By Clare Sherman —
Debates over the limits of free speech have reached a new intensity in today’s political climate. On Tuesday, October 14th, Steve Herman, a former White House correspondent and chief national correspondent for VOA News, visited Miami University Hamilton to discuss the changing role of journalism in our democracy.
Director of Miami Regionals’ Public Programming, Dr. Matthew Smith, started things off by giving special thanks to the Menard Family Center for Democracy and the League of Women Voters for their sponsorship. Dr. Smith introduced Steve Herman as a proud Cincinnati native and solidified the point with a joke about Mr. Herman’s preference for Gold Star Chili over Skyline, much to the audience’s distress. Steve Herman himself opened with a sentimental appreciation for his home state. After changing locations across many states and countries—Japan, Thailand, and India, to name a few—Herman concluded that “Ohio is really home.”
Throughout Steve Herman’s career as a journalist, he has had the privilege of interacting with six presidents and has worked extensively with Presidents Donald Trump and Joe Biden. To set the scene of his career, he reflected on the stress and focus that came with reporting from the Oval Office. On a mission to record the best quality audio of the President, Herman would balance getting his recorder close enough to capture the President’s voice while staying out of photographers’ shots. During one surprise visit from President Trump, TV pools failed to get their equipment set up correctly, with Herman himself barely hitting play on his device in time. His audio ended up being used by all television networks, highlighting the importance of his role as a radio pooler.
This vivid picture of the journalistic process was followed by Herman’s acknowledgement of how rare routine press coverage with the government is. Most world leaders don’t take questions at all, and the United States only started the routine during Woodrow Wilson’s presidency.
This privilege has been undermined by the White House’s recent decisions to replace seasoned reporters with bloggers. Although sidelining reporters occurred during Trump’s first term, it is especially troubling the second time around, causing Herman to question the current power of the entire journalistic system.
On February 28th, Steve Herman and fellow VOA employee Patsy Widakuswara were suspended after clashing with the Trump administration. President Trump ridiculed Widakuswara and VOA for a question about Gaza, and Herman was accused of treason by a government official for a social media post. The post contained a quote saying cuts to the US Agency for International Development could threaten national security. Herman officially retired on June 30th, 2025, due to frustration with not being able to work yet still receiving government paychecks. Unfortunately, with his retirement, he lost access to 20 years’ worth of email messages and digital correspondence.
Herman and Widakuswara weren’t the only VOA employees suspended; Kari Lake, a Trump administration official, has helped dismantle VOA, calling it “unsalvageable rot” and laying off thousands of workers, effectively silencing the program for over 360 million international listeners. Although there are four pending cases seeking to restore VOA operations, Herman noted that legal processes take significant time, and VOA listeners have moved to other outlets.
According to Mr. Herman, advocates of free speech worry that the VOA events are reflecting a broader movement against the independent press, and in fact, VOA is not the only media organization under government scrutiny. Since the start of Trump’s second term, he defunded the Corporation for Public Broadcasting despite the efforts of millions of petition signatures. Furthermore, Herman alleged that the administration has punished and threatened specific media organizations, with notable examples including the coercion of ABC’s $15 million payment for a misstatement and the suspension of “Jimmy Kimmel Live” for Kimmel’s speech on Charlie Kirk’s death. Herman stated that, even though the FCC cannot technically punish broadcasters for speech the government dislikes, threats and intimidation are enough to “shift media from a watchdog role to a compliant mouthpiece.”
Our nation’s current reshaping of public reporting mirrors several nations’ switch from democracy to authoritarianism, with Herman citing that Hungary and Poland enforced strict control over journalists during their democratic decline.
Most recently, the Department of Defense has concerned the public by requiring journalists to pledge that they will not use unauthorized material. To convince journalists to agree to this, the department has threatened that anyone who refuses will lose access to the Pentagon and other military facilities. Steve Herman warned that if this requirement goes into effect, allowing the government—not journalists—to decide what the public consumes, US citizens would ultimately lose the power to hold their leaders accountable. Freedom of speech is how our democracy functions, and if that’s taken away, the foundation of all we stand for crumbles.
Herman garnered a strong round of applause at the speech’s end before taking questions from the audience, on topics ranging from Biden’s mental state to Herman’s plans for a future second book. Most notably, a middle school teacher voiced her desire to encourage students to search for the truth. Considering the current state of misinformation flooding the media, she asked, “Where do I send my students to find the truth?” Herman advised her to send students to the library to practice research with physical books, advocating for the importance of critical thinking skills. Furthermore, he encouraged everyone to stay away from opinion-based news by watching events live, rather than watching a recap where someone influences how you think, and getting information from multiple diverse sources.
Tonight’s event ended with a casual reception. Guests continued their discussions, enjoyed refreshments, and had the opportunity to purchase a signed copy of Steve Herman’s book.
Since retirement, Steve Herman has relocated to Oxford, Mississippi, to take on a new career as the inaugural executive director of the Jordan Center for Journalism Advocacy and Innovation at the University of Mississippi. His memoir, Behind the White House Curtain: A Senior Journalist’s Story of Covering the President―and Why It Matters, was published in 2024 and can be purchased here.