Voice of America journalists face investigations for Trump comments

WASHINGTON - Voice of America, the federally funded broadcaster to the world, has long prided itself on serving as an accurate and fair source of news and on being independent of whichever president and party are in power in the United States.

Since the election of President Donald Trump, that independence is increasingly being tested.

In recent months, Voice of America’s parent organisation, the US Agency for Global Media, has opened human resources investigations into Voice of America journalists for reporting on criticism of Mr Trump or for making comments that were perceived as critical of him, according to several employees. Some journalists raised concerns about the investigations in a meeting in February with the broadcaster’s director.

At least a couple of articles that included criticism of Mr Trump and his administration were not published or were watered down after publication in recent months, said three Voice of America employees, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they feared retribution.

And on Feb 28, the Agency for Global Media informed one of Voice of America’s highest-profile journalists, Mr Steven Herman, that he was being placed on an extended “excused absence” pending a human resources investigation, according to a copy of the letter reviewed by The New York Times. Mr Herman confirmed receiving the letter, which said the investigation was into whether his “social media activity has undermined VOA’s audiences’ perceptions of the objectivity and/or credibility of VOA and its news operations”.

Weeks earlier, Mr Herman came under fire from the Trump administration when he cited a quote on social media from an anti-corruption watchdog group criticising cutbacks at the US Agency for International Development.

Mr Richard Grenell, Mr Trump’s envoy for “special missions”, wrote on the social platform X that Mr Herman’s comments were “treasonous”.

“You don’t get to work against the official US government policies while being paid by US taxpayers,” Mr Grenell continued. “You should be immediately fired.”

Also on Feb 28, Voice of America officials informed Ms Patsy Widakuswara, the broadcaster’s longtime White House bureau chief, that she was being involuntarily reassigned to another beat, employees said. Some Voice of America journalists suspected the move was part of an effort to reduce friction with the Trump administration, although an official at the broadcaster, who was not authorised to talk to the media, denied that.

The Agency for Global Media declined to comment. NYTIMES