Michael Pack

Michael Pack is an American documentary filmmaker who was CEO of the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) from June 2020 to January 2021. Pack assumed office in June 2020 after Senate confirmation.[1] He resigned on January 20, 2021 at the request of President Joe Biden.[2][3]

Michael Pack
CEO of the U.S. Agency for Global Media
In office
June 5, 2020 – January 20, 2021
PresidentDonald Trump
Preceded byGrant Turner (Acting)
Succeeded byKelu Chao (Acting)
Personal details
Born1954 (age 66–67)
New York City, New York, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Spouse(s)Gina Cappo
Children3
EducationUniversity of California, Berkeley (BA, JD)

Pack founded Manifold Productions, a documentary film company, in 1977. He later served as an executive at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and as CEO of the Claremont Institute, a conservative think tank.

Pack's short tenure as head of USAGM was characterized by NPR as a series of "crises."[4][5] Pack fired the heads of the news outlets under USAGM's purview and installed Trump loyalists in the positions. He disbanded a bipartisan board that oversees the USAGM, and started investigations into journalists for purported bias against Trump. He rescinded rules at USAGM that protected journalists at Voice of America and other affiliates from political interference.

Early life and education

Pack was born in New York City. He attended Yale University before earning a Bachelor of Arts in political science from the University of California, Berkeley, and Juris Doctor from the UC Berkeley School of Law.[6]

Career

Early in his career, Pack worked for Radiotelevisione Italiana and the U.S. Information Agency.[7] He founded Manifold Productions, Inc., an independent film production company, in 1977. Through Manifold Productions, Pack has written, directed and produced 13 documentary films on a range of topics.[8]

In 1993, Pack served as Co-Chair of the International TV Council at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. In 2002, President Bush nominated and the Senate confirmed Pack to serve on the National Council on the Humanities, which oversees the National Endowment for the Humanities.[9] He served from July 2002 to February 2005. From 2003 to 2006, Pack served as Senior Vice President for Television Programming at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.[10]

From 2015 to 2017, Pack served as President and CEO of the Claremont Institute in Upland, California, and Publisher of its Claremont Review of Books.[11]

Pack has collaborated with Stephen Bannon, former advisor for President Trump, and co-founder of the conservative website Breitbart News.[1] In 2019, Pack produced and directed a documentary about the Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas.[1]

In January 2021, District of Columbia Attorney General Karl Racine sued Public Media Lab and Manifold Productions, alleging that they funneled $4.1 million in tax-protected nonprofit funds to Pack.[12][13]

USAGM CEO
Pack at his confirmation hearing in September 2019

Background

In 2016, President Barack Obama signed legislation abolishing the Broadcasting Board of Governors, the independent oversight board that had previously controlled several government-sponsored media agencies, including Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.[14] The role of the board was replaced by a single agency executive appointed by the White House augmented by advisory boards with no decision-making powers.[14][1]

In June 2018, the White House announced that President Donald Trump intended to nominate Pack as the chief executive officer of the U.S. Agency for Global Media,[15] making him the first CEO nominated to head the newly created USAGM since the 2016 reforms.[16]

Confirmation

Pack's first confirmation hearing took place on September 19, 2019.[17] On May 8, 2020, Senator Jim Risch moved to schedule a committee confirmation hearing for Pack for the following week.[18] Pack's nomination was contentious, with critics arguing that the mission of VOA would be compromised by installing a CEO who they considered a conservative partisan.[1]

On May 12, 2020, Democratic Senator Robert Menendez raised with District of Columbia Attorney General Karl Racine the question of whether Pack unlawfully directed funds from the non-profit charitable organization he ran — Public Media Lab — to his profit-making company Manifold Productions. According to CNBC, at least $1.6 million in donations received by the nonprofit had been sent to Manifold.[19] In response, Racine indicated that he initiated an investigation.[20] A request by Democratic members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to delay a vote until the investigation was complete was overruled by Risch, with the committee recommending Pack's nomination on a 12-10 party line vote.[19]

The Senate invoked cloture on Pack's nomination on June 4, 2020, by a vote of 53–39,[21] and it confirmed him the same day[22][23][24][25] by a vote of 53–38.[26]

Tenure

Pack assumed office over a week after his confirmation partially so his office could be swept for covert listening devices.[27] One of his first actions as USAGM CEO was to fire the heads of the outlets under his purview — among them Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Middle East Broadcasting Networks (MBN), and the Open Technology Fund[28][29][30][31][32] — including certain officials favored by conservatives.[33][34] Pack also installed Trump loyalists in leadership positions within the organization and disbanded a bipartisan board that oversees the USAGM.[35][31][36] He planned for editorials to be read and posted on the website in various languages that would present administration policy as set by the president.[37] Pack continued making personnel changes, among other actions.[38][39][40] It was reported in July 2020 that the USAGM under Pack would not extend visas for foreign VOA journalists.[41][42] In late July 2020, Pack announced an investigation of a VOA video that purportedly promoted Joe Biden's presidential campaign.[43][44] In August 2020, USAGM required several of its outlets to return money allocated for internet freedom projects for the agency to reallocate for other internet freedom uses.[45]

