A White House correspondent for International Public Radio Voice of America (VOA) has been reassigned to a less prestigious post after attempting to ask questions of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
His colleagues denounce a
"punishment"
.
Read also: Criticized, Pompeo asks Voice of America not to "denigrate" the United States
The head of American diplomacy was invited Monday, January 11 to deliver a speech at the radio headquarters in Washington DC, amid accusations of the takeover of the "Voice of America" by the government of Donald Trump.
Michael Pack, the CEO appointed by Donald Trump, tried in October to reverse the rule that prevents him from intervening in editorial content.
On the spot, Mike Pompeo on Monday urged radio journalists to stop
"denigrating"
the United States and promoting
"American exceptionalism
.
"
He admitted that several of them had not wanted him to come to speak, denouncing a
"dangerous instinct of censorship"
, while a letter from
"whistleblowers"
had internally criticized an attempt to disseminate
"political propaganda in the final days of the Trump administration
.
"
Read also: Trump ally reshuffles management of US public media
At the end of his speech, the Secretary of State had a very pleasant exchange without any politically sensitive questions with the director of the radio.
On the other hand, the journalists of the antenna did not have the right to question him.
VOA White House correspondent Patsy Widakuswara then followed Mike Pompeo on his outing and tried to ask him questions, especially about the image of the United States in the world after the assault last week by supporters of Donald Trump against the Capitol.
She herself posted a video of her failed attempt on Twitter.
The journalist's questions were:
"What do you plan to do to restore the reputation of the United States in the world?"
and
"Do you regret saying there would be a second term for Donald Trump?"
In the process, the journalist was reassigned to another post by her management.
The
"punishment"
aimed at Patsy Widakuswara
"for having done his job, that is to say asking questions, is an affront to the ideals evoked by Secretary of State Pompeo himself in his speech"
, protested in a communicated the Association of Correspondents at the White House.
A VOA spokesperson declined to
"comment on internal personnel issues
.
"