USAGM Watch Commentary
In an article written for The Stream, Robert R. Reilly, Voice of America (VOA) director in 2001-2002, defended new U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) CEO Michael Pack against critics who accuse him of wanting to promote pro-Trump propaganda. Reilly is a member of the Advisory Board for the independent and non-partisan Committee for U.S. International Broadcasting (CUSIB).
ROBERT REILLY: And isn’t VOA supposed to be the voice of freedom? Why, then, has it been repeating the propaganda of hostile foreign governments back to the people under those tyrants’ heel? That tells those audiences that the U.S. backs the lies their governments tell them.
Michael Pack may have wielded a brisk broom in his opening days as broadcasting CEO, but it was about time for sweeping changes. “VOA is supposed to promote American values, not Republican or Democratic values, not Trump or Biden values, and that is what I plan to do,” he said. Nothing in his distinguished background leads one to expect he will do otherwise.
