VOA directors quit amid leadership change

WASHINGTON — The director of Voice of America and her deputy resigned Monday after recent clashes with the Trump administration that have sparked fears about the independence of the U.S. government-funded news organization.

Director Amanda Bennett and Deputy Director Sandy Sugawara announced they were leaving the organization as Trump ally and conservative filmmaker Michael Pack takes over leadership of the agency that oversees VOA.

Bennett and Sugawara told the staff in an email obtained by The Associated Press that Pack should be able to choose the leadership of the organization, which was created to promote democracy and American values abroad.

Trump and his supporters have been sharply critical of coronavirus reporting by the outlet that ran counter to the administration narrative on China’s response to the outbreak. The White House went so far as to blast VOA in a statement and directed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention not to cooperate with its journalists, an unusual attack on a venerable organization that has sought to be an objective source of news despite its government ties.

In their farewell email, Bennett and Sugawara praised the VOA staff for its “rapid, can-do response to the Coronavirus crisis” and expressed hope that the new CEO of the U.S. Agency for Global Media would not interfere with its mission, as some fear.

“Michael Pack swore before Congress to respect and honor the firewall that guarantees VOA’s independence, which in turn plays the single most important role in the stunning trust our audiences around the world have in us,” they wrote. “We know that each one of you will offer him all of your skills, your professionalism, your dedication to mission, your journalistic integrity and your personal hard work to guarantee that promise is fulfilled.”

Democrats objected to the nomination of Pack, a one-time associate of former Trump adviser Steve Bannon, in part for his refusal to answer questions about past business dealings. That didn’t stop his confirmation by the Senate in a 53-38 vote.

The Agency for Global Media, which runs VOA, also oversees its sister outlets Radio Free Asia, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and the Cuba-focused Radio Marti.

VOA confirmed the resignations of the director and deputy director in a statement that summarized Bennett’s email to staff but did not address the clash with the administration.

Trump and his allies have long viewed VOA with suspicion, regarding it as an element of a “deep state” trying to thwart their policies. That hostility burst into the open April 9, when Trump communications adviser Dan Scavino posted a VOA story about China to his official Twitter account with the comment, “American taxpayers—paying for China’s very own propaganda, via the U.S. Government funded Voice of America! DISGRACE!!”

The story that VOA posted was actually a report by the AP about the lifting of a lockdown in the Chinese city of Wuhan, where the new coronavirus first emerged. The next day, the White House released a statement that accused VOA of using taxpayer money “to speak for authoritarian regimes.” Trump weighed in several days later, calling its coverage “disgusting” and demanding that the Senate confirm Pack.