Dec 11 (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday said he was picking Kari Lake, a former news anchor and a hardline Republican who failed to win an Arizona Senate seat last month, to be the director of U.S. government-funded media outlet Voice of America.

Trump, in a post on his Truth Social site, said Lake will "ensure that the American values of Freedom and Liberty are broadcast around the World FAIRLY and ACCURATELY, unlike the lies spread by the Fake News Media."

Lake, a strong Trump supporter who has echoed his false claims about fraud at the 2020 election, also lost the governor's race in swing state Arizona in 2022 and was previously an anchor at Phoenix-based Fox 10.

Voice of America (VOA) is an international media broadcaster that operates in more than 40 languages online and on radio and television.

During his first term in office, Trump clashed with VOA and accused it of amplifying Chinese propaganda after it showed a segment on a light show marking the reopening of Wuhan, the city where the coronavirus pandemic first emerged.

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Reporting by Costas Pitas; Editing by Eric Beech