On October 26, 2020, Pack rescinded rules at USAGM that protected journalists at VOA and other affiliates from political interference.[46][47] Career employees at Voice of America accused Pack of seeking influence over the outlet's reporting[48] and filed suit in federal court, seeking injunctions that prevent Pack from making personnel decisions about journalists employed by the agency, directly communicating with them and conducting any investigations into editorial content or individual journalists. On November 20, 2020, Judge Beryl Howell of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia granted the injunctions. "The court confirmed that the First Amendment forbids Mr. Pack and his team from attempting to take control of these journalistic outlets, from investigating their journalists for purported 'bias,' and from attempting to influence or control their reporting content," Lee Crain, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said in a statement.[49]

The U.S. Office of Special Counsel revealed on December 2, 2020, that it had found "a substantial likelihood of wrongdoing" at USAGM, including "gross mismanagement" by Pack and violations of the legal firewall meant to protect Voice of America's journalistic integrity. It demanded that the USAGM investigate allegations by whistleblowers. The Government Accountability Project, a public interest law firm, told NPR that it was representing more than 20 whistleblowers at USAGM.[50]

Among other appointments,[51] Pack appointed Robert R. Reilly to lead VOA on December 9, 2020,[52][53] and Victoria Coates to lead MBN on December 22.[54]

On January 14, 2021, six days before Joe Biden's inauguration as president, a group of Voice of America journalists signed a letter demanding the resignation of the director of VOA and his deputy.[55] The controversy concerned the reassignment of reporters Patsy Widakuswara and News Director Yolanda Lopez after the journalists questioned outgoing Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.[56]

On January 20, 2021, Pack resigned at President Joe Biden's request.[57][58][59][60]

Filmography

Pack has written, directed, and produced numerous documentaries, principally for PBS, as well as corporate and educational films. His major credits include:[8]

References
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  2. Tweet by Steve Herman, White House Bureau Chief for Voice of America. January 20, 2021
  3. Alex Weprin (2021-01-20). "Biden Administration Asks Agency for Global Media CEO Michael Pack to Resign". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2021-01-20.
  4. Folkenflik, David (November 20, 2020). "Voice of America's 5 Months Under Trump CEO: Lawsuits, Bias Claims, And A Sex Scandal". NPR News. Retrieved 2020-11-21.
  5. "Trumpism At Voice Of America: Firings, Foosball And A Conspiracy Theory". NPR.org. Retrieved 2021-01-28.
  6. "On Trump's Latin America team: Trump nominates Mauricio Claver-Carone to head the IDB". Global Americans. 2020-06-23. Retrieved 2020-06-24.
  7. "Michael Pack". Huffington Post. Huffington Post. Retrieved June 3, 2017.
  8. "Manifold Productions - Films". www.manifoldproductions.com. Retrieved 2020-02-11.
  9. "National Endowment for the Humanities Advisory Board Gains Five New Members". National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). Retrieved 2020-02-11.
  10. "Current.org | Michael Pack named CPB program chief, 2003". current.org. Retrieved 2020-02-11.
  11. "Claremont Institute | Recovering the American Idea". www.claremont.org. Retrieved 2020-02-11.
  12. "Voice of America CEO Accused Of Fraud, Misuse of Office All In One Week". NPR.org. Retrieved 2021-01-09.
  13. "AG Racine Sues Public Media Lab and Manifold Productions for Funneling Over $4 Million in Nonprofit Funds to Michael Pack". oag.dc.gov. Retrieved 2021-01-09.
  14. "Obama Signs New Law Restructuring U.S. International Media". RFE/RL. December 24, 2016. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
  15. "Trump to Nominate Michael Pack as Next BBG CEO". NPR News. June 3, 2018. Retrieved June 5, 2018. President Donald Trump plans to nominate conservative filmmaker and documentarian Michael Pack as the next head of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, the White House says.
  16. Buble, Courtney (October 27, 2020). "Global Media Agency CEO Revokes Regulation Clarifying 'Firewall' Protecting Journalistic Integrity". Government Executive Magazine. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
  17. Schwartz, Brian (September 20, 2019). "Trump's nominee to lead federal media agency funded a private company with donations from his nonprofit". CNBC.
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  36. Schwartz, Brian (2020-06-19). "New directors at federal media agency have ties to anti-LGBT groups, fought pro-transgender policies". CNBC. Retrieved 2020-06-22.
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  56. "petition", January 14, 2021. Accessed January 14, 2021.
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  59. https://www.npr.org/sections/inauguration-day-live-updates/2021/01/20/958875488/voice-of-america-ceo-pack-defined-by-scandal-resigns-at-bidens-request
  60. https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/535306-biden-outs-controversial-head-of-us-agency-for-global-media
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