WASHINGTON (AP) – The heads of three federally funded international broadcasters were fired abruptly on Friday night when the Biden government cleaned Donald Trump’s home, appointed by the United States Agency for Global Media.
Two officials familiar with the changes said the USAGM’s acting chief briefly dismissed the directors of Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia and Middle East Broadcasting Networks just a month after they were appointed to the positions.
The changes came a day after the director of Voice of America and his deputy were removed and the head of the Office of Cuba Broadcasting stepped down. The layoffs came after the forced resignation of former President Donald Trump’s choice to lead the USAGM just two hours after Joe Biden took office on Wednesday.
Trump’s USAGM chief Michael Pack has been accused by Democrats and others of trying to turn VOA and its sister networks into pro-Trump propaganda machines. The Pack appointed everyone who was fired on Thursday and Friday to their positions only in December.
The two officials said USAGM acting CEO Kelu Chao fired Middle East Broadcasting Network director Victoria Coates, Radio Free Asia chief Stephen Yates and Radio Free Europe chief Ted Lipien in a quick series of actions at Friday. It was not immediately clear whether any of those removed would attempt to contest their dismissals.
The White House appointed Chao, a three-decade veteran VOA journalist, to be the agency’s acting chief executive on Wednesday, shortly after demanding Pack’s resignation. Chao did not respond to calls seeking comment on his actions. The two authorities, along with the layoffs, were not allowed to publicly discuss personnel matters and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Coates, Yates and Lipien, along with former VOA director Robert Reilly and former Cuban broadcasting chief Jeffrey Shapiro, were all prominent conservatives chosen by Pack to shake up what Trump and other Republicans believed to be biased leadership in media financed by taxpayers.
Reilly and his deputy, Elizabeth Robbins, were removed just a week after receiving harsh criticism for demoting a VOA correspondent in the White House who tried to ask former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo a question after a city hall event.
Pack created a furor when he took over the USAGM last year and dismissed the advice of all vehicles under his control, along with the leadership of the individual transmission networks. The actions were criticized for threatening the stations’ award-winning editorial independence and raised fears that Pack, a conservative filmmaker and former associate of former Trump political strategist Steve Bannon, intended to turn venerable U.S. media vehicles into machines pro-Trump propaganda campaign.
Biden was expected to make major changes to the agency’s structure and management, and Pack’s immediate dismissal on opening day signaled that this would happen sooner or later. Pack was not required to submit his resignation, as his three-year term was created by Congress and was not limited by the term of a given government.
VOA was founded during World War II and its letter to Congress requires it to present independent news and information to international audiences.