4 things to know about USAID’s funding of media outlets
-
USAID was ‘main donor for Ukrainian media’
A new report from the nonprofit watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RWB) found USAID was the "primary donor" as almost 90% of all reporting out of Ukraine relied on subsidies.
Following the Trump administration’s defunding of USAID, several local media outlets in Ukraine suspended their operations as they look for alternative funding, according to RWB.
Prior to the USAID shutdown, Congress approved a 2025 foreign aid budget, which included $268.3 million to support “independent media and the free flow of information,” according to the report.
Citing a now-offline USAID fact sheet, the report said USAID funded more than 6,200 journalists across over 700 media outlets and nearly 280 "media" non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in 30 countries.
-
BBC's charity arm received 8% of its budget from US gov't
In response to funding cuts to USAID, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), the British public broadcasting network, announced BBC’s international charity arm receives “about 8%” of its income from U.S. taxpayers.
The statement from BBC Media Action said the organization “supports local media around the world to deliver trusted information to people most in need,” but a U.K. government charity page registered to BBC Media Action says the organization “uses media and communication to reduce poverty and promote human rights.”
“A free press is essential to freedom and democracy — and 75% of countries around the world do not have a free press,” the organization stated. “BBC Media Action supports local media around the world to deliver trusted information to people most in need.”
Functioning as the BBC’s international charity, BBC Media Action says its operations “are completely separate from BBC News, and wholly reliant on our donors and supporters to carry out our work.”
-
US gov’t paid $8.2M for premium Politico subscriptions for federal employees
Despite widespread media reports of USAID funding the political news site Politico, only $24,000 spent on Politico came from USAID, according to Axios.
However, the entire government paid $8.2 million to Politico, LLC, which is likely to cover the cost of premium subscription products like Politico Pro, which can cost thousands per year and delve deeper into policy, the report found.
White House Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt told reporters Wednesday those subscriptions will be canceled.
"I was made aware of the funding of USAID to media outlets, including Politico. … And I can confirm that the more than $8 million taxpayer dollars that have gone to essentially subsidizing subscriptions to Politico on the American taxpayers' dime will no longer be happening," said Leavitt. "The DOGE team is working on canceling those payments now."
Congressional records show that members of U.S. Congress from both parties and the committees they led paid tens of thousands for Politico subscriptions in the last year, according to CBS News.
In October 2021, German publishing and media firm Axel Springer SE acquired Politico for over $1 billion.
-
Trump alleges USAID funds used for 'creating good stories' about Democrats
President Donald Trump pounced on the USAID report and claimed that some of what he called "stolen" USAID funds went to mainstream media outlets as a "'payoff' for creating good stories about the Democrats," Trump wrote in all caps on Truth Social Thursday morning.
He also bashed Politico as a "left-wing 'rag'" for receiving $8 million in taxpayer-funded subscriptions. However, the Executive Office of the President in the first Trump administration allocated over $97,000 to Politico, LLC in 2017, according to USASpending.gov.
In his post, the president also questioned whether The New York Times received similar levels of funding, writing in all caps that it could be the "biggest scandal of them all."
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/4-things-to-know-about-usaid-s-funding-of-media-outlets/ar-AA1yAL0N