Most Ukrainian Media Impacted by USAID Cuts
Natalie Winters, the White House correspondent for Real America’s Voice, is reporting that 90% of Ukrainian media is funded by USAID.
Of course, any media that complains of the loss of voting rights in Ukraine, the banning of opposition political parties, the jailing and disappearing of independent journalists, the banning of the Russian Orthodox Church, gets shut down and the people involved arrested.
So what USAID was promoting was propaganda designed to buck up Zelenskyy’s political party only. Remember, there is a mountain of genuine independent reporting demonstrating that USAID was the slush fund for the CIA (2). We can’t have Ukrainian media undermining our hand picked boy now can we?
The Washington Post is also reporting this, but with the expected corporate media spin:
KYIV — The suspension of USAID has had a dramatic effect on both Ukrainian and Russian independent news outlets that relied on the grants to operate and produced work often critical of their governments.
The program that provides billions in U.S. assistance internationally is better known for its humanitarian and medical work, but the funding has also been used for democracy promotion as well as supporting journalism.
Ukraine’s independent media, a collection of small regional outlets, muckraking investigative websites and internet news platforms, have been reeling since the USAID announcement, with some organizations saying that they are just weeks away from slashing staff or closing down entirely.
Independent media… wow. Thanks to plenty of accurate reporting we know better.
UPDATE - Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard:
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