Unveiling the Battle for Truth: When Government Pressure Clashed with Free Press at Voice of America

In a revealing episode that casts a long shadow over the independence of government-funded broadcasters, a seemingly innocuous poll on 'Jimmy Kimmel Live' became the unlikely flashpoint in a contentious power struggle between the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM) and its flagship news outlet, Voice of America (VOA).

During the tumultuous final year of the Trump administration, under the leadership of then-USAGM CEO Michael Pack, VOA found itself caught in a political crossfire.

The source of the contention? A VOA article that merely reported on a poll featured on Kimmel's late-night show, which gauged public opinion on former President Trump's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. This routine journalistic act was, according to Pack's team, deemed .