President-elect Donald Trump has announced that he wants Kari Lake, a well-known media personality from Phoenix, Arizona, to lead the government-funded Voice of America, the largest U.S. broadcaster that shares news and stories with people around the world.
Kari Lake, 55, recently lost her run for the U.S. Senate to Democrat Ruben Gallego in November, and she also previously came up short in the Arizona governor’s race in 2022.
Throughout her campaigns, she often stood by Trump and repeated his claims about the 2020 election results. Now, Trump says she’ll be working closely with the future head of the U.S. Agency for Global Media, which oversees Voice of America. Although Trump wants Lake for the job, the U.S.
Senate still has to approve her appointment. Voice of America started broadcasting in 1942 and now shares news in 49 different languages, using radio, TV, and online platforms, reaching about 354 million people each week. It has around 2,000 employees and a budget of about $260 million each year.
Back in 2020, when Trump picked Michael Pack, a conservative filmmaker and ally of his former adviser Steve Bannon, to run the U.S. Agency for Global Media, many worried that Voice of America might lose its independence.
Pack refused to renew visas for several journalists working there, making some politicians and international observers anxious about whether the news would stay fair and impartial. Right now, John Lippman is in charge of Voice of America as acting director, and Amanda Bennett is running the U.S. Agency for Global Media.
With Kari Lake waiting in the wings, many are watching closely to see how Voice of America will continue to tell America’s stories to people around the globe.
