Established in 1982, the Voice of America (VOA) Amharic Service became one of the most popular news outlets for Ethiopians in Ethiopia and Ethiopian diaspora communities across the world. Angered by the Service’s coverage of human rights abuses, bad governance, and other issues of public interest, Ethiopia’s ruling party made the discontinuation of the Service one of the top priorities of its diplomatic ties with the United States. This study examines the major pressure points of the Service’s newsroom autonomy permeating from Ethio-American shared public diplomacy interests through the optics of newsroom staff. Findings from document analysis and interviews reveal VOA Amharic journalists experience primary pressure sources (host political factors and homeland political factors) and secondary pressure sources (personal/relational factors, diasporic political factors, and audience factors) challenging their journalistic autonomy. Despite these pressures, journalists highlight the significance of the organization’s legislative “firewall” and evidence-based external review process in upholding the newsroom’s autonomy.
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