from RT:
The OCCRP’s funding and its ties to Washington raise serious questions about the use of investigative journalism as a foreign policy tool
The US government secretly controls around half of the funding for the world’s largest investigative journalism network, the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), a joint investigation by Mediapart, Drop Site News, Il Fatto Quotidiano, and others has revealed. The probe also found that the US exerts veto power over OCCRP’s leadership and editorial direction.
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Launched in 2008 and initially focused on exposing corruption and organized crime in the Balkans, the OCCRP now operates with a budget of €20 million and a team of 200 journalists worldwide, and works with over 70 media partners, including big names such as the New York Times, The Guardian, and Der Spiegel.
It has grown into the world’s foremost international investigative journalism player, known for work such as The Panama Papers and the Pegasus Project.
The investigation, led by Mediapart and published on Monday, reveals that Washington not only provides substantial financial support – $47 million from US state sources since its inception – but has the power to control leadership appointments.
US influence extends to steering the group’s investigations towards specific countries such as Russia and Venezuela, the report adds.
Drew Sullivan, the OCCRP’s co-founder and publisher, confirmed that the US government remains its largest donor, with USAID and other federal agencies also contributing millions to the organization over the years.
“I’m very grateful to the US government,” Sullivan told German state broadcaster NDR in September 2023, when the Hamburg-based channel’s own investigation into the OCRP prompted it to suspend cooperation with the organization.
