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Patsy Widakuswara

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Patsy Widakuswara
Widakuswara at Donald Trump's 2017 inauguration
Alma mater
OccupationJournalist Edit this on Wikidata
Employer

Patsy Widakuswara is a radio and broadcast journalist in the United States who covers the White House and U.S. politics. She is the White House Bureau Chief of Voice of America.[1] An incident involving VOA news director Robert R. Reilly's interview of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo resulted in her removal from the White House beat[2] and subsequent reinstatement 11 days later.

Early life and education

Widakuswara was born in Indonesia, and grew up in Jakarta.[3] She studied International Relations at the University of Indonesia and completed a master's in Journalism from Goldsmiths College, University of London.[4]

Career

Widakuswara has worked in broadcasting and radio in Indonesia, the United Kingdom, and the United States since the 1990s.[4] She began working at Voice of America (VOA) in 2003 as a producer and on-air reporter for the Indonesian Service.[1]

In early 2021, Widakuswara covered the Trump administration for VOA. On January 11, 2021, after VOA news director Robert R. Reilly interviewed Pompeo but did not allow reporters to ask questions, Widakuswara asked Pompeo several questions that he did not answer as he left the building.[5][2] She was hours later removed from the prestigious White House beat and then reassigned to VOA Indonesian service.[6]

The Coalition For Women In Journalism and the White House Press Association condemned Widakuswara's removal.[7][2] U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee Lead Republican Michael McCaul and Chairman Gregory Meeks issued a press release on January 12 stating they asked for more information from the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) and Voice of America, and "Absent a legitimate reason for this move, which has not been provided, we believe she should be reinstated".[8][6] Widakuswara was reinstated on January 22, 2021.[9]

In September 2023, Widakuswara, while traveling with U.S. vice president Kamala Harris, was temporarily barred by Indonesian security officers during a press event an at ASEAN summit meeting, after she shouted two questions at Indonesia president Joko Widodo;[10] neither of her questions were answered.[3] She was allowed back in after U.S. officials, including Harris, intervened.[10] An Indonesian foreign ministry official later apologized for the incident.[3]

On November 7, 2023, seven US senators called for Widakuswara to be fired immeditely.[11][12] Senators Bill Hagerty, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Lindsey Graham, Pete Ricketts, Deb Fischer, and John Barrasso wrote a letter to Amanda Bennett, the CEO of the U.S. Agency for Global Media (which oversees VOA).[11] They said Bennett should terminate Widakuswara immediately because she had told VOA employees in the wake of the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel that VOA stories should highlight the context that “the militant group’s attack was done in retaliation for Israel’s decades-long occupation.”[11][12][13][14][15] Remarking on that suggestion, Congressman Darrell Issa, in a separate November 3 letter to VOA Acting Director John Lippman, wrote that the suggestion, made because "We don’t really know why [Hamas] did it": "is as willfully biased as it is facially inaccurate. Given that Hamas is a self-avowed jihadist organization, and its rabidly antisemitic covenant calls for the destruction of Israel, the only reason one might profess such agnosticism is either a total unawareness or lack of subject matter expertise."[11][16]

References

  1. ^ a b "Federal Faces: Patsy Widakuswara". The Washington Post. March 18, 2013. Retrieved 23 October 2021.
  2. ^ a b c Folkenflik, David (12 January 2021). "Voice Of America White House Reporter Reassigned After Questioning Pompeo". NPR.org. Retrieved 2021-09-22.
  3. ^ a b c "Local journalists: US reporter's ejection from Jakarta summit reflects poorly on Indonesia". Benar News.
  4. ^ a b "Patsy Widakuswara - Reporter bio". VOA News. Retrieved 2021-09-22.
  5. ^ "Patsy Widakuswara: Jakarta native asking Trump administration tough questions". The Jakarta Post. Retrieved 2021-09-22.
  6. ^ a b Nicole Gaouette, Jennifer Hansler and Kylie Atwood (12 January 2021). "Voice of America reassigns White House reporter who tried to ask Mike Pompeo a question". CNN. Retrieved 2021-09-22.
  7. ^ "United States: CFWIJ condemns the intimidation of journalist Patsy Widakuswara". The Coalition For Women In Journalism. Retrieved 2021-09-22.
  8. ^ "McCaul, Meeks Ask for Answers on Demotion of VOA Reporter Patsy Widakuswara". Committee on Foreign Affairs. Retrieved 2021-09-23.
  9. ^ Beitsch, Rebecca (January 22, 2021). "VOA reinstates White House reporter reassigned after questioning Pompeo". The Hill. Retrieved 23 October 2021.
  10. ^ a b Aggarwal, Mithil; Perlmutter-Gumbiner, Elyse (10 September 2023). "G20 summit showcases India's global clout and press freedom worries". NBC News. Retrieved 14 February 2024. After Indonesian security officials surrounded and then threatened to ban Voice of America reporter Patsy Widakuswara from entering the summit room after she shouted two questions at President Joko Widodo during a "spray," U.S. officials pressured their Indonesian counterparts to let Widakuswara in. [...] Journalists often use those brief moments to shout questions at the leaders in the hope they might respond.
  11. ^ a b c d "Senators criticize VOA editorial guidelines on Israel-Gaza war, call for firings". U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. December 15, 2023.
  12. ^ a b "Letter to The Honorable Amanda Bennett, Director, U.S. Agency for Global Media," November 7,2024.
  13. ^ "Voice of America orders reporters not to call Hamas 'terrorists'". The Washington Times.
  14. ^ "HAGERTY LEADS COLLEAGUES IN CONDEMNING VOA'S REFUSAL TO CALL HAMAS TERRORISTS". gale.com.
  15. ^ "GOP Senators Demand Firings over Voice of America's Policy against Labeling Hamas Members 'Terrorists'". November 7, 2023.
  16. ^ [1]
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