Judges release stay on withholding funds from VOA

 

VOA stays (for now)

 

Madness of King Don

 

Cleaning up Trump's mess

It's not yet okay to question the emperor's lack of clothes

Voice of America White House reporter Patsy Widakuswara was reassigned Monday evening just hours after pressing Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on whether he regretted saying there would be a second Trump administration after President-elect Joe Biden's victory was apparent.

[...]

As Pompeo walked out of the VOA building, giving a thumbs up to a man with whom he exchanged remarks in the crowded foyer, Widakuswara lobbed several questions. She asked what he was doing to repair the reputation of the U.S. around the world. She finally asked: "Mr. Secretary, do you regret saying there will be a second Trump administration?" Pompeo did not acknowledge the questions.



She tweeted out videotaped footage of that exchange, which showed a throng of people around. Contemporaneous audio obtained by NPR shows she then turned to press VOA director Robert R. Reilly: "Mr. Director, why did you not ask any of the questions that we wanted to know about?"

He asked who she was, and Widakuswara identified herself as a Voice of America White House reporter. An irate Reilly can be heard saying, "You obviously don't know how to behave," adding, she wasn't "authorized" to be there to ask questions.

[...]

In his speech, Pompeo waded into the clash between the Voice of America and the CEO of its federal parent, the U.S. Agency for Global Media, over how much journalistic independence it has. President Trump's pick as CEO, Michael Pack, has said he is intent on "draining the swamp" of VOA from journalists who, he claims, are biased against the president and emphasizing America's faults to the world through their reports. Pack was present in the foyer for the exchange between the reporter and the Cabinet secretary.

[...]

The White House had issued a blistering statement last spring, accusing Voice of America under previous leadership of posting Chinese propaganda on COVID-19 over what turned out to be material from the Associated Press. VOA's then-senior leaders noted numerous stories debunking Chinese claims and offering textured coverage over the coronavirus in that country.

  NPR

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Tinpot dictator moves running apace

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.

Unconscionable

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.