The agency was set up in 1942 to counter Nazi propaganda and played a prominent role, alongside its sister organisation, Radio Free Europe, in the cold war. Pack has previous experience with U.S. broadcasting, having served as director of WORLDNET, the global satellite network of the U.S. Information Agency that became the TV unit of Voice of America. Voice of America is the flagship of American government efforts to broadcast its values abroad. Michael Pack is a man on a mission. This is my fear. "These people are doing extraordinary things to push back against China and Russia," the USAGM source said, emphasizing that the work these journalists do is to counter disinformation from authoritarian regimes. Earlier this week, the top director and deputy director at Voice of America resigned as did the head of the Open Technology Fund Libby Liu, which promotes global internet freedoms. "Another source familiar with what happened told CBS News that Wednesday's purge was demoralizing considering that the agency networks' focus is to tell the stories that aren't being told by authoritarian regimes. Now head of the 4,000-employee strong U.S. Agency for Global Media, which oversees such organizations as Voice of America and Radio Free Asia, Pack … The agency has not been able to pay its bills for weeks because of a spending freeze he imposed. The Senate voted on Thursday to confirm President Donald Trump’s nominee, Michael Pack, to run the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), which oversees the Voice of America … FILE - USAGM CEO nominee Michael Pack at his confirmation hearing, Sept. 19, 2019. Michael Pack founded Manifold Productions, Inc., an independent film production company, in 1977. A co-worker of the now dismissed head of Radio Liberty, Jamie Fly, described how dedicated the executive had been in defending his reporters who often faced intimidation and threats while reporting on Russia. The overnight purge of top news organization officials at the Pack, who is a conservative filmmaker and close ally of one-time Trump adviser Steve Bannon, and had just stepped into the job after being confirmed by the Republican-led Senate earlier this month, did not respond to a request by CBS News for comment or explanation. Senator Menendez, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, blasted the firing of the news chiefs, saying in a statement on Wednesday: "This latest attack is sadly the latest – but not the last – in the Trump Administration's efforts to transform U.S. institutions rooted in the principles of democracy into tools for the President's own personal agenda".The U.S. government funded democracy watchdog organization Freedom House on Thursday called the removals "deeply concerning", and said "The U.S. should be an exemplar, not a detractor of press freedom. Michael Pack founded Manifold Productions, Inc., an independent film production company, in 1977. Robert Menendez (N.J.), the committee’s ranking Democrat, questioned why senators were voting on a nominee whom Menendez said had not been honest with the committee about his tax issues and whose organization is under an active investigation.“I ask my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, why are we doing this?” Menendez said. Michael Pack is a man on a mission. CEO Michael Pack, with the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) announced the investigation into Voice of America [VOA] shortly after SaraACarter.com first reported the political ad … "What I see from colleagues is concern. Through Manifold Productions, Pack has written, In 1993, Pack served as Co-Chair of the International TV Council at the In June 2018, the White House announced that President Pack assumed office over a week after his confirmation partially so his office could be swept for Pack is the founder and director of the Public Media Lab, a non-profit charitable organization. On May 12, 2020, Senator Pack has written, directed, and produced numerous documentaries, principally for PBS, as well as corporate and educational films. But yes, the arrival of this man is concerning. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Thursday advanced the nomination of a Trump administration pick — whose nonprofit organization is being investigated for possible tax violations — to lead a federal media agency with oversight of a news service that has come under The 12-to-10 party-line vote came after testy debate among senators over the propriety of voting on Michael Pack’s nomination to lead the U.S. Agency for Global Media while his organization is being scrutinized by the District of Columbia’s attorney general. One source said that notices were sent out Wednesday evening informing the heads of the agency's networks that the board had been dissolved and replaced by an assortment of appointees from various agencies without including anyone with news experience or time at the State Department. After friction with the Nixon administration about what VOA was allowed to broadcast about Watergate, a charter was drawn up in 1976 intended to guarantee it remained “accurate, objective and comprehensive”.Previous administrations have expressed frustration with VOA over its editorial independence when unable to dictate what it broadcasts, but never with the same gusto as Trump.“If you hear what’s coming out of the Voice of America, it’s disgusting,” the president said in April. According to a copy of one of these notices obtained by CBS News, the new board members include senior counsel of Liberty Counsel Action Jonathan Alexandre, a senior advisor to the U.S. Department of Housing Secretary, a communications director from the Office of Management and Budget, a USAID deputy, and the agency's Chief-of-Staff Emily Newman. Four news division heads were removed from the U.S. Agency for Global Media, an independent federal agency that's home to Voice of America, among other networks. Two veteran VOA editors, Amanda Bennett and Sandra Sugawara, “Michael 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 our audiences around the world have in us,” Bennett and Sugawara said in a joint resignation statement to staff.“We know that each one of you will offer him all of your skills, your professionalism, your dedication to mission, your journalistic integrity and your personal hard work to guarantee that promise is fulfilled.”In his Tuesday night statement warning of an imminent purge of career broadcasters, Engel said: “Mr Pack should immediately reverse course and allow the nonpartisan public servants who run USAGM to keep doing their jobs.
Risch said that it would be given access to documents that are already public and that the committee would confer with Senate counsel when it comes to nonpublic documents.Sen. The D.C. attorney general is investigating whether use of the funds from Pack’s nonprofit was unlawful and improper, according to committee Democrats and the attorney general’s office. Yet Fernandez was alerted via email of his firing.