Disarming the Global Free Press

For decades, American taxpayers helped promote democracy around the world. Then the US switched teams.

Thirty years ago, following the collapse of the Soviet Union, a new field took shape, financed in good measure by American tax dollars. It was called media development. Its animating principle was that support for free and independent journalism was not only an expression of United States values but also a strategic investment that expanded soft power and enhanced national security. Its proponents pointed to the Soviet Union as an example that autocratic governments may crumble when people are armed with good information. Over decades, the US Agency for International Development spent billions to nurture and sustain a network of independent media outlets in every corner of the globe.

Then, with a tweet, it was gone. Last February, Elon Musk called USAID a “criminal organization” and said it was “time for it to die.” One surprising vector of attack was an obscure media development organization called Internews, which helped support and train journalists and media organizations around the world. After WikiLeaks “exposed” the organization, falsely accusing it of backing online censorship, Internews faced sustained fury from supporters of the Trump administration. Its leaders were doxed. A few months later, in July of 2025, the last vestiges of USAID were subsumed into the State Department. The impact on hunger and global health has been well documented; the impact on independent media has not received a full review. Until now.