The VOA is actually the largest of a number of broadcasting networks already run by the United States, including Radio Free Europe, Radio Free Asia, Office of Cuba Broadcasting and Middle East Broadcasting Networks. They're overseen by the U.S. Agency for Global Media. USAGM CEO John F. Lansing said the networks are all independent from the government by law.
"It's mandated by law that is written into the legislation that founded the Voice of America and our other entities, that there will be no interference in the editorial judgment of these networks," Lansing said.
But concerns of political interference in the networks were raised after Trump nominated Michael Pack to replace Lansing, who was an Obama appointee.
Pack was a former programming executive at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and has produced documentaries with none other than Steve Bannon, the conservative news website executive and former Trump adviser and campaign CEO.
The Senate has yet to take up Pack's nomination. James Glassman, a former chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, USAGM's predecessor, thinks there is too much independence on the part of VOA.
Glassman believes the network should be more integrated into U.S. foreign policy. For instance, he said, if the administration wants to discourage Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, VOA can play a role.
"I think that VOA could, for example, have programming that tells the Iranian people that its government is wasting the vast, vast sums of money that could be used to improve the economy on a nuclear program," Glassman said.
But, he added, "There is a great reluctance to take orders" at the network.
Bennett, the VOA director, said the network is insulated by a firewall of laws and the independence of its journalists from political interference — and is driven by its news judgment.
"If somebody says, 'Do this story, because I want to do it, because it advances my interests,' we'll see," she said, adding that VOA would act as any news organization would, asking, "Is this news or not? And if it's not, then it's, 'Thank you for your input.'
More at:
"It's mandated by law that is written into the legislation that founded the Voice of America and our other entities, that there will be no interference in the editorial judgment of these networks," Lansing said.
But concerns of political interference in the networks were raised after Trump nominated Michael Pack to replace Lansing, who was an Obama appointee.
Pack was a former programming executive at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and has produced documentaries with none other than Steve Bannon, the conservative news website executive and former Trump adviser and campaign CEO.
The Senate has yet to take up Pack's nomination. James Glassman, a former chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, USAGM's predecessor, thinks there is too much independence on the part of VOA.
Glassman believes the network should be more integrated into U.S. foreign policy. For instance, he said, if the administration wants to discourage Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, VOA can play a role.
"I think that VOA could, for example, have programming that tells the Iranian people that its government is wasting the vast, vast sums of money that could be used to improve the economy on a nuclear program," Glassman said.
But, he added, "There is a great reluctance to take orders" at the network.
Bennett, the VOA director, said the network is insulated by a firewall of laws and the independence of its journalists from political interference — and is driven by its news judgment.
"If somebody says, 'Do this story, because I want to do it, because it advances my interests,' we'll see," she said, adding that VOA would act as any news organization would, asking, "Is this news or not? And if it's not, then it's, 'Thank you for your input.'
More at:
