Early efforts are underway to turn the Voice of America into the Voice of Trump. Here's what sources inside VOA are saying... 🧵
One of VOA's chief correspondents, Steve Herman, has been benched and subjected to an HR investigation just weeks after one of Trump's allies publicly attacked him. Another correspondent, White House bureau chief Patsy Widakuswara, has been abruptly moved to a new beat.
The changes – as yet unexplained to the newsroom – are "having a chilling effect on the entire institution," a VOA staffer said.
VOA is the biggest broadcaster within the US Agency for Global Media. Like other federal agencies, USAGM is under a microscope, and some staffers perceive that managers are trying to appease the new administration. ("This is anticipatory obedience," one of the sources said.)
Four sources told CNN on condition of anonymity that multiple Trump-related stories have been watered down in recent months. This recent NYT story has some examples of "blowback." nytimes.com/2025/02/28/bus…
USAGM's networks have historically used U.S. government funding to produce award-winning journalism. Its mission statement, codified in law, is to "inform, engage, and connect people around the world in support of freedom and democracy." But...
Trump has different expectations. Trump has named Brent Bozell III to run USAGM and has identified Kari Lake to run VOA. Bozell's Senate confirmation hearing is months away, and he can't push Lake through til later, so Lake has been installed as a "senior adviser" for now.
The reasons why Lake makes sense to Trump – she's a local TV anchor turned MAGA promoter and election denier – are the same reasons why she stirs dread at VOA. For example: Will Lake object to stories that accurately describe Trump's history of lying about election results?
"There is a lot of fear" about looming shakeups, said a longtime staffer who believes VOA is overly bureaucratic and in need of reorganizing, but doesn't want it to devolve into "Trump TV." Lake says it won't. But...
Last week USAGM said "Kari's experience in journalism and broadcasting will be invaluable as we continue our mission to clearly and effectively present the policies of the Trump Administration around the world." That is NOT the assignment that Congress gave USAGM.
This morning Kari Lake sent her own memo to the agency – and she didn't say anything about presenting Trump's policies to the world. Instead, she quoted the ACTUAL mission statement. 🤔 
Lake's memo makes clear that she foresees some big changes at Voice of America. And employees are clearly on edge about political meddling. For more, check out @davidfolkenflik's latest story for NPR >> npr.org/2025/03/01/g-s…
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