Acting VOA Director Pledges To Protect Newsroom Despite Inquiry Into Reporter

The Voice of America's acting director says he'll protect his newsroom against outside pressure. NPR reported Sunday that political appointees investigated a reporter for alleged anti-Trump bias.

Transcript

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The acting director of the Voice of America says he'll protect the international broadcasters' newsroom. He made that statement after news first reported by NPR that two pro-Trump political appointees investigated the network's top White House reporter and tried to sideline him. Here's NPR media correspondent David Folkenflik.

DAVID FOLKENFLIK, BYLINE: The Voice of America is unfamiliar to most Americans but reaches more than 280 million people abroad each week. The idea is that the federally funded international broadcaster provides trusted news coverage in areas without a free press and serves as a symbol of American freedoms by fairly covering controversy and debate. By federal regulation and law, the Voice of America is supposed to be insulated from political pressure to ensure its credibility. Enter Michael Pack, President Trump's pick as CEO of VOA's parent agency. He started in June, and he's turned things upside down ever since, charging that many of VOA's journalists are biased against conservatives.

(SOUNDBITE OF PODCAST, "SARA CARTER SHOW")

MICHAEL PACK: No one was - had to suffer any disciplinary action, let alone higher up. So I want to change that. And I want to make sure that people know - I mean, no one questions that this violates the VOA charter.

FOLKENFLIK: Here he spoke in mid-September on the podcast of the Fox News contributor Sara Carter.

(SOUNDBITE OF PODCAST, "SARA CARTER SHOW")

PACK: People need to suffer consequences. And I think I'm getting the Voice of America to do that now.

FOLKENFLIK: NPR identified several earlier instances where Pack initiated investigations of stories about presidential politics in the Spanish, Urdu and French-to-Africa services. On Sunday, NPR revealed that two senior political appointees under Pack compiled a 30-some-page report claiming to prove bias from VOA's White House bureau chief, Steven Herman. The report points to stories unflattering to President Trump, along with social media likes and tweets of other people's opinions. Herman's reporting is considered rigorously down the middle by peers. The revelation of the investigation brought condemnation from the Committee to Protect Journalists and the Asian American Journalists Association, as well as Democratic Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut. The chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Eliot Engel, called for Pack's resignation and not for the first time.

Acting VOA Director Elez Biberaj had not taken action against Herman, nor had he rejected the investigation. On Monday night, Biberaj issued a statement to NPR saying that fairness was imporant in coverage, yet he also pledged to protect VOA from any interference in its news from outside or political forces, though it made no mention of whose interference he had in mind. David Folkenflik, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.