the experience,” Mr Herman replied.
Mr Herman was soon called to a meeting with human resources officials of the World SME organization, according to people who are familiar with what happened. He was pressured to recognize that he had been inappropriate in speculation and analysis. Two other voice journalists in America said they had met a similar blink.
Voice of America official, who was not authorized to speak with the media, defended investigations as part of an attempt to ensure the perceptual objectivity and neutrality of America’s voice journalism when he is under strong control by the Republican and the Republican.
David Z. Seide, a lawyer in the government’s accounting program that defends federal whistles, represents Mr Herman and other American voice officials who are facing human resources investigations of what they wrote or said about Mr Trump. He said it was noteworthy that these investigations took place before Mrs Lake or other senior trumps took the steering wheel.
“They are acting as a precaution,” Mr Seide said. “They can read the manuscript on the wall.” He added that he saw the social media research on Mr Herman as a pretext for the disappearance of a voice by America’s most important journalists.
Long -term US voice journalists said they were surprised and worried that the World Media Organization examined their editorial decisions. To maintain the independence of America’s voice, the organization is supposed to wander through questions about its journalism.
At a meeting this week in America’s voice in Washington, broadcasting director Michael Abramowitz addressed questions from employees who were concerned that investigations into human resources would have a cold influence on the reporters of the US Voice reporters.
Mr Abramowitz, a long -term and well -known journalist and editor of The Washington Post, who took the job of America’s voice less than a year, replied, noting that he was acting as a “caregiver” and that Ms Lake would replace him soon, the attendees said.
In his first term, Mr Trump’s White House publicly criticized the voice of America’s editorial decisions. In 2020, Mr Trump appointed Michael Pack, an ally of his former Stephen K. Bannon assistant to run the organization for the world media.
Mr Pack was accused of attempting to turn America’s voice into a mouthpiece for Trump’s administration, and a federal judge decided that Mr Pack had violated the rights of the first amendment to the exit journalists. A federal research later found that he had abused the organization for the global media, repeatedly abusing his power, outrageing executives who thought he did not adequately support Mr Trump.
