CNN
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Presidents don’t ordinarily pick the director of Voice of America, an international news broadcaster funded by the US government. But President-elect Donald Trump says he wants his ally Kari Lake to take over VOA.
Trump’s Wednesday night social media post – in which he said, “I am pleased to announce that Kari Lake will serve as our next Director of the Voice of America” – presages many future fights over VOA, which became an ideological battleground during Trump’s first term in office.
Some journalists at VOA are highly concerned about that idea that Lake, a longtime local TV anchor turned media-basher and election denier, could take over the outlet.
“We’re hoping that the guardrails will hold,” a VOA employee told CNN on condition of anonymity.
At issue: What should VOA be and who should it serve?
Voice of America is part of the US Agency for Global Media, which also runs networks like Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Middle East Broadcasting Networks. VOA produces award-winning journalism and, in doing so, promotes democratic values around the world. The US government has historically portrayed VOA as a counterweight to foreign propaganda and a model for free, fair, truth-telling news coverage.
Partly for that reason, VOA says it has a “firewall” in place that “prohibits interference by any US government official in the objective, independent reporting of news.”
Installing a new director of the news operation is a lot more complicated than a Truth Social post.
So for now, Trump’s announcement is more of a suggestion – albeit a highly influential one.
Trump’s statement said Lake “will be appointed by, and work closely with, our next head of the US Agency for Global Media, who I will announce soon.”
During Trump’s first term in office, it took two years for his pick to run the agency, Michael Pack, to get confirmed by the Senate. Once Pack arrived, chaos ensued inside VOA and other parts of the agency. Pack dismissed the heads of multiple networks; stacked their boards with Trump loyalists; reportedly tried to meddle in news coverage; and brought in political appointees who investigated a VOA White House reporter for alleged anti-Trump bias.
Some conservatives cheered his efforts. But a federal investigation later followed up on whistleblower complaints and found a long list of abuses.
The Trump-era purge efforts led Congress to institute reforms. A bipartisan group called the International Broadcasting Advisory Board now works with the CEO of the U.S. Agency of Global Media. By law, the head of VOA can only be “appointed or removed” by a majority vote of the board.
If it sounds like a lot of bureaucracy, it is. But it is intended to provide some measure of independence to the broadcasters.
That’s why, by announcing Lake, Trump is “putting the cart before the horse,” a veteran of the agency told CNN.
The board just celebrated the swearing-in of a new VOA director, Michael Abramowitz, a few months ago. Abramowitz is a former Washington Post correspondent and president of Freedom House. He said VOA’s mission is to “provide accurate, comprehensive, and objective news and to tell America’s story to people around the world, many of whom have no alternative source of information.”
Trump described the mission in more overly political terms Wednesday night. He said Lake – who bitterly criticized American journalists during her two failed campaigns for office in Arizona – will “ensure that the American values of Freedom and Liberty are broadcast around the World FAIRLY and ACCURATELY, unlike the lies spread by the Fake News Media.”
Speaking anonymously for fear of retaliation, a VOA employee told CNN that Abramowitz has been well received at the organization, while “many of us are very disturbed” by the notion of Lake taking his place.
First, Trump has to nominate someone to run the U.S. Agency of Global Media. Then, that person and the advisory board will consider the VOA position. The board’s makeup will tilt in the GOP’s favor next year because one member will come from Trump’s State Department. But the other board members have terms that somewhat insulate them from political pressure.
When reached on Wednesday night, current board chair Kenneth Jarin, a Biden appointee who has two more years on the board, said, “No comment.”