He contended that bureaucratic opposition from within and from Capitol Hill to needed reforms including major personnel security problems and bias within VOA’s Chinese and South Asian services reflected the politicization and bias of mainstream media outlets that reached a crescendo during the Trump administration.
“The culture in the VOA newsroom and a lot of the journalists working here is not that dissimilar to the culture of journalists working in the mainstream media more generally,” he said. “Our journalists look up to The Washington Post and The New York Times and CNN as their model.”
Mr. Pack said the bias made it difficult for him and others leading the USAGM to return the outlets to honoring their legal obligation to present unbiased and balanced news reports.