In 2024, US lawmakers earmarked $272 million in foreign assistance for ‘independent media and free flow of information’, according to US government data. Of this, around $150 million was set aside to support journalism, but the vast majority of that was set to disappear in 2025 and beyond ….
The media non-profit organization Internews, which … supports independent media outlets in more than 100 nations … said its 2025 allocation of US government funding was $126 million, but that it had now lost 95% of that.
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All of this comes at a time when science news is critically important to help stem a rising global tide of disinformation and misinformation.
An Nguyen, a specialist in science journalism in the global south, says: “You have misinformation, disinformation and a range of global challenges that need public engagement with science — public health, climate and environment, energy transition, food and water security, AI transformations. For all of these things you need science journalism to be there and strong.” He likens the current situation to fighting a wildfire with a garden hose: “The blaze is roaming but you only have a trickle of water.”
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