Editing Voice of America (section)

=== Israel and Palestine ===
After the [[October 7 Hamas attack|October 7, 2023 Hamas attack]] on Israel, an email was sent to Voice of America staff from the associate editor for news standards with guidance related to how to refer to the actions ("terrorist acts" or "acts of terror") and advice about how to refer to individual members of [[Hamas]], i.e. to use the term "terrorist" only in direct quotes from sources.<ref name="Farhi 2023">{{cite news |last1=Farhi |first1=Paul |date=29 November 2023 |title=GOP senators blast Voice of America for Hamas 'militants' terminology |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/style/media/2023/11/29/voice-of-america-hamas-israel-terrorist-militant-hagerty/ |access-date=20 February 2024 |newspaper=Washington Post}}</ref> At the time, VOA was not the only news outlet with journalists discussing how to objectively refer to the [[Israeli–Palestinian conflict]].<ref name="Farhi 2023" /> Six Republican members of Congress signed a letter sent by Senator [[Bill Hagerty]], which criticized and strongly objected to the editorial guidance about how to refer to individual members of Hamas.<ref name="Farhi 2023" /> USAGM chief executive Amanda Bennett sent a letter to the senators to clarify that the VOA email was guidance only, and "There is no policy prohibiting the use of the words 'terror,' 'terrorism,' or 'terrorist{{' "}} at VOA, and stating the news organizations within USAGM "counsel care and attention in the use of the words but do not place any restrictions on the appropriate use."<ref name="Farhi 2023" /> The controversy prompted Congress to reduce the budget of VOA's parent organization, USAGM.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-07-03 |title=Darrell Issa: Congress Cut Voice of America's Budget over Hamas Controversy |url=https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/darrell-issa-congress-cut-voice-of-americas-budget-over-hamas-controversy/ |access-date=2024-07-24 |website=National Review |language=en-US}}</ref>