Lake Kari was chosen by the president-elect Donald Trump to be the next director of Voice of America. If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, the Arizona-based former news anchor would oversee the federally funded media network that broadcasts around the world.
Trump announced the nomination on Truth Social, writing: “[Kari Lake] will be appointed to and will work closely with our next head of the U.S. Agency for Global Media, which I will announce soon.
Prior to her new appointment, Lake spent more than 20 years as an anchor for Fox’s Phoenix affiliate, KSAZ. In 2021, she left the network to mount a failed campaign for governor of Arizona.an election she contested in vain. She ran for U.S. Senate in the 2024 election cycle, but was defeated by Rep. Rubén Gallego. A staunch Trump supporter, Lake echoed the president-elect’s false claims about voter fraud during the 2020 election cycle.
As director of VOA, Lake would have the keys to a state-backed media outlet encompassing digital, radio and television content aimed at international audiences. The channel broadcasts in over 40 languages and has an estimated reach of over 354 million people.
The influence Lake might have on the VOA will be something to watch. The broadcaster is supported by a charter drafted in 1960 and signed into law in 1976 by President Gerald Fordwhich states that it will serve as a “consistently reliable and authoritative source of information.”
“VOA will represent America, not any particular segment of American society,” the charter notes. “[It] will therefore present a balanced and comprehensive projection of important American thought and institutions.
As a CNN media analyst Brian Stelter Remarksit is rare for an American president to choose the head of the VOA. And the organization’s journalists are apprehensive about Lake taking charge. “We hope the guardrails hold,” a source told CNN.
