{"id":97060,"date":"2020-11-21T17:29:36","date_gmt":"2020-11-21T11:29:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/toptrendingnews.co\/court-injunction-bars-usagm-from-editorial-interference\/"},"modified":"2020-11-22T04:50:53","modified_gmt":"2020-11-21T22:50:53","slug":"court-injunction-bars-usagm-from-editorial-interference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/toptrendingnews.co\/court-injunction-bars-usagm-from-editorial-interference\/","title":{"rendered":"Court Injunction Bars USAGM From Editorial Interference"},"content":{"rendered":"

A federal district court in Washington on Friday granted a preliminary injunction prohibiting officials from the U.S. Agency for Global Media, including its head, Michael Pack, from interfering with the editorial independence and First Amendment rights of the journalists at Voice of America and the other networks it oversees.<\/p>\n

The ruling, issued by Chief Judge Beryl Howell of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, ordered that a request for preliminary injunction by the plaintiffs be partially granted. The order was a stopgap measure to prevent further actions laid out in a complaint until a trial can be held.<\/p>\n

The ruling relates to a complaint filed by five USAGM officials placed on administrative leave in August and VOA Program Director Kelu Chao, who argued actions taken by the new head of the USAGM were unlawful and violated the First Amendment and the statutory firewall set up to prevent outside interference.<\/p>\n

\n
\"USAGM<\/figure>
FILE – Michael Pack, whom President Donald Trump chose to lead the U.S. Agency for Global Media, is seen at his confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Sept. 19, 2019. Pack's nomination was confirmed June 4, 2020.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Howell\u2019s ruling marked a major setback for Pack, a former conservative documentary producer tapped by President Donald Trump to head the newly reconstituted USAGM. Since Pack was confirmed by the Senate in late June, the top leaders at VOA and other networks resigned or were removed, hiring and spending were frozen and Pack stopped approving visa renewals for the agency\u2019s foreign journalists.<\/p>\n

Moreover, Pack\u2019s political appointees conducted internal investigations of reporters and editors suspected of producing news stories unfavorable to Trump and the administration that had a chilling effect on the work of editors and reporters, according to the complaint.<\/p>\n

Under the order, USAGM officials including Pack are prohibited from \u201cmaking or interfering with personnel decisions\u201d related to individual editorial staff at VOA and its sister networks; directly communicating with editors and journalists, with the exception of the heads of those networks, or unless they have a director\u2019s consent; and conducting investigations into content, journalists and alleged breaches of ethics at the networks.<\/p>\n

Requests denied<\/strong><\/p>\n

The court denied requests for a preliminary injunction involving alleged violations of the International Broadcasting Act, Administrative Procedure Act and Pack\u2019s fiduciary duties as head of USAGM and alleged activities in excess of his authority.<\/p>\n

USAGM did not respond to VOA\u2019s email requesting comment.<\/p>\n

\u201cEditorial independence and journalistic integrity free of political interference are the core elements that sustain VOA and make us America\u2019s voice,\u201d VOA acting director Elez Biberaj said.<\/p>\n

\u201cA steady 83% of VOA\u2019s audience finds our journalism trustworthy. There are few, if any, media organizations that can claim such trust,\u201d Biberaj added.<\/p>\n

Attorneys for the Department of Justice argued in a filing last week that the free speech protections of the First Amendment do not apply to VOA journalists because they are federal government employees, but Howell strongly disagreed.<\/p>\n

She said the plaintiffs were likely to succeed in proving Pack and his aides \u201cviolated and continue to violate\u201d the First Amendment rights of VOA journalists \u201cbecause, among other unconstitutional effects of their actions, they result in self-censorship and the chilling of First Amendment expression.\u201d<\/p>\n

Howell cited an investigation into VOA\u2019s White House correspondent Steve Herman, saying it \u201cimposes an unconstitutional prior restraint not just on Herman\u2019s speech, but also on the speech of Chao and other editors and journalists at VOA and the networks.\u201d<\/p>\n

The court will rule later on the full complaint filed against USAGM.<\/p>\n

Lee Crain, the counsel for the plaintiffs, said, \u201cThe court confirmed that the First Amendment forbids Mr. Pack and his team from attempting to take control of these journalistic outlets, from investigating their journalists for purported \u2018bias,\u2019 and from attempting to influence or control their reporting content.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a statement Friday, Crain said the opinion ensured journalists at VOA and the other networks \u201ccan rest assured that the First Amendment protects them from government efforts to control editorial and journalistic content. They are free to do exactly what Congress intended: export independent, First Amendment-style journalism to the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Global audience<\/strong><\/p>\n

VOA and its sister networks have a vast global reach and have seen a surge in readership and viewership in the past year amid the coronavirus pandemic and the contested 2020 U.S. presidential campaign. In fiscal 2020, news and information programming of USAGM\u2019s five networks together reached a worldwide weekly audience of 354 million people in 62 languages, an increase of 4 million from last year\u2019s record audience, according to USAGM figures.<\/p>\n

