While the German press loudly laments the potential shutdown of USAID, which would deprive millions of people worldwide of much-needed aid, further details are emerging in the US about how USAID even influenced public opinion in the United States itself.
Among the media outlets that can be frequently cited by German reporters and now turn out to be direct recipients of US government funds are many. “USAID funding: The New York Times, $3.1 million, Politico, $32 million, BBC, $3.2 million” the figures reveal.
Politico, which was acquired by Springer in 2021 and has since functioned as its international flagship, could also sell a lot of US government “professional subscriptions” for $10,000 a pop:
“Government contracts with news portals are a big business. While I don’t rule out that there may have been other scams, Politico’s subscription services alone raked in $27.5 million in the Biden years. The digital business is tough, it’s nice to have loyal customers” a comment from the financial portal Zero Hedge on X reads.
In addition to the subscriptions, there were ad contracts, dinner parties and other sponsorships, as a Zero Hedge comment on X notes.
One should not forget that these information are the result of a few days, since the activity of USAID was interrupted. One can therefore rightly assume that there will be even more such cases to be known.