When the White House issued an executive order to dismantle pro-democracy media outlets Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, shockwaves spread from Prague to Addis Ababa. Endalekachew Haile Michael, a media researcher based in the United States, says that VOA has been a major source of information on Ethiopia’s key political and social issues for 40 years. The Trump administration’s stance on media institutions undermines the United States’ “exemplary status on press freedom worldwide.”
VOA began broadcasting in 1942 to counter Nazi propaganda and later positioned itself against communism during the Cold War. Its programming reached eastern Europe, Asia, and Africa, and in the post-Cold War era VOA became regarded as a reliable news source in countries with little press freedom. In response to the US cuts, European broadcasters like DW and France Médias Monde have called for action to fill the void left by retreating US state-funded international broadcasting.
In Africa, the gutting of VOA, which operated across 13 African nations, came as another blow to pro-democracy media. Funding cuts to USAID and other foreign assistance programs indirectly impacted media, from training to fact-checking teams to publishers. Nancy Booker, a professor of journalism and media and communication at the Nairobi-based Aga Khan University, says that these funding cuts have a knock-on effect reaching programs beyond the US government.
The dismantling of VOA and cuts to aid programs that supported independent media have been slammed in the US and criticized on the continent. Endalekachew Haile Michael says that the first casualty will be losing fact-based reporting. The second problem is that the US has voluntarily given up soft power. Democrats in Congress agree, describing the cuts as a strategic mistake. China’s state-run Global Times wrote in an editorial that “the monopoly of information held by some traditional Western media is being shattered” due to the cuts.
African media funding may need to move away from donor funding in the future. Media houses are looking at growing local philanthropy, convincing advertisers that it is important to keep their business with independent media houses, and giving them the moral case to do so. Some observers believe that despite current shocks, the cuts could kickstart a drive for African media funding that is not reliant on donor funding.
Source: https://www.dw.com/en/us-foreign-assistance-cuts-are-a-sucker-punch-to-africa-s-media-funding/a-71993282?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf
