On Wednesday night, Kari Lake, a former TV news anchor turned populist firebrand, announced she was chosen to head up the Voice of America, the largest U.S. government-funded media organization. Lake, who have referred to journalists as’monsters’, ”has made it her political brand to fiercely fight the media and will head an organization that affects the lives of hundreds of millions to different extents around the world.
Trump’s decision came after previous allegations that this organ, which is meant to offer unbiased news, has been seeded with loyalists during his first term to spew propaganda for the president. In appointing Lake, Trump nominated her with a hint that she would change VOA’s compass as he perceived it. He added that Lake would endeavour to guarantee that ‘American values of Freedom and Liberty are broadcast around the ‘World FAIRLY and ACCURATELY without the fake narrative of the Fake News Media.’
This year’s ad campaign for the governorship of Arizona until May aggressively targeted news outlets, and it was extensively more aggressive against the media than offering a policy critique of her opponent Katie Hobbs, the current governor of Arizona. Similar to Trump, Lake frequently referred to journalists as “monsters,” whom she pledged to be the ‘worst nightmare,’ and this she supported the defunding of the press during her rallies.
It remains unclear whether Trump could replace the current VOA director with Lake, as the 2020 law passed in the US limits the USAGM, which supervises the VOA, from making such changes on its own. This law also requires a bipartisan board to set appointments and/or dismissals of network heads, and the board should not have more than three members from the same political party. Furthermore, Trump sorted Senate approval to appoint new board members in the firm.
VOA: A Global Broadcasting Powerhouse with a Mission Against Disinformation
If confirmed, she would head an agency that has a budget of nearly $300 million and more than 2,000 employees that broadcast in almost 50 languages to more than 326 million people every week. VOA was established in 1942 with the purpose of broadcasting against fake news from totalitarian countries such as the current China, Russia, and Iran.
The Obama administration criticized VOA’s editorial decisions and, during Trump’s first term, tried to scorn journalistic shields. In 2020, Trump appointed Michael Pack, the friend of former White House strategist Bannon, as the head of USAGM. He was accused of trying to transform VOA into a channel that supports Donald Trump. A federal judge decided that Pack had overstepped his authority by infringing on the First Amendment when he imposed his decisions on VOA’s journalists. A probe found that Pack improperly oversaw USAGM and the removal of measures such as a “firewall” provision that barred American officials from muzzling voices within itere.
Leadership Changes, Controversies, and Political Shifts in Broadcasting and Politics
In April this year, a bipartisan board named Michael Abramowitz, a former president of Freedom House and a journalist, as VOA director. Abramowitz, who formerly worked for The Washington Post for many years, was the lead of a team that was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for the reportage of the War on Terrorism.
What has happened to Adam’s filmmaking since embracing politics is an active peddler of conspiracy theories, as seen by the fake claims in the 2020 election. Her 2022 campaign is based on the false claim that Trump actually won the election and, more importantly, on unsubstantiated accusations against her gubernatorial opponent, Katie Hobbs. Afterward, Lake rejected his defeat and initiated several appeals, which were declined singly and jointly. In a Senate race this year, she only implied she would be willing to do so after a much worse defeat against Rep. Ruben Gallego.
“It’s my honor to stand for the state I love,” was said by Lake after she was defeated in the Senate based on a social media post.