uthoritarians have long practiced the cynical art of manipulating information to stifle dissent and shape international perceptions of their regimes. But in the digital age, they are armed as never before, reaching into other countries to influence political discourse and spread conspiracy theories.
How should the United States counter these unrelenting, damaging campaigns by Russia, China, Iran and others? How should we reach out to global audiences inundated with disinformation and slick lies?
To some, such as Michael Pack, the Trump administration’s chief executive of the U.S. Agency for Global Media, the apparent answer is more government control of federally funded, multimedia international broadcasters, which include the federal networks Voice of America and the Office of Cuba Broadcasting, and the private entities overseen by the USAGM: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia and Middle East Broadcasting Networks. The latter organizations are intended to function as sources of unbiased news in regions where the free press is beleaguered or nonexistent.
With increased federal control of these outlets comes more control of their programming — risking the confidence of audiences and appropriators in Congress.
After taking office in June, Pack fired the heads of all the private networks funded by his agency (I was among them, at RFE/RL). He filled their previously bipartisan corporate boards with loyalists to President Trump, and he repealed the editorial “firewall” protecting journalists from political interference. Pack also began deriding the work of the thousands of journalists under his purview, accusing them of bias and branding them as potential spies.
Since then, Pack has primarily focused on Voice of America’s mission, turning his apparent frustration with the federal network’s perceived failure to fulfill its mandate to present U.S. policies into an indictment of all federally funded news agencies.
