Press Freedom Group says Trump's aid cuts will lead to a surge in publicity | Global Development

Media organizations warn that the freeze of foreign aid by Donald Trump will lead to a decrease in the number of independent media around the world, causing a surge in misinformation and to be played into the hands of national propagandists.

The U.S. president has suspended U.S. International Development’s multi-billion-dollar project, including more than $268 million (£216 million) to support “independent media and free flow of information.”

Press Freedom Campaign Group reporters without borders (RSF) visited USAID FACTSHEET before offline, he showed that in 2023, U.S. agencies provided training and support to 6,200 journalists, assisted 707 non-national news media, and supported 279 civil society cores are committed to strengthening the organization of independent media in more than 30 countries, including Iran, Afghanistan and Russia.

RSF said Trump's decision sowed “chaos and confusion.” “Nonprofit newsrooms and media organizations have had to stop operations and lay off employees. Most likely, they will disappear forever after a 90-day freeze,” said Clayton Weimers, executive director of RSF US.

According to the RSF, in Ukraine, the media has not been under major control by oligarchs until recently, with nine of the 10 sales stores relying on subsidies, with the United States Agency for International Development being the main donor.

“It’s a very dangerous moment,” said Anna Babinets, CEO and co-founder of Slidstvo.info, a KYIV-based investigative platform that lost 80% of its funds, which previously came from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). ) Received the money. “We have to consider cutting frontline reports and war crime reports – which means that the Ukrainian people and the people of the world will not understand what is going on here.”

Trump has made an unconfirmed claim that the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) was stolen to pay for the opponent's active coverage to what he calls “fake news media.” Meanwhile, Elon Musk called the United States Agency for International Development a “criminal organization” and said it had paid to the media “to release their propaganda.”

Valerii Garmash, the head of Make Make, developed independent media in Ukraine and received nearly 50% of its 6262.com.ua website in the U.S. Development City of Slavyansk, which he said its projects have begun to close.

“We are 24 km (15 miles) from the front line, providing journalists with space to prepare before going there – these spaces must now be closed. Without money, we have to work like volunteers.”

Weimers said the decline in the number of independent news media could lead to a surge in misinformation. “The confusion can lead to a vacuum, and when you extract a reliable source of information, that vacuum will be filled will reduce reliable sources (for example) national propaganda,” he said.

“Just look at those who praise this move: it's China, Russia, Hungary, El Salvador – a country known for its horrible human rights violations, especially those targeting the press,” he said.

Babinets said that since the announcement of the freeze and cuts of funds, anonymous telegraph channels and unnamed websites have also tried to discredit media recipients from Ukraine USAID. “We’ve seen a lot of fake stories about our organization – we’re not journalists, we’re just spies. “It’s playing the Russian narrative,” she said. ”

Natalia Belikova of the Belarus Press Club in neighboring Belarus said 70% of the funds she organized come from a mix of U.S. federal sources and various cuts and freezes to the funds Put it on the “edge of existence”.

In recent years, Belarus has planned a widespread persecution campaign against journalists and forced hundreds of journalists to exile. News club Belarus surveyed 20 media outlets in the country in early February and found that 60% of the budget comes from U.S. funds. “They are at risk of gradually disappearing and gradually disappearing,” Belikova said.

Belikova said independent reporting played a crucial role in getting Belarusians to understand Russian invasion of Ukraine. “This decision is indeed in the hands of an authoritarian regime,” she said.

“If the independent media in Belarus stops from being there, then people will only get propaganda from the state. If there is no other option, it will gradually capture their minds and in just a few years we may have a very different society.”

Experts worry that the investigation report could take years and often requires a lot of money, which will maximize the cuts from the United States Agency for International Development.

Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), which operates worldwide, reviews in-depth investigations into the secret maritime taxation system, such as the Panama Papers, saying that 29% of its funds have been frozen, it has had to give up, it has to do so, it has to do so 20% of the employees were laid off.

“The real problem is that, in general, there is simply not enough money to investigate news globally,” a spokesperson said. “Without investigating news, people don't know what's going on in hidden crime and corrupt underworlds.”

OCCRP co-founder and publisher Drew Sullivan said other organizations are alert to violations. “Elon Musk has carried out these false information attacks on people like us, just legal institutions see it, it scares the good people and they don't act. You can't be afraid of bullies or they win .”

In Colombia, Dora Montero Carvajal, president of the news agency Consejo de Redacción, is committed to strengthening the investigative journalism industry in Colombia and Latin America. By USAID”.

“I know several upcoming projects, especially those related to the study of political issues for the upcoming elections, have been suspended or cancelled,” she said.

Alain Rafael Dueñas Etévez, a photographer from Cuba who works in Argentina, has directly felt the impact of the cuts. “Many people who work in Cuba’s independent media rely on scholarships and financing, and they lose their jobs overnight,” he said.

The decision also undermined media operations in Africa. Datacameroon's investigative platform told RSF it had to put aside several projects, including one focused on journalist safety and another covering the upcoming presidential election in Cameroon.

Rawan Damen, director of Arab Investigative News journalist who works throughout the Middle East and North Africa, said it has lost $400,000 from the U.S. Agency for International Development freeze.

In Iran, contributors to Citizen News Corp. Mamlekate said the funding is crucial to documenting human rights violations and supporting civil society protests.

“This kind of assistance helps citizen journalists use secure communication tools like VPNs. Cutting it off doesn't improve efficiency,” they said. “Instead, it weakens key efforts abroad to support people in Iran.”

In neighboring Afghanistan, where there are severe restrictions on media freedom under the leadership of the Taliban, independent journalists have written reports to Afghan media abroad.

Shafi Karimi, founder of Afghan journalist in the exile network, said: “Many of my journalists’ friends in the country are out of work and several media are at risk of closure.

“These organizations rely on funding from various agencies in the United States, and without this support, their ability to continue to operate remains uncertain.”

The media introducing Myanmar is one of the most dangerous journalists in the world, Myanmar relies heavily on donor funds, especially donor funds from the United States. Many journalists were forced to exile after the military seized a coup in 2021, which was encountered due to widespread opposition and armed uprisings. Journalists who document conflict and human rights violations in the military face a “terrorist movement.”

Zaw Latt, the toe of the Myanmar Independent Press committee, said he believes about 200 journalists will be affected by the frozen funds. He said they were paid very little and could hardly survive, adding: “I can’t imagine (how people would manage) without paying your rent.”

The journalists he trained, many of whom were young, “wanted to reveal what was going on in Myanmar (Myanmar). Last year, two of his former students, Htet Myat Thu, 28 and 26, were killed in military uniforms.

Several organizations seeking comments don’t want to talk about how the freeze affects them, fearing they might risk long-term funding or political fire.

“The small independent newsroom, which is often faced with real-life threats from populist leaders and the local population, is now feeling anxious on the ground,” said Kiran Nazish, founding director of the Women's Alliance for Journalism.

Leaders of the European Newsroom said the U.S. Agency for International Development's closure would reignite questions about how the EU will fund journalism in Europe and called on Brussels to save independent publishers.

Peter Erdelyi, director of the Sustainable Media Center in Budapest and former media director of the country, said: “The EU should look at flexibility in the budget, in the extra funding, additional designated funds, now, now Less administrative services can be provided. The burden is attached.”

Erdelyi added that the aid freeze is a “life and death situation” for many publications.