A regulatory "firewall" intended to protect Voice of America and its affiliated newsrooms from political interference in their journalism was swept aside late Monday night by the chief executive of the federal agency which oversees the government's international broadcasters.
Michael Pack, a Trump appointee who assumed leadership of the U.S. Agency for Global Media in June, wrote that he acted to eliminate policies that were "harmful to the agency and the U.S. national interest." And Pack argued they had interfered with his mandate "to support the foreign policy of the United States."
Pack has already come under fire for revelations that his senior aides investigated the agency's journalists for bias against President Trump and pushed for their dismissals and reassignments, in seeming violation of the rules he has now rescinded, effective immediately.
[...]
"I am stunned," former Voice of America director Amanda Bennett told NPR early Tuesday morning. "It removes the one thing that makes Voice of America distinct from broadcasters of repressive regimes."
[...]
"The key to the credibility of any news organization is editorial independence and adherence to the professional standards of journalism," said David Kligerman, whom Pack suspended as the agency's general counsel in August.
Kligerman was the chief author of the regulation which Pack just killed. It was supported by the agency's bipartisan board, which was dissolved upon Pack's confirmation.
[...]
In the statement, Pack noted he was the agency's first CEO appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate under a series of reforms intended to streamline the agency. He said in his memo that the inability to set standards inside the newsroom needlessly complicated his ability to run the agency.
NPR
...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.
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