Latest news with #mediafunding
Reuters
20-05-2025
- Business
- Reuters
EU to give Radio Free Europe 5.5 million euros after Trump funding freeze
BRUSSELS, May 20 (Reuters) - The European Union will donate 5.5 million euros ($6.2 million) to support Radio Free Europe following a freeze on U.S. federal grants to the media outlet by the Trump administration, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Tuesday. The financial pledge comes after Trump ordered the termination of grants in March as part of sweeping efforts to downsize the U.S. government. Critics said the move could devastate a rare source of reliable news in authoritarian countries. A U.S. District Court judge placed a temporary pause on the termination order but a federal appeals court this month blocked the ruling. "In a time of growing unfiltered content, independent journalism is more important than ever," Kallas told reporters after a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels. "This will support the vital work of Radio Free Europe," she said, describing the move as "short-term emergency funding" to provide a "safety net" for independent journalism. Radio Free Europe was not immediately available for comment. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty was set up during the Cold War to reach people in communist-run states. The Prague-based outlet still broadcasts to countries in Eastern Europe, including Russia and Ukraine. The Czech Republic, as the media outlet's host country, has been pushing for Europe to find funds to keep it going. "Our aim is to keep the mission, and the mission is providing free and fair information to societies in Russia, Belarus, Iran,' Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky told Reuters after the ministers' meeting. Sweden said earlier this month it would donate 20 million crowns ($2.07 million) to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, saying the U.S. decision meant people in many countries risked losing access to free media. ($1 = 0.8868 euros) ($1 = 9.6523 Swedish crowns)
Washington Post
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
EU to provide emergency funds to help keep Radio Free Europe afloat
BRUSSELS — The European Union agreed Tuesday to provide emergency funds to help keep Radio Free Europe afloat after the Trump administration stopped grants to the pro-democracy media outlet, accusing it of promoting a news agenda with a liberal bias. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty started broadcasting during the Cold War. Its programs are aired in 27 languages in 23 countries across Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Middle East. Its lawyers have been fighting the administration in court.
Associated Press
20-05-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
EU to provide emergency funds to help keep Radio Free Europe afloat
BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union agreed Tuesday to provide emergency funds to help keep Radio Free Europe afloat after the Trump administration stopped grants to the pro-democracy media outlet, accusing it of promoting a news agenda with a liberal bias. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty started broadcasting during the Cold War. Its programs are aired in 27 languages in 23 countries across Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Middle East. Its lawyers have been fighting the administration in court. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the bloc's foreign ministers had agreed to a 5.5-million-euro ($6.2 million) contract to 'support the vital work of Radio Free Europe.' The 'short-term emergency funding' is a 'safety net' for independent journalism, she said. Kallas said the EU would not be able to fill the organization's funding gap around the world, but that it can help the broadcaster to 'work and function in those countries that are in our neighborhood and that are very much dependent on news coming from outside.' She said that she hoped the 27 EU member countries would also provide more funds to help Radio Free Europe longer term. Kallas said the bloc has been looking for 'strategic areas' where it can help as the United States cuts foreign aid. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's corporate headquarters are in Washington and its journalistic headquarters are based in the Czech Republic, which has been leading the EU drive to find funds. Last month, a U.S. federal judge ordered the Trump administration to restore $12 million that was appropriated by Congress. Lawyers for the service, which has been operating for 75 years, said it would be forced to shut down in June without the money. In March, Kallas recalled the influence that the network had on her as she was growing up in Estonia, which was part of the Soviet Union. 'Coming from the other side of the Iron Curtain, actually it was (from) the radio that we got a lot of information,' she said. 'So, it has been a beacon of democracy, very valuable in this regard.'
Sky News
14-05-2025
- Business
- Sky News
Foreign states face 15% newspaper ownership limit amid Telegraph row
Foreign state investors would be allowed to hold stakes of up to 15% in British national newspapers, ministers are set to announce amid a two-year battle to resolve an impasse over The Daily Telegraph's ownership. Sky News has learnt that the Department for Culture, Media and Sport could announce as soon as Thursday that the new limit is to be imposed following a consultation lasting several months. The decision to set the ownership threshold at 15% follows an intensive lobbying campaign by newspaper industry executives concerned that a permanent outright ban could cut off a vital source of funding to an already-embattled industry. It would mean that RedBird IMI, the Abu Dhabi state-backed fund which owns an option to take full ownership of the Telegraph titles, would be able to play a role in the newspapers' future. RedBird Capital, the US-based fund, has already said it is exploring the possibility of taking full control of the Telegraph, while IMI would have - if the status quo had been maintained - forced to relinquish any involvement in the right-leaning broadsheets. One industry source said they had been told to expect a statement from Lisa Nandy, the culture secretary, or another DCMS minister, this week, with the amendment potentially being made in the form of a statutory instrument. Other than RedBird, a number of suitors for the Telegraph have expressed interest but struggled to raise the funding for a deal. The most notable of these has been Dovid Efune, owner of The New York Sun, who has been trying for months to raise the £550m sought by RedBird IMI to recoup its outlay. Another potential offer from Todd Boehly, the Chelsea Football Club co-owner, and media tycoon David Montgomery, has yet to materialise. RedBird IMI paid £600m in 2023 to acquire a call option that was intended to convert into ownership of the Telegraph newspapers and The Spectator magazine. That objective was thwarted by a change in media ownership laws - which banned any form of foreign state ownership - amid an outcry from parliamentarians. The Spectator was then sold last year for £100m to Sir Paul Marshall, the hedge fund billionaire, who has installed Lord Gove, the former cabinet minister, as its editor. The UAE-based IMI, which is controlled by the UAE's deputy prime minister and ultimate owner of Manchester City Football Club, Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, extended a further £600m to the Barclays to pay off a loan owed to Lloyds Banking Group, with the balance secured against other family-controlled assets. Other bidders for the Telegraph had included Lord Saatchi, the former advertising mogul, who offered £350m, while Lord Rothermere, the Daily Mail proprietor, pulled out of the bidding last summer amid concerns that he would be blocked on competition grounds. The Telegraph's ownership had been left in limbo by a decision taken by Lloyds Banking Group, the principal lender to the Barclay family, to force some of the newspapers' related corporate entities into a form of insolvency proceedings. The newspaper auction is being run by Raine Group and Robey Warshaw.
