WASHINGTON – The appointment on Wednesday of a new director of Voice of America has raised new concerns about the direction of the government’s flagship international broadcaster as President Donald Trump’s term winds down.
The announcement that Trump’s handpicked head of the U.S. Agency for Global Media has replaced the VOA chief with Robert Reilly, a conservative critic of its programming, has caused alarm among staffers and in Congress.
Although USAGM chief Michael Pack had the right to replace VOA’S temporary leader with his own choice, agency personnel and congressional staffers said the timing, less than two months before President-elect Joe Biden takes office, was suspicious.