USAID Falls, Exposing a Giant Network of US-Funded “Independent” Media
USAID Falls, Exposing a Giant Network of US-Funded “Independent” Media
From Ukraine to Cuba, news outlets worldwide are suddenly begging for cash—because their “independent journalism” was actually paid for by Washington all along., global media funding crisis, independent media USAID, Trump USAID shutdown, U.S. government media influence, USAID foreign influence, USAI...
There is already a serious problem in modern discourse with the term "independent media," a phrase commonly defined as any media outlet, no matter how big an empire it is, that is not owned or funded by the state (as if that is the only form of dependence or control to which media is subject). But even at this extremely low bar, all these outlets fail. Indeed, Weimers' warning underlines the fact that none of them are independent in any meaningful way. They are, in fact, completely dependent on USAID for their very existence.
Not only that, but some USAID-backed journalists candidly admit that their funding dictates their output and what stories they do and do not cover. Leila Bicakcic, CEO of Center for Investigative Reporting (a USAID-supported Bosnian organization), admitted, on camera, that "If you are funded by the U.S. government, there are certain topics that you would simply not go after, because the U.S. government has its interests that are above all others."
While USAID specifically targets foreign audiences, much of its messaging comes back to America, as those foreign outlets are used as credible, independent, and reliable sources for newspapers or cable news networks to cite. Thus, its bankrolling of foreign media ends up flooding domestic audiences with pro-U.S. messaging as well.
American soft power has been crippled worldwide. You really have to ask yourself when the moderators of Wikipedia are going to go ahead and edit the Cold War page.
People have been joking about fake as hell NGOs being used for espionage and misinformation for decades, but its weird they they're actually throwing away their leverage across the board.
Unless they plan to just move the funding to another organization like the CIA.
i love mintpressnews. their links were and probably still are banned on facebook and instagram and probably more places. the great firewall of the US is too good
Their links are banned on .world as well.
.stormfront Putting the Fed in fediverse as always.
"any media outlet, no matter how big an empire it is, that is not owned or funded by the state" is not the common definition of "independent media" (it's not even the definition given in the hyperlinked definition). "Independence" in this context refers to journalistic independence.
the only media i care about is people or outlets supported by small donations from regular people & lots of transparency about their sources. if otherwise, they can go fuck off
This was an incredible read. All the liberal media lamenting the loss of USAID, but an estimated 90% of the funds were actually used to further CIA goals. Crazy. 10/10 would read again.
now read their articles on tiktok, twitter, facebook, etc
Though I’m sure some of them will find new funding through whatever new channels the Trump administration builds.
Hilarious photo!
I wonder if they're really that stupid to give up this super-efficient means of soft power over some progressive things they've done or intentionally handing influence in parts of the world to Russia for a bit of money for themselves while taking a calculated risk of maybe having to retake control militarily (which is more costly but could be a problem for the next admin).
Trump is a Russian agent. It immediately explains everything he does.
It's never a good idea to confuse shared class interests with a wacky conspiracy theory.
If Trump is indeed a Russian agent, why not make him use the soft power to actually help shift the narrative in favor of Russia?
Based if true! Death to Amerikkka!
The Russians aren't stupid enough to rely on and big-mouthed idiot like Trump.
- Wall Street Journal: Mueller Doesn’t Find Trump Campaign Conspired With Russia
- Jacobin: Democrats and Mainstream Media Were the Real Kremlin Assets
- Washington Post: Russian trolls on Twitter had little influence on 2016 voters
- Jacobin: It Turns Out Hillary Clinton, Not Russian Bots, Lost the 2016 Election
- Matt Taibbi: Move Over, Jayson Blair: Meet Hamilton 68, the New King of Media Fraud The Twitter Files reveal that one of the most common news sources of the Trump era was a scam, making ordinary American political conversations look like Russian spywork
- Jacobin: Why the Twitter Files Are in Fact a Big Deal On the Left, there’s been a temptation to dismiss the revelations about Twitter’s internal censorship system that have emerged from the so-called Twitter Files project. But that would be a mistake: the news is important and the details are alarming.
- MSNBC Repeats Hamilton 68 Lies 279 Times in 11 Minutes
- Matt Taibbi: WMD, Part II: CIA "Cooked The Intelligence" To Hide That Russia Favored Clinton, Not Trump In 2016
- Chris Hedges: Why Russiagate Won’t Go Away
If USAID appears as horrific to the general public, and not really news for many people with a critical mind, just imagine what its proposed replacement will be like under Trump.
Not too many administrations ago a USAF intelligence organization was formed directly under presidential supervision as chief, and came into contradiction with NSA/CIA. Then there was HSA which had a green light by past administrations to violate the constitution at will and simply blanket any enemy as a national security matter.
Of all those corporate/state tools against humanity and rights, USAID has outlived its purpose. But don't get too happy, they are just burying it in a good moment to start clean, without historic responsibilities carried on.
At least the whole world knows that trump is a raving lunatic, incapable of honesty, empathy and integrity. Invoking his name to justify sleazy propaganda perpetrated by others doesn't wash
Doesn't every government do this?
No? You're not going to find a huge network of propaganda outlets funded by New Zealand, or Botswana, or Ireland, etc.
Not America, the greatest country in the world according to Lemmy.world, at least they must think that to always uncritically consume their propaganda.
Yeah but this is a pick on the US post, and that thinking ruins their narrative.
Only one country has over 800+ external military bases. The rest of the world combined only has ~20.
The US is easily the most evil country in world history.
Pick on the US? Lmao oh no, the poor widdle fascist empire. Leave the Nazis alone.
All for-profit media is state run.
That's factually innacurate
That's factually inaccurate.
It doesn't matter how many times people post stuff like this, Mint Press News is no more credible than One America News. The only real difference is that one is pushing propaganda from the left (-ish, since Russia ain't exactly left), and the other is pushing propaganda from the right.
According to whom, Media Bias/Fact Check? According to Ad Fontes Media’s horseshoe theory of journalism?
Are you saying the claims made in the article are lies?
They're saying they desperately need a reason not to read.