Biden cleans house at VOA after revolt over Trump changes

[Eugene]

Source: Associated Press

Biden cleans house at VOA after revolt over Trump changes

By MATTHEW LEE
January 21, 2021

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration has moved quickly to remove a number of senior officials aligned with former President Donald Trump from the Voice of America and the agency that oversees all U.S.-funded international broadcasting.

The actions address fears that the U.S. Agency for Global Media was being turned into a pro-Trump propaganda outlet. The agency announced Thursday that VOA’s director and his deputy had been removed from their positions and that the head of the Office of Cuba Broadcasting had resigned.

The moves come just a day after President Joe Biden was sworn in and demanded the resignation of Trump’s hand-picked CEO of USAGM, Michael Pack. The agency said in a statement that VOA director Robert Reilly had been fired just weeks after having taken the job. He had been harshly criticized just last week for demoting a VOA White House correspondent who tried to ask former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo a question after a town hall event.

Two agency officials familiar with the matter said Reilly and his deputy, Elizabeth Robbins, were escorted from VOA’s headquarters by security guards. The officials were not authorized to discuss personnel matters and spoke on condition of anonymity. In addition, Jeffrey Shapiro, who was just recently appointed to run Cuba-focused broadcasters Radio and TV Marti, resigned at the request of the new administration, they said.

Pack, who appointed all three of those terminated on Thursday, resigned just hours after Biden was inaugurated. Soon after his resignation, the Biden White House announced that a veteran VOA journalist, Kelu Chao, would head USAGM on an interim basis.

-snip-

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/biden-inauguration-joe-biden-donald-trump-cuba-media-744c7a32d2587753a17a88bdf123b6bc

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. Good work, Mr. President! All around good, too! ♥ n/t

[usajumpedtheshark]

2. Post Office next, I hope

[ProudMNDemocrat]

4. President Biden should ask DeJoy for his resignation if possible...

Or ruffle feathers of the Board of Governors

[Blue_true]

26. Ask for DeJoy's resignation and the Board of Governors resignations.

Cite the absolute chaos in US mail delivery since the Board appointed DeJoy.

[greenjar_01]

3. Cut them out root and branch

[NCDem47]

5. Biden is NOT messing around with rooting out the Trump trash.

I can't keep the stories straight, but this feels like the thrid or fourth dismissal in the last 24 hours. Is it actually more than that? Someone in the Biden WH is on the details of these Trump appointments.

[Wounded Bear]

10. They reported 3 yesterday, not at VOA, though...

this is important. VOA and its subsidiaries are our megaphone to the world. This should stop them being outlets for OAN and Qanon bullshit, and being what they're supposed to be, honest reporting of factual news to the world at large.

[Sogo]

6. Is this the same department/agency that provides

media broadcast to our troops overseas? I remember hearing that they only get Rush Limbaugh as a news source. No wonder they all vote R!

[getagrip_already]

8. I don't believe so....

Stars and Stripes was under control of the dod for example, and the blowback when they tried to kill it was severe.

Besides, voa is supposed to non-political. It isn't supposed to be a propaganda arm......

[mahatmakanejeeves]

13. That was the American Forces Radio and Television Service, now known as the

American Forces Network.

[IronLionZion]

18. VOA's audience is foreign people around the world

To promote good public opinion of the US. So obviously Trump failed badly at that.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voice_of_America

[Blue_true]

27. That is Armed Services Broadcasting.

My guess is President Biden cleans that up and make it non-partisan.

[Ferrets are Cool]

7. Fantastic.

[UTUSN]

9. K&R

[Thekaspervote]

11. And how many articles did we see that said Biden would not be able to fire these ppl??

Said he wouldn’t be able to rejoin the Paris climate accord, couldn’t remove ppl at the pentagon...seems he already has!

[Laura PourMeADrink]

12. So Biden was keeping a list after all ! Bravo

[Hortensis]

14. Yup. Four looong years of taking names and planning to kick asses out asap.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

29. I am glad H! Just don't get why none of it

was incorporated into the campaign.

[Hortensis]

30. Me neither. I remember reading about VOA, but what will motivate

voters without overloading impatient attention spans? Once I decided he was saying what I wanted to hear from him a year ago, I don't recall paying attention beyond a few times listening to make sure he was hitting that "saving the soul of America" from the right theme. Seriously.

[Hekate]

31. You really need to read Rick Wilson on narrowly focussing a campaign...

But if you will just take this old Democrat’s word for it: every single thing you say in a political campaign that can be used against you, will be used against you. Don’t broadcast all your plans, don’t perseverate on fine policy details that make most voters’ eyes cross. Don’t give ammunition to either the opposite party or the enthusiastic extremes of your own party.

Joe Biden is nobody’s fool, and despite his kindly Uncle Joe persona, he is not naive, either. We hoped he would clean house, and so he is, starting on Day One. But can you imagine the howling about planned Commie purges from the GOP if he had let this plan be a centerpiece (or any piece) of his campaign? Can you imagine those on our side who are never satisfied as it is, picking the idea to bloody pieces?

That is all.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

35. Agree with you. I am specifically referring to the hundreds

of trump indescretions that were left on the table. Unspoken to, not heard by many, that he wasn't held accountable for.

[W T F]

15. It's called "Detrumpification"

[wnylib]

24. Isn't it especially delicious that

it is Obama's former VP who does the detrumpification after how Trump set about to destroy Obama's achievements?

I doubt that Trump is paying attention to these changes, which is too bad because I'd really enjoy knowing he was spitting and fuming over his influences being trashed. But I'm sure that the policy makers and RW strategists who promoted their agendas through Trump are noticing.

[orangecrush]

16. GOOD

GET OUT, YOU DEMOCRACY HATING TRUMP SYCOPHANTS!!!

GET OUT!!!!

[TomDaisy]

17. EXCELLENT

[Nululu]

19. Thrilled at Biden's getting rid of bad actors

Don't understand these partisan hacks regusal to resign. Glad Biden's getting rid of them

[Escurumbele]

20. This IS cleaning the swamp

The swamp that trump created.

[marble falls]

21. Muuuuch needed.

[twin_ghost]

22. Thank God! The VOA is our voice in the international community. n/t

[Hermit-The-Prog]

23. Gotta wash the MAGAts out of the wounds they've caused.

[JohnnyRingo]

25. "...was being turned into a pro-Trump propaganda outlet."

VOA has always been a US propaganda tool, or a voice for the shining beacon on the hill if you want, but now it was being steered to serve one man. Just one man.

This is further evidence that if you still believe following Trump is the patriotic thing to do, you're in a cult. You don't care about America, it's all about one man. Just one man.

Sometimes it may be hard to tell the difference from the inside.

[msfiddlestix]

28. Great news, I had wondered where this item lived on the list of priorities.

I'm pleased it obviously was on his radar and took this action on his first real day on the job. I had inferred he had a good staff working during the transition period, but boy howdy sure is a relief to see this handled with immediate dispatch.

[JI7]

32. This shows when Biden talks about Unity he doesn't mean ignoring all the shit that has happened

[uponit7771]

33. K&R, Time to DeMAGA America

[Cha]

34. TY Pres Biden!