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Founded in 1982, Internews claims to help media outlets achieve financial sustainability and promote “trustworthy information” – a mission it pursues with hefty US government funding.
By 2023, the organization had partnered with nearly 4,300 media outlets, trained thousands of journalists, and simultaneously supported social media censorship initiatives.
USAID alone poured $472.6 million into Internews, though the organization also received funding from AOL-Time Warner Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and other private donors.
Grants include $10.7 million from USAID to support “high-quality responsible journalism” in Liberia and $11 million for “media enabling democracy” in Moldova, per datarepublican.com.
The US State Department chipped in $1.48 million to establish “safe, accessible, and life-saving information services” in South Sudan.
Another $19.5 million USAID grant was issued to Internews to “position Jordanian society to effectively advocate for citizen-driven interests”.
Adding to the intrigue, Internews CEO Jeanne Bourgault and other key figures recently had their bios scrubbed from the organization’s website — but WikiLeaks, noticing the move, helpfully provided archived copies.
