Hamas coverage After the 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. At the time, VOA was not the only news outlet with journalists discussing how to objectively refer to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. 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. 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." The controversy prompted Congress to reduce the budget of VOA's parent organization, USAGM.
Hamas coverage After the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, an email was sent to Voice of America staff fro.m the associate editor for news standards with guidance re,lated 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. At the time, VOA was not the only news outlet with journalists discussing how to objectively refer to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. 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 re,fer to individual members of Hamas 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." The controversy prompted Congress to reduce the budget of VOA's parent organization, USAGM.