Beautiful Virgin Islands

Thursday, Oct 30, 2025

Judge rules Voice of America head curbed First Amendment rights of journalists

Judge rules Voice of America head curbed First Amendment rights of journalists

The chief executive of the agency that oversees Voice of America and his team must stop investigating and interfering with the journalists employed there, a federal judge ruled Friday.

In a 76-page ruling, US District Judge Beryl Howell found that Michael Pack, CEO of the US Agency for Global Media, and his team violated the First Amendment rights of its journalists. She also found that Pack and his team showed an "extensive pattern of penalizing those USAGM and network employees whom defendants regard as insufficiently supportive of President Trump."

Howell's ruling bars Pack and others from continuing any actions that would curb VOA's editorial independence, including taking personnel actions against journalists or editors, attempting to influence content by communicating with individual journalists or editors, and investigating "purported breaches of journalistic ethics."

The ruling is in response to a lawsuit filed by five senior executives at USAGM whom Pack had fired or suspended in August. The senior executives alleged that Pack and other top employees' sought to interfere with their work because it didn't align with the political interests of the President. They asked for a preliminary injunction to stop the interference.

"Defendants' extensive pattern of penalizing those USAGM and network employees whom defendants regard as insufficiently supportive of President Trump has resulted in the termination, discipline, and investigation of multiple employees and journalists," the judge wrote in her ruling.

Shawn Powers, USAGM's chief strategy officer and a plaintiff in the case, said that "Judge Howell's injunction against Mr. Pack affirms a central tenet of USAGM's mission: that the protection and exportation of First Amendment rights and values directly support America's national interests."

CNN has reached out to USAGM for comments from the defendants.

Acting VOA Director Elez Biberaj told CNN in a statement that editorial independence free of political interference are what make the VOA "America's voice."
"A steady 83% of VOA's audience finds our journalism trustworthy," Biberaj said. "There are few, if any, media organizations that can claim such trust. I am proud of our journalists who continue to uphold VOA's traditions of providing our audience with accurate, objective and comprehensive reporting."

In her ruling, Judge Howell described Pack and his co-defendants as "individuals with no discernible journalism or broadcasting experience." She added that Pack has tried to interfere in the agency's newsrooms "in violation of their eighty-year practice, enshrined in law, of journalistic autonomy."

The VOA is one of multiple US government-funded broadcast outlets that brings news to people across the world. It was created in 1942 to combat Nazi propaganda, according to its website.

In July, a bipartisan group of senators pledged to review USAGM's funding over concerns over Pack's mass firings. In October, the State Department's inspector general and the US Office of Special Counsel opened inquiries into alleged misconduct and retaliation after six senior USAGM officials filed a complaint alleging that Pack engaged in abuse of authority and gross mismanagement, according to Mark Zaid, the lawyer representing the whistleblowers.

Shortly after Pack took the helm of the agency in June, VOA's top officials resigned en masse. Later that month, Pack fired the heads of four organizations overseen by the agency, in what was called the "Wednesday night massacre."