In a 76-page \u201cmemorandum opinion\u201d Howell said VOA and the other networks export \u201cthe cardinal American values of free speech, freedom of the press and open debate to the dark corners of the world where independent, objective coverage of current events is otherwise unavailable.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThese outlets are not intended to promote uncritically the political views and aspirations of a single U.S. official, even if that official is the U.S. president,\u201d Howell said.<\/p>\n

Pack has \u201callegedly taken a series of steps since his June 4, 2020, confirmation that undermine this mission.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lawyers representing USAGM at the hearing on November 5 argued that Pack was using expanded powers granted to the CEO by Congress in legislation intended to improve the agency\u2019s management and efficiency.<\/p>\n

The preliminary injunction found that the statutory firewall \u201creflects that Congress determined this interest to be of greater public importance than the general government interest in efficiency.\u201d It added that the court recognized the networks have an interest in maintaining an appearance of \u201cthe highest journalistic credibility.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ann Cooper, professor emeritus of professional practice and international journalism at the Columbia School of Journalism in New York, said VOA\u2019s role as an independent network is crucial to its audiences.<\/p>\n

Regulations to protect VOA\u2019s editorial independence are \u201chugely important,\u201d said Cooper, who as a veteran foreign correspondent has worked and traveled to some of the world\u2019s most repressive countries.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you remove that safeguard and allow a leadership that begins to dictate the coverage, of course you are going to lose credibility. VOA is serving countries where people already see what it means to have a government mouthpiece as media. That\u2019s not what they are turning to VOA for,\u201d Cooper said.<\/p>\n

J-1 visa exemption<\/strong><\/p>\n

The court order prohibited interference in editorial staffing decisions, with the exception of J-1 visas \u2014 permits for international journalists with exceptional skill.<\/p>\n

In June, Pack announced a \u201ccase by case\u201d review of the J-1 visas, citing national security concerns and referring to findings of an Office of Personnel Management report that criticized yearslong lapses in background checks for some staff.<\/p>\n

Since June, VOA is aware of only one decision being made in a J-1 case. Pack\u2019s office last month signed a memo rejecting a VOA Indonesian Service journalist\u2019s request for a visa renewal and green card sponsorship.<\/p>\n

The other visas have expired with no decision supporting or denying the renewal request.<\/p>\n

In the memo, the judge said Pack\u2019s decision to give greater scrutiny to J-1 visa applications fell within USAGM\u2019s \u201cevaluative and review responsibilities,\u201d and cited the defense argument that foreign staff are employed only if suitably qualified U.S. candidates are not available.<\/p>\n

VOA journalists have said previously that J-1 colleagues bring valuable insight and skills beyond simple fluency in a language that help the network broaden its reach and engage with audiences.<\/p>\n

J-1 visa holders whose visas expired told VOA the action felt discriminatory and they doubted that the reviews took place.<\/p>\n

\n
\"Serdar<\/figure>
VOA's Serdar Cebe.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One of those, Serdar Cebe, an anchor who hosted two shows, including the Turkish division\u2019s flagship, \u201cStudio VOA,\u201d was due to fly to Istanbul on Sunday after his grace period ended without a visa renewal.<\/p>\n

Cebe was aware other colleagues at VOA had lost their J-1 visas but said he did not become worried until the end of August, when his service chief suggested the journalist prepare for bad news.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was shocked as I did not see that coming. I thought that the U.S. was the champion of the world for the freedom of press and that I would never find myself in a situation where a journalist could be expelled from the VOA due to a visa issue,\u201d Cebe said in an email exchange.<\/p>\n

Journalist sees bias<\/strong><\/p>\n

Grace Oyenubi, a Nigerian journalist who worked for VOA\u2019s Hausa Service, also said the lack of visa renewals seemed biased.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just feel it\u2019s discrimination. It\u2019s discriminatory,\u201d she said, adding that she passed \u201cvigorous\u201d security checks before being hired by VOA.<\/p>\n

The loss of her visa has repercussions for Oyenubi\u2019s family. Her husband, whose visa is tied to Oyenubi\u2019s, had to leave his job and they could be forced to uproot their 7-year-old son, who has been to schools only in the U.S.<\/p>\n

Senator Jeff Merkley, a Democrat from Oregon, in September proposed a bill to grant a temporary extension to journalists affected by the J-1 delays.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for Merkley told VOA the senator \u201cis continuing to push his Republican colleagues to stand up and support free, fair and independent journalism at USAGM.\u201d<\/p>\n

The spokesperson added, \u201cSenator Merkley is hopeful that January will mark the beginning of a new chapter for USAGM, for the journalists wronged by USAGM, and for press freedom around the world, and he will continue to do all that he can to support those efforts from the Senate.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A federal district court in Washington on Friday granted a preliminary injunction prohibiting officials from the U.S. Agency for Global Media, including its head, Michael Pack, from interfering with the editorial independence and First Amendment rights of the journalists at Voice of America and the other networks it oversees. The ruling, issued by Chief Judge […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":97061,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/toptrendingnews.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97060"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/toptrendingnews.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/toptrendingnews.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toptrendingnews.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toptrendingnews.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=97060"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/toptrendingnews.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97060\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toptrendingnews.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/97061"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/toptrendingnews.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97060"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toptrendingnews.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=97060"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toptrendingnews.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=97060"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}