Report: Political Appointees Investigated VOA White House Correspondent's Social Media Posts, Likes For Alleged 'Anti-Trump Bias'

Herman

NPR, citing three sources with knowledge of the situation and five more sources for additional elements of the story, is reporting that one of the VOICE OF AMERICA's top journalists was the subject of an investigation by two political appointees of the UNITED STATES AGENCY FOR GLOBAL MEDIA looking for evidence he is biased against President TRUMP.

A "confidential" report was compiled against WHITE HOUSE Bureau Chief STEVE HERMAN by the two appointees, former iHEARTMEDIA News-Talk WFLA-A/TAMPA weekend host and blogger FRANK WUCO and lawyer SAMUEL DEWEY, and included tweets and social media "likes" that they deemed "unfair to TRUMP"; NPR reports that the findings were presented to VOA Acting Dir. ELEZ BILBERAJ two weeks ago. NPR notes that such a report is a violation of laws that were established to protect the VOA's independence from political interference.

The politicization by the TRUMP administration of the USAGM, the VOA's parent agency, has been an issue since the appointment of conservative film producer MICHAEL PACK as CEO earlier this year. A spokesperson for the USAGM told NPR that there would be no comment because the story "involves the leak of privileged information" and is "an internal VOA management issue being handled by the VOA leadership." But PACK, a half-hour after NPR requested comment on SUNDAY, sent a new memo to staff seemingly aimed at HERMAN, called "Guidance on Conflicts of Interest" and citing social media posts and likes as a reason for reporters to recuse themselves from covering stories, and the spokesperson said that the memo reflectes long-standing policies. The GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY PROJECT filed a whistleblower complaint about the new memo on SUNDAY evening, the second whistleblower complaint against PACK in a week.

Read NPR's report here.

« see more Net News