Voice Of America Director, Deputy Director Resign After Donald Trump-Selected CEO Takes Over At Global Media Agency

Click here to read the full article.

Voice of America Director Amanda Bennett and Deputy Director Sandy Sugawara resigned on Monday, after defending the government-backed media outlet from withering attacks from the White House and President Donald Trump.

Trump’s choice to lead the U.S. Agency for Global Media, Michael Pack, was confirmed by the Senate earlier this month. In a note to staff on Monday morning, Bennett said that Pack has the right to replace them with his own VOA leadership.

More from Deadline

• Senate Confirms Michael Pack To Lead Agency That Oversees Voice Of America

• Michael Pack Gets Greenlight From Foreign Relations Committee To Lead U.S. Global Media Agency

• Ted Cruz Introduces Bill To Restrict U.S. Government Help For Studios If They Alter Movies To Gain Entry Into Chinese Market

Bennett also said that Pack “swore before Congress to respect and honor the firewall that guarantees VOA’s independence, which in turn plays the single most important role in the stunning trust VOA’s audiences around the world have in the organization,” a spokesperson for VOA said. “She remarked that she and Deputy Director Sugawara know that all VOA staff members will offer him all of their skills, their professionalism, their dedication to mission, their journalistic integrity and their personal hard work to guarantee that promise is fulfilled.”

Bennett had defended the agency after the White House attacked its coverage of the coronavirus crisis, claiming that it “amplified Beijing’s propaganda.”

“We are thoroughly covering China’s disinformation and misinformation in English and Mandarin and at the same time reporting factually –– as we always do in all 47 of our broadcast languages — on other events in China,” Bennett wrote in April.

But Trump’s attacks continued, as he called the outlet a “disgrace.”

Over the weekend, Bennett also weighed in after a report that the Centers for Disease Control had blacklisted VOA from interviews, including those coming from one of its on air personalities, Greta Van Susteren. The Knight First Amendment Institute published emails obtained in a Freedom of Information Act request, showing that CDC public affairs staff told public affairs staff to ignore VOA media requests.

Bennett said in a statement that “efforts such as those outlined in the CDC memo can result in the kind of chilling effect on our journalism that we regularly see in the markets we broadcast to that have no free press – including in China and Russia.”

Best of Deadline

• Coronavirus: U.S. Cases Top 2 Million, CDC Says, As Death Toll Nears 114,000 - Update

• Coronavirus: Movies That Have Halted Or Delayed Production Amid Outbreak

• Hong Kong Filmart Postponed Due To Coronavirus Fears; Event Moves Two Weeks Before Toronto

Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.