Voice of America | Journalist “punished” for trying to question Mike Pompeo

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France Media Agency

The head of American diplomacy was invited Monday to deliver a speech at the radio headquarters in Washington, against the backdrop of accusations of taking over the “Voice of America” by the government of Donald Trump.

Michael Pack, the CEO appointed by Donald Trump, tried in October to reverse the rule that prevents him from intervening in editorial content.

On the spot, Mike Pompeo on Monday urged radio journalists to stop “denigrating” the United States and promoting “American exceptionalism”.

He admitted that several of them had not wanted him to come to speak, denouncing a “dangerous instinct of censorship”, while a letter from “whistleblowers” had internally criticized an attempt to disseminate “political propaganda in the final days of the Trump administration.”

At the end of his speech, the Secretary of State had a very pleasant exchange without any politically sensitive questions with the director of the radio. On the other hand, the journalists of the antenna did not have the right to question him.

VOA White House correspondent Patsy Widakuswara then followed Mike Pompeo on his outing and tried to ask him questions, especially about the image of the United States in the world after the assault last week by supporters of Donald Trump against the Capitol. She herself posted a video of her failed attempt on Twitter.

In the process, the journalist was reassigned to another post by her management.

The “punishment” aimed at Patsy Widakuswara “for doing his job, that is to say asking questions, is an affront to the ideals evoked by Secretary of State Pompeo himself in his speech,” protested in a statement. communicated the Association of Correspondents at the White House.

A VOA spokesperson declined to “comment on internal personnel issues.”

In a joint statement, the leaders of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives, Democrat Gregory Meeks and Republican Michael McCaul, also said to have questioned the radio on “this disturbing information”, without obtaining a response.

“Such an intervention would be a violation of the ‘Wall of China’ established by Congress” between the heads of holding companies which control the international public media of the United States and their journalists, estimated the two elected officials.

“Without a legitimate reason for this decision, […] we think she should get her job back, ”they added of the journalist.

“It’s the United States of America: we don’t punish our journalists for looking for answers to their questions. A free and fair press is at the heart of our Constitution and our democracy, ”they warned.

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