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There s been so much controversy at the Voice of America and its parent agency that it s easy to forget the human toll - executives fired, reporters investigated, reputations shattered - all part of an ideological civil war begun by former President Trump s appointee to the agency. NPR s David Folkenflik reports.
DAVID FOLKENFLIK, BYLINE: The U.S. Agency for Global Media oversees the Voice of America and other federally funded international broadcasters. Last Monday, just two days before he resigned, Michael Pack defended his record on Fox News.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
MICHAEL PACK: I ve been head of the agency for about seven months, and my only goal has been to get it to fulfill its legally mandated mission, its charter, which is to present objective, balanced, comprehensive news, tell America s story to the world.
at 7:00 am NPR
One way to understand the capricious nature of life at Voice of America and its federal parent agency over the last seven months would have been to witness two men standing across a foosball table from each other, twisting knobs and shouting in the empty cubicles of the Spanish-language service.
Every day last summer, a senior agency adviser, Dan Hanlon, and an aide spent hours playing in offices abandoned for the pandemic. Their new CEO, Michael Pack, had sidelined them almost immediately after his arrival in June, telling others they were disloyal and untrustworthy. It was actually one of the most surreal times of my career in federal government, said Hanlon, who was a top aide to former President Donald Trump s chief of staff when the White House assigned him to the agency. Since they weren t talking to us, we would come in at nine o clock and stamp out at five o clock. And we played foosball all day. And we would just sit there, commentin
U.S. Agency for Global Media
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toggle caption U.S. Agency for Global Media
Former CEO of U.S. Agency for Global Media Michael Pack was appointed by President Trump. During his time with the agency, Pack waged ideological warfare on his own agency, targeting his executives and staffers with investigations. U.S. Agency for Global Media
One way to understand the capricious nature of life at Voice of America and its federal parent agency over the last seven months would have been to witness two men standing across a foosball table from each other, twisting knobs and shouting in the empty cubicles of the Spanish-language service.
Michael A. McCoy for NPR
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One way to understand the capricious nature of life at Voice of America and its federal parent agency over the last seven months would have been to witness two men standing across a foosball table from each other, twisting knobs and shouting in the empty cubicles of the Spanish-language service.
Every day last summer, a senior agency adviser, Dan Hanlon, and an aide spent hours playing in offices abandoned for the pandemic. Their new CEO, Michael Pack, had sidelined them almost immediately after his arrival in June, telling others they were disloyal and untrustworthy.