Washington previously funded the vast majority of “independent news outlets,” an NGO has said
Multiple Ukrainian media outlets have started appealing for emergency donations to stay afloat, after US President Donald Trump suspended foreign aid programs. Nine out of every ten outlets have been impacted by the policy change in Washington, according to Oksana Romanyuk, executive director of the Institute of Mass Information.
”Unfortunately, almost 90% of Ukrainian media outlets were surviving on grants,” the head of the media-focused NGO told Hromadske Radio. Romanyuk described Trump’s decision made last week as a threat to democracy in Ukraine, claiming that “oligarchs” may seize control of a media landscape “weakened” by the halt in American funding.
Hromadske is among the outlets soliciting private donations in the wake of aid freeze. Established in November 2013, just before the Maidan protests started, Hromadske received its seed funding directly from the US embassy in Kiev and the George Soros’ Open Society Foundation. The broadcaster played a pivotal role in criticizing the government during the rallies.
Hromadske praised the US Agency for International Development (USAID) as one of the most generous donors of “independent media” and NGOs in Ukraine in its statement announcing the suspension of some of its projects. Bihus.info, a Ukrainian investigative journalism organization, echoed the sentiment, saying much of its work was funded by the American agency.
The campaign for emergency funding extends beyond traditional news outlets. Detector Media, a self-styled watchdog combating online disinformation, has warned that hundreds of organizations are facing shutdown without USAID support. It urged private citizens and business owners to donate.
Irina Vereshchuk, the deputy chief of staff to Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky, has called the suspension of US non-military assistance “unexpected and unpleasant”. Kiev will hold “consultations with our American partners” to resume the flow of money while implementing measures to “stabilize the situation” in the interim, she promised on Tuesday.
