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The journalists, who run 23 language services of Radio Free Europe / Radio Libertad (RFERL), sent a letter of protest to the head of the agency that monitors the media. They accuse him of “unprecedented deviation” from bipartisan standards and of “destroying the independence of the news organization itself, which [му] he was tasked with defending it, “Dnevnik reported.
The letter accuses the director of the United States Global Media Agency (USAGM), Michael Pack, of taking steps to ensure control of the media by one of the parties. Michael Pack was nominated for the position by President Donald Trump and was approved for the position in June by the Republican-controlled Senate.
The letter was sent on December 30 and was signed by the RFERL’s 7-member editorial board, as well as by most of the directors of the language services of the media, including Ivan Bedrov, who heads the Bulgarian section.
The document was sent to Michael Pack himself, as well as to the leaders of the United States Congress, MPs from both parties, and team leader Joe Biden, leading the transition to a new USAGM administration.
CNBC was the first to report the letter, and Michael Pack described the letter as “full of inaccuracies.”
“There have been no attempts to” compromise freedom [на медията] through political influence, “said the head of USAGM.” Rather, all the actions I took were based on my responsibility to Congress and my commitment to fulfilling the mission of USAGM. “
In recent weeks, Biden and his team for the transition to a new USAGM administration, led by Richard Stangele, have said they will completely reconsider Pack’s actions. They gave indications that they could change it. It’s unclear if Pack’s personal appointments can be changed.
In November, a US federal court ruled that Pak had acted incorrectly with the news content and editorial guidance in international media monitored by his agency. The court order forced him to stop interfering in these areas.
RFERL’s letter comes less than two weeks after Pack named former Voice of America (VOA) journalist Ted Lipien as RFERL president and made other appointments to key positions in various state-funded outlets.
The letter states that Pack has revised the contract with RFERL to include clauses that “cancel” the financial independence of the media and “specific appointments [него] both in RFERL and on the board of directors for a period of two years. “Journalists say the actions represent” exactly the kind of political maneuvering by the authorities that RFERL regularly sees in places like Russia, Hungary and Tajikistan. “
Democrats, as well as some Republicans, have accused Pak of trying to turn the state-funded American media into heralds of Trump’s policies. US law requires these media to follow the principles of objectivity and be balanced.
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