President Trump Names Conservative Media Critic L. Brent Bozell III to Head U.S. Agency for Global Media

President Trump Names Conservative Media Critic L. Brent Bozell III to Head U.S. Agency for Global Media

Edited by: Fern Sidman

In a bold and contentious move, former President Donald Trump has announced his intention to appoint L. Brent Bozell III, a long-standing conservative critic of the mainstream media, as the head of the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM). According to a report that appeared on Thursday on National Public Radio (NPR), this agency oversees several federally owned international broadcasters, including the Voice of America (VOA). The appointment emphasizes Trump’s ongoing efforts to reshape federal media organizations in alignment with his conservative vision.

The U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) plays a vital role in disseminating credible news coverage to audiences in countries where independent or free press is limited or nonexistent. As NPR reported, USAGM oversees several high-profile networks, including Voice of America (VOA), Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia, Radio and Television Martí, and the Middle Eastern Broadcasting Networks. These organizations collectively reach an estimated 427 million people worldwide every week, providing reportage on global affairs as well as American political and social debates.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump praised Bozell as the ideal candidate to lead the USAGM, with a strong focus on his deep knowledge of global media across print, television, and online platforms. “Few understand the Global Media landscape in print, television, and online better than Brent,” Trump wrote. “He and his family have fought for the American principles of Liberty, Freedom, Equality, and Justice for generations, and he will ensure that message is heard by Freedom-loving people around the World.” The NPR report highlighted that Bozell’s nomination signals Trump’s intent to bring sweeping changes to the agency, which has previously been led by more centrist figures, including veteran news editor Amanda Bennett, who served as USAGM chief under President Biden before resigning when Trump took office.

Bozell, 69, is best known as the founder of the Media Research Center, a conservative nonprofit organization dedicated to critiquing perceived liberal biases in news media and pop culture. His critiques of mainstream media have been relentless and unapologetic. In one 2018 commentary, as cited by NPR, Bozell wrote, “These are not dispassionate observers of the national scene. These are leftist partisans.” Bozell’s syndicated columns, co-written in recent years with Tim Graham, executive editor of the center’s NewsBusters platform, reflect his unwavering commitment to exposing systemic media bias.

Bozell hails from a family steeped in conservative intellectualism and media influence. His uncle, William F. Buckley Jr., was the founder of the influential conservative magazine National Review, and his father collaborated with Buckley on several notable writings. However, his family’s reputation has not been without controversy. NPR reported that Bozell’s son, Leo Brent Bozell IV, was convicted of assaulting law enforcement officials during the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot and was sentenced to 45 months in prison. Trump’s blanket pardon of most January 6 rioters included the younger Bozell.

This appointment continues Trump’s ongoing critique of federal media entities and his broader media strategy. The NPR report indicated that Trump has already expressed his desire to appoint Kari Lake, a former newscaster and staunch Trump supporter, as the director of Voice of America. Lake has mirrored Trump’s stance toward the press, frequently referring to journalists as “fake news.” However, procedural hurdles remain. As the NPR report explained, appointing a new VOA director requires a new USAGM chief and a functioning bipartisan oversight board, which must include both Republican and Democratic members. Trump circumvented such requirements during his presidency by sweeping aside all members of the agency’s Congressionally appointed board.

Until these structural changes occur, Michael Abramowitz, a former editor at The Washington Post and president of Freedom House, continues to lead Voice of America. The NPR report emphasized that this transitional period call attention to the challenges inherent in Trump’s efforts to reshape the leadership of USAGM and its subsidiary agencies.

As the NPR report explained, USAGM’s mission is rooted in promoting American democratic values by modeling free and independent journalism for international audiences. These networks aim to empower citizens in authoritarian or media-restricted countries with reliable information, serving as a counterpoint to state-controlled propaganda. However, due to legal restrictions, these U.S.-funded broadcasters are prohibited from targeting American audiences directly. Their influence, therefore, is entirely focused on overseas audiences, with particular challenges in countries such as China and North Korea, where measuring their reach is virtually impossible.

Despite its noble mission, USAGM has often found itself at the center of political controversies, particularly during the final year of Donald Trump’s first term as president. According to the information provided in the NPR report, the agency became a flashpoint when Trump appointee Michael Pack, a conservative filmmaker and ally of former White House strategist Steve Bannon, took over as USAGM CEO in May 2020. His tenure, which lasted just over seven months, was marked by unprecedented turbulence, accusations of bias, and actions that critics described as undermining the agency’s credibility.

Pack, whose confirmation by the Senate took nearly two years, framed his leadership as a mission to reform the agency. In an interview with the conservative outlet The Federalist, he stated his goals were to “drain the swamp, to root out corruption, and to deal with these issues of [anti-Trump] bias.” The NPR report noted that this approach translated into a series of controversial actions, including accusing senior executives of being security risks, embracing conspiracy theories, and conducting politically motivated reviews of VOA journalists for anti-Trump bias.

As the NPR report highlighted, Pack’s decisions had profound consequences for the agency’s operations. He denied visa extensions for foreign journalists employed by USAGM, many of whom possessed critical language skills that were nearly impossible to replace within the U.S.-based workforce. These journalists, integral to the agency’s mission of providing localized, culturally sensitive reporting, found themselves in precarious positions due to Pack’s policies. Legal reviews later found some of these actions, including the politically charged bias reviews, to be unconstitutional.

Pack’s leadership also drew criticism for eroding USAGM’s core mission of editorial independence. His accusations and policy decisions fueled concerns about the politicization of the agency, which was originally designed to operate with autonomy to ensure its credibility abroad. NPR points out that these controversies highlighted the tension between maintaining journalistic integrity and navigating political pressures from Washington.

Despite the challenges during Pack’s tenure, USAGM remains a vital institution in the global fight for press freedom and democratic values. Its networks continue to serve as a beacon of reliable journalism in regions where misinformation and propaganda dominate. By offering credible reporting on issues such as American democracy, human rights, and global events, these broadcasters seek to empower audiences in countries that lack access to free and independent media.