While the clampdown on payments from USAID to both local and foreign agencies is ongoing, a startling revelation shows that millions of dollars were paid to many internationally recognized American news firms – top among them are Politico, the New York Times, and the Associated Press.
Viral posts on X from USAspending.gov showed previous payments to Politico amounting to $8.2 million dollars. Another tweet claimed that after the discovery, the news outlet failed to pay monthly salaries as when due for the first time.
Soon social media was abuzz with reports of the US Government through USAID heavily funding and thereby controlling the mainstream media which in turn directs the narrative that will be pushed to the world. Reports of news anchors of various media outlets saying the same thing or journalists writing similar articles that all push a narrative were also discussed.
Also mentioned to be under the government payroll were the New York Times and BBC – whose major source of funding is the annual television license fee from the British Government.
According to Jason D. Meister, the total amount received by new agencies as payments from USAID through the government is:
- Politico: $34.3M
- NY Times: $50M
- AP: $19.5M
- Reuters: $9M
- BBC: $3.3M
Reports of previous witchhunting by the Democratic left wing using tax payers money from USAID (United States Agency for International Development) also resurfaced.
The viral claims had it that the American Agency was used as a means of money laundering. The USAID was also called out for not only unfairly controlling narratives but also interfering in the internal politics of other countries, mainly African nations.
President Trump on the trail of Democrats’ “FAKE NEWS MEDIA”, as he put it on Truth Social, suspended all USAID payments. According to RWB, the effect was a $268 million payment stopped to news media outlets located in over 30 countries. The influence of the agency was also seen in in a 2023 report that claimed its payments supported 6,200 journalists, 707 news outlets, and 279 media sector civil society.
Why News Media Outlets Get Payments From The Government
Politico, which is at the center of the scandal, released a statement from its CEO to defend its name. According to Goli Sheikholeslami, the viral claims are misinformation, and “some of it has been flat-out false”.
According to Goli, the 18-year-old news company has never received any subsidy, grant, handouts, money, or any form of funding from the government. However, the news company only gets transactionary payment for its pro-subscription which is used by top companies and organizations, including government agencies.
According to Time, Trump and his supporters were only settling perceived grieviances they’ve long had with the media, as they noted their eviction as well as the eviction of NPR, NBC, Politico, and CBS from their Pentagon workspaces.
The Time said government paying news outlets’ content is common through paid subscriptions and that it had a plan for 1 million active and retired military members and their families. It also noted that the New York Times earned a very minimal amount of about $2 million last year through Government subscriptions.
Documents also revealed Canada also paid Politico through news subscriptions.
People’s Verdict
Their explanation for the receipts did not go well with the people. The payment for subscriptions was seen as being heavily overpriced and created for the sole reason of money laundering.
The idea of using taxpayers’ money to pay for a news organization that is skewed to the left was also criticized. A former senate employee said they all had Politico Pro without ever requesting for it and many of them never used it. He called it a blanket deal and questioned why $10,000 for a pro subscription should be paid when the user will get zero value from it.
Others pointed out that Politico’s subscription also spiked during the election year.
American USAID & Interference In Other Countries
On how the United States government interferes with the affairs of other countries through funding from USAID, investigative journalist David Hundeyin said former US President Barrack Obama was hands-deep in Nigeria’s election that took out incumbent leader Goodluck Jonathan for Buhari, and was responsible for crashing the economy that once had the rising spotlight as the Giant of Africa.
In a recent appearance, he revealed how USAID pays local news firms and journalists in Nigeria as well as other African nations to push their narratives such as the promotion of GMO seeds, and dent the image of who/what they do not like through propaganda.
David pointed out to Elon Musk’s DOGE team to investigate a $3.3m USAID payment to a Nigerian vendor under the guise of climate change seminars, 4 days before Trump’s inauguration. He also reported that almost $800,000 marked as “undisclosed” or “miscellaneous” has been sent to Nigeria since the newly elected US president took office.
He joins the league of Americans who call for the shutdown of USAID, an agency he says its purpose was not to help people or countries, but to advance the American interest.
