Updated December 12, 2024 at 16:26 PM ET
President-elect Donald Trump says Kari Lake, a local television news anchor-turned-MAGA politician, will lead the federally funded broadcaster Voice of America.
If successful, the move would put a loyalist at the helm of a news outlet that Trump sought to bring to heel under his appointee during the final year of his first term. Trump officials sought to strip the network and its parent agency of their independence during his first term, including actions later found to be illegal and in one case, unconstitutional.
But Trump doesn't have the authority to unilaterally install Lake; the hire is dependent on a bipartisan board beneath the chief executive of its parent agency.
Voice of America (VOA), which is funded by Congress, operates in nearly 50 languages and reaches an estimated 354 million people weekly across the globe. It is part of the U.S. Agency for Global Media, the government agency that oversees all non-military, U.S. international broadcasting.
Trump said Wednesday on Truth Social that Lake will be appointed by and work closely with the incoming head of that agency, "who I will announce soon."
A free press is central to VOA's mission: It aims to bring unfettered reporting to places that do not have it, and show political debate and dissent in the U.S. even when that reflects critically on the administration in power.
Trump's White House took the unprecedented step in spring 2020 of openly attacking VOA in public statements over its perceived failures to explicitly blame the Chinese government for the pandemic.
On Wednesday, Trump wrote that Lake and his as-yet-unnamed agency leader will "ensure that the American values of Freedom and Liberty are broadcast around the World FAIRLY and ACCURATELY, unlike the lies spread by the Fake News Media."
Lake, who ran unsuccessfully for an Arizona U.S. Senate seat this year and for governor in 2022, has made a political name for herself in part by denying election losses (both hers and Trump's in 2020) and railing against the mainstream media, of which she was once a part.
She left her job at the Phoenix Fox affiliate in 2021 after over two decades and a series of controversies, including sharing COVID-19 misinformation during the pandemic.
In her speech at the Republican National Convention this summer, Lake accused the "fake news" of spending "the last eight years lying about President Donald Trump and his amazing, patriotic supporters," and said they had "worn out your welcome."
On Wednesday, Lake said she looks forward to starting at VOA, which she described as a "vital international media outlet dedicated to advancing the interests of the United States by engaging directly with people across the globe and promoting democracy and truth."
"Under my leadership, the VOA will excel in its mission: chronicling America's achievements worldwide," Lake tweeted.
That's not exactly the organization's stated mission, however. On its website, it says it is "committed to providing comprehensive coverage of the news and telling audiences the truth."
What is Voice of America?
VOA was founded in 1942 to counter Nazi propaganda in Germany.
"We bring you Voices from America," said announcer William Harlan Hale in the first German-language program. "Today, and daily from now on, we shall speak to you about America and the war. The news may be good for us. The news may be bad. But we shall tell you the truth."
By the end of World War II, it was broadcasting 3,200 programs in 40 languages every week, presenting America — and modeling a free press — to the world.
VOA was able to continue and even expand its operations during the Cold War. And when the United States Information Agency was established in 1953, VOA became its largest element.
Today, its over 2,000 employees produce radio, digital and television content, distributed by a network of satellite, cable, FM and MW and some 3,500 affiliate stations.
VOA calls itself the largest U.S. international broadcaster; others include Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia, and Radio Martí.
Is VOA editorially independent?
From its beginning, government officials debated the balance VOA should strike between reporting the news and furthering U.S. foreign policy. Over the years, the broadcaster has taken several steps to safeguard its editorial independence, in practice and in policy.
In the late 1950s, VOA employees drafted a formal statement of principles to protect the editorial integrity of their broadcasts, which became the official VOA Charter in 1960. President Gerald Ford signed it into law in 1976 .
There are three main guidelines: VOA news will be "accurate, objective and comprehensive;" "represent America, not any single segment of American society" and cover not only U.S. policies but "responsible discussions and opinion" about them.
Taking a step further, the 1994 U.S. International Broadcasting Act enshrined in U.S. code a "firewall" that prohibits any U.S. government official from interfering in the objective, independent reporting of news.
"The firewall ensures that VOA can make the final decisions on what stories to cover, and how they are covered," the broadcaster says.
That firewall came under threat during the first Trump administration, as NPR has reported.
What happened to VOA during Trump's first term?
Despite the VOA being owned by the federal government, the White House singled it out for attack during the first Trump administration, particularly during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic in spring 2020.
The White House accused the broadcaster of amplifying Chinese government propaganda about the country's efforts to contain the virus, which it denied.
It was in that context that the Republican-led Senate finally confirmed conservative filmmaker Michael Pack to lead the U.S. Agency for Global Media, two years after Trump first nominated him.
Pack's arrival rattled VOA even before he got there: Two top officials resigned as soon as he was confirmed.
Further fueling fears of political interference, Pack quickly stripped most of the agency's senior leadership of their authority and fired the chiefs of the government-sponsored broadcast networks for foreign audiences, including Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Radio Free Asia.
"My job really is to drain the swamp, to root out corruption and to deal with these issues of bias, not to tell journalists what to report," Pack told the pro-Trump website The Federalist at the time.
Throughout his seven-month tenure at VOA's parent agency, Pack faced multiple accusations of meddling in its process — from making personnel moves like reassigning VOA leaders and refusing to extend foreign employees' work visas, to editorial decisions like removing several controversial stories from its website after publication.
Under Pack's leadership, the agency also investigated one of its own VOA White House reporters for perceived anti-Trump bias and rescinded the firewall meant to ensure editorial independence from partisan interference.
A formal federal investigation also said Pack engaged in "waste or gross waste of government resources" in paying a private firm $1.6 million to investigate agency executives he considered insufficiently loyal (they were ultimately exonerated). Such work is ordinarily done by government attorneys.
The Biden administration swiftly removed several Trump loyalists from the U.S. Agency for Global Media and VOA itself after taking office in 2021. A federal inquiry released in 2023 found that Pack repeatedly engaged in abuses of power and gross mismanagement — including, but not limited to, violating journalists' independence. A federal judge found that Pack had violated constitutional free speech protections of the network's journalists.
Is Lake's leadership a sure thing?
The chaos of the Pack era led to congressional reform — most notably, the creation of the International Broadcasting Advisory Board (IBAB).
The IBAB is an independent federal entity made up of seven people: six experts in mass communications and international affairs, appointed by the president and confirmed by the U.S. Senate, and a seat for the secretary of state. No more than three of the president's appointees can be from the same political party.
The Senate confirmed its six new members last December.
The board's stated mission is to ensure the editorial independence and enhance the impact of the work carried out by the U.S Agency for Global Media. It also plays a role in the appointment and removal of heads of the agency's entities.
The heads of VOA and others "may only be appointed or removed if such action has been approved by the Board," according to its bylaws.
Notably, VOA welcomed a new director — former Freedom House president and longtime Washington Post reporter and editor Michael Abramowitz — in June.
"As I have said many times, I welcome a smooth transition of power for both USAGM and VOA," Abramowitz wrote Thursday in an email to staff. "I intend to cooperate with the new administration and follow the process put in place by Congress for the appointment of the Director of VOA."
It's not clear when or whether the board would meet to decide to replace Abramowitz. Trump has not yet said whom he intends to appoint to lead the parent U.S. Agency for Global Media, a position that requires Senate confirmation.
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