Washington —

The U.S. Agency for Global Media on Friday named Michael Abramowitz as the new permanent director of Voice of America.

USAGM CEO Amanda Bennett said in an email to employees on Friday that Abramowitz, a former journalist and current president of the think tank Freedom House, will take over in the coming months. One position.

“I’m sure he’s familiar to many, if not most, people because of the outstanding work that Freedom House does advocating for democracy and human rights, especially in defending and advocating for freedom of speech and press around the world,” she emailed.

Abramowitz has served as Chairman of Freedom House since 2017.He graduated from Harvard University and Washington post, where he worked for 24 years. He also worked for eight years on genocide prevention and Holocaust education at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

“With this expertise and experience, he has a deep understanding of what we have been doing throughout our lives and careers,” Bennett said in an email.

Abramowitz is expected to start at VOA in early summer. In a video message to staff, he said he was honored to be appointed.

“This is a storied institution with an incredible history and, most importantly, an incredible mission,” he said.

“I am deeply inspired by this mission: Every day we deliver authoritative, unbiased, comprehensive news and information to large audiences in much of the world. For many, VOA is their home for such The only source of information,” Abramowitz said.

Bennett himself served as VOA director from 2016 to 2020, resigning after Congress confirmed conservative filmmaker Michael Pack to lead USAGM.

Parker was appointed by then-President Donald Trump, and his tenure as head of USAGM was fraught with lawsuits and whistleblower complaints. He resigned after Joe Biden became president, and an independent investigation later determined that Packer repeatedly abused his power and engaged in serious mismanagement, including attempting to interfere with editors.

After his departure, Congress added checks and balances to the USAGM CEO’s role, including overhiring and firing of network chiefs.

Abramowitz will be VOA’s first official director since the brief tenure of Robert Reilly, who was appointed by Packer to serve in the role from December 2020 to January 2021.

After Reilly was fired, VOA was led by acting director Yolanda Lopez from 2021 until her resignation in September 2023, with current director John Lippman.

Abramowitz said in a statement that he looked forward to working at VOA given the alarming amount of disinformation coming from authoritarian governments around the world.

“Voice of America is a bastion of truth and press freedom, and I am excited to take the helm of this organization and work with its talented journalists and staff. Together we will win the information war,” he said.

Freedom House issued a statement Friday thanking Abramowitz for her leadership.

“For much of the past decade, Mike has been a driving force behind Freedom House’s ongoing success, setting a vision for the organization and enhancing its effectiveness in the fight for freedom around the world,” said the organization’s co-chair Jane Harman said. Freedom House Board of Directors.

As director of VOA, Abramowitz will oversee 48 language services that reach approximately 354 million people each week through independent television, radio and digital media.