VOA cuts ties with former Russian state media journalist after staff protests

Voice of America (VOA) has cut ties with a former Russian state media journalist following staff protests about his work for pro-Russian outlets. 

The outlet reported on Friday that it chose not to renew the contract for Garri “Harry” Knyagnitsky after he was placed on leave in February along with another journalist Daria Davydova following complaints from their colleagues. 

Davydova was allowed to continue to work at VOA’s Russian Service. 

Management for VOA, which receives funding from the U.S. government, announced the decisions in town halls with its Russian- and Ukrainian-language services on Thursday. 

VOA spokesperson Nigel Gibbs said it completed a review of both of the journalists that it started earlier this year that was led by an external head with experience in Eurasia and U.S. journalism. He said the leader conducted interviews with staff members and the journalists and then presented their findings to VOA this week. 

VOA has said it looks into all new journalist hires for any potential ties to foreign governments, and all content is checked for content before publication. 

The calls for the two journalists to be removed began in November with a letter from 15 of the 92 reporters working for the Russian Service to the service’s managers. The signers said Knyagnitsky and Davydova’s work “contributed to the spread of Russian propaganda narratives” and “laid the groundwork” for Moscow to justify its full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year. 

The letter said Knyagnitsky worked for the Russian-language outlets NTV and RTVI before joining VOA. The Russian state-owned gas company Gazprom owns NTV. 

The signers said Knyagnitsky repeatedly presented a “one-sided, pro-Russian narrative and, most importantly, promoted the Kremlin’s disinformation.” 

“NTV is well known as a part of the Kremlin propaganda machine, spreading anti-American disinformation and hatred toward Ukrainians and anti-Putin Russians,” they said. 

Davydova worked for Public Television of Russia and a media company controlled by a Russian oligarch who has been charged in the U.S. with evading sanctions before coming to VOA. She also worked as a freelance reporter for VOA before joining full time last fall, Gibbs said.