Before joining the agency, Pack was best known for making documentary films with a conservative bent and is an ally of former White House strategist Steve Bannon. He was president of the conservative Claremont Institute from 2015 to 2017.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
UK and Vietnam Sign Landmark Migration Deal to Fast-Track Returns of Irregular Arrivals
UK Drug-Pricing Overhaul Essential for Life-Sciences Ambition, Says GSK Chief
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie Temporarily Leave the UK Amid Their Parents’ Royal Fallout
UK Weighs Early End to Oil and Gas Windfall Tax as Reeves Seeks Investment Commitments
UK Retail Inflation Slows as Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since Spring
Next Raises Full-Year Profit Guidance After Strong Third-Quarter Performance
Reform UK’s Lee Anderson Admits to 'Gaming' Benefits System While Advocating Crackdown
United States and South Korea Conclude Major Trade Accord Worth $350 Billion
Hurricane Melissa Strikes Cuba After Devastating Jamaica With Record Winds
Vice President Vance to Headline Turning Point USA Campus Event at Ole Miss
U.S. Targets Maritime Narco-Routes While Border Pressure to Mexico Remains Limited
Bill Gates at 70: “I Have a Real Fear of Artificial Intelligence – and Also Regret”
Elon Musk Unveils Grokipedia: An AI-Driven Alternative to Wikipedia
Saudi Arabia Unveils Vision for First-Ever "Sky Stadium" Suspended Over Desert Floor
Amazon Announces 14 000 Corporate Job Cuts as AI Investment Accelerates
UK Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since March, Food Leads the Decline
London Stock Exchange Group ADR (LNSTY) Earns Zacks Rank #1 Upgrade on Rising Earnings Outlook
Soap legend Tony Adams, long-time star of Crossroads, dies at 84
Rachel Reeves Signals Tax Increases Ahead of November Budget Amid £20-50 Billion Fiscal Gap
NatWest Past Gains of 314% Spotlight Opportunity — But Some Key Risks Remain
UK Launches ‘Golden Age’ of Nuclear with £38 Billion Sizewell C Approval
UK Announces £1.08 Billion Budget for Offshore Wind Auction to Boost 2030 Capacity
UK Seeks Steel Alliance with EU and US to Counter China’s Over-Capacity
UK Struggles to Balance China as Both Strategic Threat and Valued Trading Partner
Argentina’s Markets Surge as Milei’s Party Secures Major Win
British Journalist Sami Hamdi Detained by U.S. Authorities After Visa Revocation Amid Israel-Gaza Commentary
King Charles Unveils UK’s First LGBT+ Armed Forces Memorial at National Memorial Arboretum
At ninety-two and re-elected: Paul Biya secures eighth term in Cameroon amid unrest
Racist Incidents Against UK Nurses Surge by 55%
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves Cites Shared Concerns With Trump Administration as Foundation for Early US-UK Trade Deal
Essentra plc: A Closer Look at a UK ‘Penny Stock’ Opportunity Amid Market Weakness
U.S. and China Near Deal to Avert Rare-Earth Export Controls Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit
Justin time: Justin Herbert Shields Madison Beer with Impressive Reflex at Lakers Game
Russia’s President Putin Declares Burevestnik Nuclear Cruise Missile Ready for Deployment
Giuffre’s Memoir Alleges Maxwell Claimed Sexual Act with Clooney
House Republicans Move to Strip NYC Mayoral Front-Runner Zohran Mamdani of U.S. Citizenship
Record-High Spoiled Ballots Signal Voter Discontent in Ireland’s 2025 Presidential Election
Philippines’ Taal Volcano Erupts Overnight with 2.4 km Ash Plume
Albania’s Virtual AI 'Minister' Diella Set to 'Birth' Eighty-Three Digital Assistants for MPs
Tesla Unveils Vision for Optimus V3 as ‘Biggest Product of All Time’, Including Surgical Capabilities
Francis Ford Coppola Auctions Luxury Watches After Self-Financed Film Flop
Convicted Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed by UK Prison Service Arrested in London
United States and China Begin Constructive Trade Negotiations Ahead of Trump–Xi Summit
U.S. Treasury Sanctions Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro over Drug-Trafficking Allegations
Miss USA Crowns Nebraska’s Audrey Eckert Amid Leadership Overhaul
‘I Am Not Done’: Kamala Harris Signals Possible 2028 White House Run
NBA Faces Integrity Crisis After Mass Arrests in Gambling Scandal
Swift Heist at the Louvre Sees Eight French Crown Jewels Stolen in Under Seven Minutes
U.S. Halts Trade Talks with Canada After Ontario Ad Using Reagan Voice Triggers Diplomatic Fallout
Microsoft AI CEO: ‘We’re making an AI that you can trust your kids to use’ — but can Microsoft rebuild its own trust before fixing the industry’s?
×