In early February, Reporters Without Borders warned that international media had been thrown into "an uncertain chaos" since USAID's international media assistance was frozen for 90 days. The assistance may also be stopped permanently.
Media organizations such as Cultural News on SVT have spoken out, warning that the cutbacks have already hit journalism hard. The journalistic organization Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), known for its work on data leaks such as the Panama Papers, has for example lost around 38 percent of its funding and been forced to lay off 20 percent of its staff.
With a stroke of the pen, Donald Trump has destroyed journalism in several parts of the world, says Miranda Patrucic, editor-in-chief of OCCRP, to SVT.
USAID has provided grants to media outlets in over 30 countries, including Iran, Afghanistan, Belarus, and Myanmar. In Europe, Ukraine is particularly hard hit, where 9 out of 10 media outlets are dependent on external funding, according to Reporters Without Borders. For the independent and Kyiv-based Ukrainian media company Slidstvo.Info, for example, 80 percent of the budget is affected, according to Anna Babinets, CEO and co-founder.
Reporters Without Borders has emphasized that Trump's action creates a vacuum that plays into the hands of authoritarian states and facilitates the spread of propaganda.
