BBG Watch Media
Government Executive reporter Charles Clark noted in a recent report the appointment of Amanda Bennett to lead the Voice of America (VOA). Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Amanda Bennett was sworn in on April 18th as the 29th VOA Director.
Bennett has had a distinguished career in journalism. Most recently, she has been a contributing columnist for The Washington Post. She served as executive editor for Bloomberg News, where she created and ran a global team of investigative reporters and editors, and also co-founded the Bloomberg News’ Women’s Project. Bennett was editor of The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Lexington Herald-Leader. She also served as managing editor/projects for The Oregonian in Portland.
GOVERNMENT EXECUTIVE/CHARLES CLARK: “The new VOA director will face morale problems and possible legislation to reorganize the parent agency to better align it with U.S. policy.
Bennett’s coming appointment was floated back in February in the blog BBGWatch.com, which noted that the agency has been criticized as “broken” by members of Congress and was called “practically defunct” by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2013. ‘Amanda Bennett has more Twitter followers (9,844 as of Feb. 17, 2016) than most longtime VOA English Newsroom correspondents who serve a worldwide audience,’ wrote blogger Ted Lipien.”
READ MORE: VOA Swears in Pulitzer Winner as New Director After Yearlong Vacancy, By Charles S. Clark, Government Executive, April 18, 2016