Secretary of State Mike Pompeo criticized publicly funded broadcaster Voice of America for engaging in censorship and “wokeness” in the same way Big Tech firms have in recent weeks.
“Censorship, wokeness, political correctness, it all points in one direction — authoritarianism, cloaked as moral righteousness. It’s similar to what we’re seeing at Twitter and Facebook and Apple and on too many university campuses today. It’s not who we are. It’s not who we are as Americans, and it’s not what Voice of America should be,” Pompeo said. “It’s time that we simply put woke-ism to sleep.”
In a speech to Voice of America staff that was aired all over the world in more than 40 languages, Pompeo accused the broadcaster of not wanting him to have a platform to speak.
“They didn’t want the voice of American diplomacy to be broadcast on the Voice of America. Think about that for just a moment. Look, we’re all parts of institutions with duties and responsibilities higher and bigger and more important than any one of us individually. But this kind of censorial instinct is dangerous. It’s morally wrong. Indeed, it’s against your statutory mandate here at VOA,” Pompeo said.
Pompeo proclaimed a “new dawn here at Voice of America” while encouraging staff to “give voice to the voiceless in the dark corners of the world.”
America’s top diplomat said the broadcaster’s mission is “to inform, engage, and connect people around the world in support of freedom and democracy.”
“That’s because expanding freedom and democracy are what America has always been about,” Pompeo continued. “You’re the voice of American exceptionalism. You should be proud of that.”
Pompeo pointed to China’s Communist Party, saying they “attempted to exploit the traffic death of George Floyd” as proof that their “authoritarian system was somehow superior to ours.” But Pompeo noted that even during the “best of times, the People’s Republic of China ruthlessly imposes communism,” while the United States works to “secure freedom.”
“It is not fake news for you to broadcast that this is the greatest nation in the history of the world and the greatest nation that civilization has ever known,” Pompeo asserted. “Indeed, I’m not saying this to ignore our faults. Indeed, just the opposite. It is to acknowledge them.”
“But this isn’t the Vice of America, focusing on everything that’s wrong with our great nation. It’s the Voice of America. It certainly isn’t the place to give authoritarian regimes in Beijing or Tehran a platform,” he continued. “Your mission is to promote democracy, freedom, and American values all across the world. It’s a U.S. taxpayer-funded institution aimed squarely at that.”
Voice of America is a taxpayer-funded international broadcaster that is available in over 40 languages and reaches an estimated weekly audience of over 280 million people.
The Voice of America Charter was signed into law by President Gerald R. Ford on July 12, 1976, with the mission to communicate directly to people around the world the policies of the U.S.
Critics charged the Trump administration of attempting to politicize the broadcaster after it tapped conservative documentary filmmaker Michael Pack to run the agency’s parent company. Pompeo also addressed those concerns, saying the president was trying to take “politics out.”
“This isn’t about politicizing these institutions. We’re trying to take politics out,” Pompeo said.
Pompeo said that almost 40% of Voice of America’s employees had been improperly vetted, some of whom had high-level security clearances, and the broadcaster was rubber-stamping visas for foreign nationals.
“We shouldn’t be doing that,” Pompeo said.
“The Trump administration team is working to fix these national security threats. We want to vet employees properly. We want to reorient VOA to its mission of truth and unbiased reporting. We want to depoliticize what takes place here,” Pompeo explained. “It’s too important for the American people and for the world. Returning this organization to its charter and its charge to spread the message of freedom, democracy, and American exceptionalism.”
