VOA journalists say new USAGM CEO is endangering reporters
31 August 2020
A group of veteran Voice of America journalists have penned a letter to VOA acting director Elez Biberaj saying that Michael Pack, the new CEO of the VOA's parent agency, the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), is endangering the livelihoods of contract journalists.
Why it matters: Pack has been the center of controversy ever since he took over the agency in June. The letter alleges that Pack's recent remarks in an interview with the conservative-leaning website The Federalist prove his malicious intent.
In the letter, which was first reported by NPR, VOA journalists say they are concerned that the actions taken by Pack, and the interviews he has given "endanger the personal security of VOA reporters at home and abroad, as well as threatening to harm U.S. national security objectives."
- Pack has in recent weeks refused to renew the work visas for dozens of foreign nationals working as journalists in the U.S.
- "Michael Pack's actions risk crippling programs and projects for some countries that are considered national security priorities. He has ordered the firing of contract journalists, with no valid reason, by cancelling their visas, forcing them back to home countries where the lives of some of them may be in jeopardy," the letter says.
The big picture: Congressional Democrats and Republicans have been crying foul as evidence mounts that USAGM is trying to systematically undermine the agencies it oversees.
- Since Pack took over the agency, he's made sweeping changes that have created bipartisan concern.
- Shortly after his nomination was confirmed, he suddenly dismissed all five heads of the agencies within the USAGM.
- The USAGM is currently being sued by the Open Technology Fund for roughly $20 million in congressionally appropriated funds that the OTF says Pack and the USAGM are intentionally withholding.
Go deeper: Accusations of hobbling internet freedom fund roil U.S. media agency
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.