Kari Lake sparks concerns at Voice of America

President-elect Trump has nominated GOP Senate candidate Kari Lake to lead Voice of America (VOA), a decision that is renewing worries of partisan meddling at the government-funded global news agency. 

Lake, who ran for governor and senator in Arizona and previously was a local news anchor, is one of a number of loyalists Trump has called on to serve in his Cabinet and administration.

Trump has said his vision is for Lake to “ensure that the American values of Freedom and Liberty are broadcast around the World FAIRLY and ACCURATELY, unlike the lies spread by the Fake News Media.”

But Lake’s attacks on the media and history of floating unfounded theories about voter fraud are sparking widespread concern that the outlet could be used by the federal government as a megaphone to push pro-Trump propaganda around the world. 

“The VOA was originally designed to be objective and independent,” Joe Peyronnin, a former broadcast news executive-turned-media commentator told The Hill. “Kari Lake’s appointment as head signals that the VOA will become a global mouthpiece for President Trump.”

A representative for VOA did not return a request for comment. 

Lake has said she will ensure that VOA is used to tout U.S. achievements to an estimated weekly audience of 354 million people in 49 languages. She has also emphasized that it will differ from the mainstream media.

“Under my leadership, the VOA will excel in its mission: chronicling America’s achievements worldwide,” Lake wrote in one recent social media post.

“It would be an absolute shame to let the fake news cover America’s resurgence under Trump without pushback,” she wrote in another. “At Voice of America, we're going to make sure that doesn't happen.”

In a statement to The Hill this week, a spokesperson for the Trump-Vance transition said, “Unlike the lies spread by the Fake News Media, with Kari Lake leading Voice of America the international community will have access to real reporting ensuring that the American values of Freedom and Liberty are broadcasted around the world.”

Several Voice of America employees declined to comment or refused to speak on the record to The Hill about what Lake leading the agency could mean for its direction, fearing retribution.

One source described a feeling of nervousness and exacerbation among the outlet’s staff in the wake of Trump’s announcement. 

Many of the journalists who work for VOA are dual citizens, have reported from war-torn countries and are especially weary of leaders with authoritarian impulses, this person said.

Lake made a name for herself on national television and in Trump’s orbit during the 2022 midterm campaign season when she made baseless claims about the legitimacy of the 2020 election and took jabs at the late Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).

Political and media observers say Lake’s selection will bring new scrutiny to VOA’s journalism.  

“Trump has nominated a plethora of angst-generating MAGA insiders to positions in the Cabinet and federal agencies. Kari Lake follows his model,” said Tobe Berkovitz, a professor emeritus at Boston University who specializes in political communications. “Like Patel, Hegseth, Weldon, Makary and Kennedy she is anathema to workers currently in these organizations,” he continued, referencing a slew of Trump administration nominees.

Some of Trump’s staunchest allies have praised the selection of Lake to lead VOA.

“It’s a perfect fit,” Steve Bannon, Trump’s onetime chief of staff, said on his "War Room" podcast. “And I couldn’t think of a platform that needs it more ... needs the energy, the dynamism, the urgency and patriotism of Kari Lake.”

Trump cannot unilaterally make Lake head of VOA, but there is near-universal agreement among those familiar with the process that she will ultimately be appointed to the role by the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) CEO, a Senate-confirmed position for which Trump has yet to name a nominee.

Since 2020, the USAGM CEO has worked in conjunction with a bipartisan group called the International Broadcasting Advisory Board.

That governmental body is made up of six president-appointed members who serve staggered terms, plus the U.S. secretary of State, as VOA outlined in a recent news report on Trump’s selection of Lake.

The body’s function is to “advise the CEO to ensure that he or she respects the editorial independence and integrity of the networks and grantees, and that the highest standards of journalism are upheld,” the agency said.

Voice of America was no stranger to controversy during Trump’s first term.

The former president was unable to get his first pick for USAGM CEO, Michael Pack, confirmed for two years.

Once confirmed, Pack faced a slew of allegations during his tenure ranging from interference in news coverage to targeting employees seen as insufficiently loyal to Trump. 

A government watchdog found in 2021 that Pack erred in his dismissal of six employees, a move believed to be retaliation against whistleblowers that wrongly stripped some of them of their security clearances.

The current leadership has ensured staffers they are working toward a “smooth transition” into the Trump administration. 

“I intend to cooperate with the new administration and follow the process put in place by Congress for the appointment of the Director of VOA,” the outlet’s current leader, Michael Abramowitz, wrote in a memo sent to staff and obtained by The Hill.

Hans Noel, an associate professor of politics at Georgetown University, noted “any administration is keenly aware that how Voice of America presents the United States really matters.” 

“It’s true to say that globally Trump is less popular overseas than he is in the United States, so this sounds like a tactic to frame the perception through VOA in a more pro-Trump way,” Noel said.