On Tuesday, the acting director of the Voice of America was reappointed as part of a broader offer likely to install President Trump’s loyalists in the press before the Biden administration took power, two people said in the decision.
Michael Pack, executive director of the outlet’s parent company, the U.S. Global Media Agency, and a conservative filmmaker tied to former advisor Stephen K. Bannon Trump, previously informed executive director Elez Biberaj of his role earlier on Tuesday.
Mr. Biberaj is returning to his former job as director of the Eurasian office of the Voice of America. One official said conservative author Robert R. Reilly, who was the director of Voice of America in the Bush administration, is likely to succeed Mr. Biberaj.
Mr. Biberaj, who has been working for the Voice of America for more than 40 years, was appointed its executive director in June.
As head of the U.S. Global Media Agency, Mr. Pack oversees federally funded newscasts, including Voice of America, Radio Free Europe / Radio Freedom, Radio Free Asia, the Middle East Broadcasting Network, and the Cuban Broadcasting Bureau.
Once appointed, he quickly moved to fire the leaders of the four news sites and an Internet technology nonprofit under his supervision. He also replaced the bipartisan body overseeing the organizations with allies of the Trump administration.
In October, Mr. Pack said he would repeal a firewall rule that would protect government-funded news businesses, including American Voice, from federal manipulation. The lawsuit, filed by five officials suspended by Mr. Pack, alleged that Mr. Pack or his assistants interrogated journalists from the Voice of America who were critical of Mr. Pack. A federal judge recently ruled that Mr. Pack’s attempts to violate the firewall were unconstitutional.
Mr. Biberaj has not openly criticized Mr. Packet, but has issued statements in recent months that “editorial independence and political interference free from political interference is the essential element that sustains the VOA and makes us the voice of America”.
His likely successor, Mr. Reilly, wrote against Islam and gay rights and published the book “Make Gay Okay: How Rationalizing Homoseksual Behavior Changes Everything”.
The president-elect, Joseph R. Biden Jr., is likely to replace Mr. Pack after taking office, agency officials said. But Mr. Reilly may be harder to remove if the language in the National Defense Licensing Act, the House Defense Defense Act, is signed into law, requiring the CEO of the U.S. Global Media Agency to seek approval from an advisory board before replacing it. the head of the media network under their responsibility.
