From the SPJ International Community
January 27, 2025 - The Future of VOA?
In this issue
We Had a Great (IC No Agenda) Chat
Trump Nominates New Leadership at USAGM/Fires Inspectors General
Press Freedom News Reports from Around the World
From the IC Archives: Tracking US Press Freedom
Of Interest: Allbritton Grants Available
No Agenda IC Chat
We had a really good discussion Jan. 21 at the IC No Agenda Chat.
During the 1-hour-plus session we talked about job opportunities pre-journalism, including Will Verdeur being a former teacher and now a Georgetown university J-student; how to report on the Trump Administration without appearing to be partisan; what to expect from the Trump Administration regarding Voice of America (how prescient of us) and just some general shop chit-chat. Oh, and we got a look at the snow hitting Lafayette, LA.
David Andleman promoted his new Substack column, Andleman Unleashed. If you are even a little bit interested in gaining a perspective on how others see the US and what their concerns are, you should subscribe.
Adam Rose joined us from California. He talked about his work at Stanford University authenticating documents and multimedia items. Really interesting stuff.
Here are a couple of examples of news outlets using their work:
Rolling Stone: The DJ and the War Crimes
Reuters: Preserving trust in photojournalism through authentication technology
Join us Feb. 18 at 1pm for the next session. You never know who will show up or where the discussion will go.
BTW: We do not record these sessions. So you have to show up if you want more than just a simple summary.
The next SPJ IC Get Together will be Feb. 18 at 1:00 PM Eastern Time.
Register in advance for this meeting HERE.
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
No agenda! Just chatting among ourselves about what we are doing and what we should be doing.
Note from the SPJ-IC - VOA Future
This past week President Donald Trump nominated his choice to run the US Agency for Global Media. This is on the heels of an earlier announcement that he wanted Kari Lake of Arizona to run the Voice of America.
The USAGM choice is L Brent Bozell III. He is known to many in the news industry because he founded the Media Research Center. The MRC issues regular reports on the liberal bias in American media.
The Voice of America did an excellent report on the Bozell nomination and the process he and Lake will have to go through before they take their new positions: Trump selects nominee to lead US global media agency
Both Bozell and Lake have signed on to the Project 2025 document created by The Heritage Foundation. In its section on USAGM, which includes VOA and its sister news organizations, Project 2025 calls the “firewall” that has protected VOA journalists from the whims of its politically appointed leaders a myth. It also called for USAGM to be under the direct control of the State Department or the National Security Council, or both.
This action would remove the trust VOA journalists have earned around the world as a fair and accurate source of news. The biggest objection from the Project 2025 and Trump team has been that while reporting on events in the United States, VOA journalists have included sources that offer views different from the administration in power. (You know, like what real reporters do.)
Another action by the Trump White House also raised concerns.
Late Friday, Jan. 24 Trump fired about a dozen inspectors general. These are the individuals who head up offices of investigators within each agency to look into how those agencies are run. Their mission is to ferret out mismanagement, corruption and inefficiencies.
USAGM does not have its own IG. Instead, the Inspector General’s office from the State Department investigates the USAGM and its subsidiary offices. It was an inspector general investigation in 2020 that exposed the rules violations, mismanagement and possibly illegal activities of the USAGM CEO during Trump’s first term. The report, summarized nicely by NPR, noted that Michael Pack “repeatedly abused the powers of his office, broke laws and regulations, and engaged in gross mismanagement.”
Besides looking at USAGM, the State Department IG also keeps an eye on programs that aid press freedom efforts around the world. One program is the International Visitors Leadership Program.
The IVLP has been an important vehicle for journalists from around the world to visit the United States, with no strings attached. They meet fellow journalists, as well as leaders in politics, business and academia. Many SPJ chapters have hosted talks with journalists visiting under these grants.
The Inspector General’s office ensures that these programs are run fairly and represent a diverse range of (small ‘d’) democratic political thought. Journalists chosen for the programs in the past have shown their commitment to press freedom, accurate reporting and fact checking.
We would like to hear from you about what steps – if any – we should be talking to address the concerns raised by these actions.
Here is more reading on these issues.
Nieman Lab: What will happen to Voice of America in Trump’s second term?
NPR: Trump taps conservative media critic to lead global news agency
The New Republic: The Rise and Fall of the L. Brent Bozells
The Hill: Trump taps conservative activist Brent Bozell to lead US Agency for Global Media
Congressional Research Service: U.S. Agency for Global Media: Background, Governance, and Issues for Congress
NPR - Federal inquiry details abuses of power by Trump's CEO over Voice of America (May 2023)
Reuters: Trump fires 17 independent inspectors general at federal agencies, source says
Here is an interview we did recently with a former VOA official to talk about what is expected under Trump 2.0 at VOA. (This was done before the announcement nominating Bozell.)
Press Freedom News and Updates
Hong Kong Free Press: Hong Kong’s privacy watchdog received 2 complaints about journalist harassment last year
Voice of America: Ahead of election, media group accuses Belarus of crimes against humanity
Voice of America: Search for missing American journalist continues in Syria
Reporters Without Borders: Police harassment, astronomical visa fees, deportation threats — dire situation facing Afghan journalists exiled in Pakistan
Committee to Protect Journalists: Mexican journalist under federal protection shot dead
Reuters Institute: Amid war, vicious attacks and political turmoil, global fact-checkers fear the impact of the end of Meta’s programme
Latin America Journalism Review: How to cover migration in Latin America during Trump's second term
International Press Institute: New Russian laws targeting critics, including journalists
From the IC Archives
September 11, 2023 - Tracking Press Freedom In The USA Is Also A Thing
We talked with Kirstin McCudden, managing editor for Press Freedom Tracker to talk about the threats to press freedom in the United States. She discusses how and why such tracking is necessary.
FYI - Allbritton Journalism Institute Grant
The Allbritton Journalism Institute — a nonprofit organization backed by a $20 million grant from Robert Allbritton, the founding publisher of Politico — is now accepting applications for its 2025-2027 class of fellows. AJI offers $60,000 annual stipends to aspiring or early-career reporters to spend up to two years in Washington studying journalism and writing for NOTUS, a nonpartisan publication covering government, policy and politics.
The goal of the program is to restore journalism’s critical role in our national conversation by expanding opportunities for aspiring reporters with different backgrounds and beliefs. Our first class of fellows arrived in D.C. in September 2023, and our second class arrived two months ago. Current fellows cover the aftermath of the 2024 campaign, the incoming Trump administration, Capitol Hill, foreign policy and other topics connected to national politics. The Institute’s teaching faculty includes Tim Alberta of The Atlantic, DeNeen L. Brown of The Washington Post, Cheryl W. Thompson of NPR, Pulitzer winner Wesley Lowery and many other veteran Washington journalists.
The application for the 2025-2027 class is due February 19. It can be found here. If you have any questions about the fellowship or the application, please email Richard Just, AJI's admissions director, at richardjust@aji.org.