Voice of America journalists demand resignation of top officials, protest sidelining of two staffers
Source: NBC
“It is not out of order for VOA journalists to ask questions of U.S. government officials. It is our job,” the journalists wrote in a letter.
Jan. 14, 2021, 12:25 PM EST / Updated Jan. 14, 2021, 12:28 PM EST
By Dan De Luce
WASHINGTON — A group of Voice of America journalists has signed a letter demanding the resignation of the director of VOA and his deputy, accusing them of using the network "to stage a propaganda event" for Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and for the "sudden and unexplained" reassignments of the chief news editor and White House correspondent.
The journalists said the actions of VOA Director Robert Reilly and Deputy Director Elizabeth Robbins violated the network's decades-old charter, which states that the U.S.-funded outlet does not speak for the U.S. government, according to the letter obtained by NBC News.
Reilly and Robbins were recently installed by President Donald Trump’s appointee, Michael Pack, who runs the parent agency that oversees VOA, the U.S. Agency for Global Media.
The letter was sent to Pack, Reilly and Robbins and has so far been signed by two dozen journalists from the VOA's staff of about 1,000.
Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/voice-america-journalists-demand-resignation-top-officials-protest-sidelining-two-n1254280
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