25 Facts About Michael Pack

Michael L Pack is an American documentary filmmaker who was CEO of the US Agency for Global Media from June 2020 to January 2021.

Michael Pack founded Manifold Productions, a documentary film company, in 1977.

Michael Pack later served as an executive at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and as CEO of the Claremont Institute, a conservative think tank.

Michael Pack fired the heads of the news outlets under USAGM's purview, and installed Trump loyalists in the positions.

Michael Pack disbanded a bipartisan board that oversees the USAGM, and spent millions of taxpayer dollars on law firms to investigate journalists for purported bias against Trump.

Michael Pack rescinded rules at USAGM that protected journalists at Voice of America and other affiliates from political interference.

Michael Pack attended Yale University from Fall 1972 to Fall 1973, but did not graduate.

From Fall 1974 to Spring 1975, Michael Pack studied English at UC Berkeley.

Michael Pack attended New York University in the Summer of 1975 as a visiting student.

Early in his career, Michael Pack worked for Radiotelevisione Italiana and the US Information Agency.

In 1993, Michael 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 Michael Pack to serve on the National Council on the Humanities, which oversees the National Endowment for the Humanities.

From 2003 to 2006, Michael Pack served as Senior Vice President for Television Programming at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

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

Michael Pack has collaborated with Stephen Bannon, a former Trump advisor and co-founder of the conservative website Breitbart News.

In 2019, Michael Pack produced and directed a documentary about the Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas.

Michael Pack's nomination was contentious, with critics arguing that the mission of VOA would be compromised by installing a CEO whom they considered a conservative partisan.

Michael Pack assumed office over a week after his confirmation partially so his office could be swept for covert listening devices.

Michael Pack installed Trump loyalists in leadership positions within the organization and disbanded a bipartisan board that oversees the USAGM.

Michael Pack planned for editorials to be read and posted on the website in various languages that would present administration policy as set by the president.

Michael Pack continued a purge of USAGM, firing at least seven longstanding agency officials, including chief financial officer Grant Turner and general counsel David Kligerman.

In late July 2020, Michael Pack announced an investigation of a VOA video that purportedly promoted Joe Biden's presidential campaign.

On October 26,2020, Michael Pack rescinded rules at USAGM that protected journalists at VOA and other affiliates from political interference.

Career employees at Voice of America accused Michael Pack of seeking influence over the outlet's reporting and filed suit in federal court, seeking injunctions that prevent Michael 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.

Michael Pack has written, directed, and produced numerous documentaries, principally for PBS, as well as corporate and educational films.