New Delhi:
Billionaire and head of the newly created US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) Elon Musk, along with US President Donald Trump, has taken on the legacy media houses in the US. The attempt to discredit the legacy media is being channelled through X.com, the social media platform owned by Musk and Truth Social where the President usually posts.
In the most recent attack, Musk and Trump trained their guns on the reputed news agency Reuters.
Reuters received far more money than this from US government organizations, but via various subsidiaries and intermediaries to hide how they were getting it.
This is just what @DOGE has found so far. pic.twitter.com/PXbL1OkEKO
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 13, 2025
Earlier, Musk had alleged that Reuters had been paid $9 million by the Biden administration for “large-scale social deception”.
Reuters was paid millions of dollars by the US government for “large scale social deception”.
That is literally what it says on the purchase order! They’re a total scam.
Just wow. https://t.co/GGxoVQSwN8
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 13, 2025
Reuters responded to Musk’s post saying the contract was “inaccurately represented.” It clarified that the contract was awarded to Thomson Reuters Special Services (TRSS), a division separate from the news agency. The news agency also carried a clarification by Spokesperson Tabatha Thompson of the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), which is the R&D arm of the US military. DARPA had funded the contract in question. Thompson was quoted by Reuters as saying – “Thomson Reuters Special Services (TRSS) was competitively selected to serve as the evaluator to test the defensive tools. … They (Thomson Reuters) assessed the effectiveness of our defensive tools.”
The US government website www.usaspending.gov lists the contracts from different government agencies to different vendors. A cumulative search on the site shows that different arms of Reuters received `140 million in funding since 2008.
Photo Credit: www.usaspending.gov
Photo Credit: www.usaspending.gov
Photo Credit: www.usaspending.gov
Photo Credit: Photo Credit: www.usaspending.gov
Photo Credit: Photo Credit: www.usaspending.gov
Photo Credit: Photo Credit: www.usaspending.gov
(Funding for Thomson Reuters from US govt agencies yearwise)
In the past week, Elon Musk has been targeting a number of publications as his DOGE team raided the offices of USAID in an effort to uncover wasteful and fraudulent spending.
Associated Press
The US government site www.usaspending.gov shows that the US government spent over half a million dollars on the Associated Press. These payouts have been promptly terminated by the DOGE.
Politico
DOGE has alleged that space agency NASA spent $500,000 on subscriptions to Politico.
Photo Credit: Screenshots of funding for AP: Source: www.usaspending.gov
NASA subsequently cancelled the enormous subscriptions for Politico.
NASA leadership has verified that this was cancelled today. https://t.co/wSqWOFtHeT
— Department of Government Efficiency (@DOGE) February 5, 2025
Other government departments have spent $32 million on Politico.
Photo Credit: www.usaspending.gov
Politico got $32 million in funding from the United States government.
Funding for Politico from US government agencies yearwise.
Photo Credit: www.usaspending.gov
The New York Times
Elon Musk called the New York Times “government-funded media” on X.com in response to another post
Photo Credit: Image posted on X by @elonmusk
One of the most venerated names in the world when it comes to journalism, the New York Times has received at least $2.6 million in funding from various agencies of the US government between fiscal years 2008 to 2024.
Photo Credit: www.usaspending.gov
Photo Credit: www.usaspending.gov
Photo Credit: www.usaspending.gov
Funding for NYT from US govt agencies yearwise
Photo Credit: www.usaspending.gov
BBC
Another household name and go-to media house – the BBC – received funding to the tune of 2.6 million pounds sterling, equivalent to $3.2 million from USAID.
The BBC thanks its donor USAID for the generous $3.2 million in funding
Photo Credit: BBC.com
The yearwise spending on the BBC by USAID and other agencies of the US government appears to have stopped in 2011 as per the US government site www.usaspending.gov , but the BBC website currently thanks the USAID for being one of its most generous donors.
Funding for NYT from US govt agencies yearwise
Photo Credit: www.usaspending.gov
Internews
Elon Musk has been reposting about Internews – an agency that trains “journalists, and digital rights activists, advance internet freedom and offer business expertise to help media outlets become financially viable.”
Internews has received $404 million since 2008.
Photo Credit: www.usaspending.gov
Internews funding from US government agencies yearwise
Photo Credit: www.usaspending.gov
Internews funds individual journalists and media outlets in over 100 countries, including in India.
Internews claims to have reached 75,000 people in India – including journalists, activists, students of schools and colleges as well as villagers in remote parts of the country.