infinity ag said:

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Politico CEO claimed he was not getting any money from USAID.

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Maybe he was not aware the money was laundered through other organizations?

infinity ag said:

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Politico CEO claimed he was not getting any money from USAID.

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The check/wire says UNITED STATES TREASURY. It doesn't say what program the money came from.

Does your tax refund say IRS? No, it doesn't. When you pay your taxes, you make the check payable directly to the United States Treasury.

So, DOGE is using Rocket money app!?

Other than advertising, why would our federal government be paying media outlets?

If you have a decent sized govt contract - you know the funding mechanism.

4 said:

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infinity ag said:

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Politico CEO claimed he was not getting any money from USAID.

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So you're saying he was LYING?!!!

NOOOOOOOO....

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No, he was paid by Politico; Politico got it's money from USAID. He didn't take any money from USAID. Lefty think in action.

How many non-governmental entities actually buy this $10,000 annual membership? Gotta be close to zero, right? It's nothing but the federal government purchasing, with our own tax dollars, media influence. Or propaganda, they usually call that.

I like this move.

The sooner the government stops it's contracts with private companies, the better.

I'd say most government entities predate the Internet, and many had media subscriptions to follow what was going on their industries or to keep up with world events. Similarly, many government officials probably have subscriptions to media in other countries for the same reason. If keeping up with what is going on is part of your job, you probably have a subscription somewhere, even if it is just a specialty service, such as Argus, Platts or ICIS.

infinity ag said:

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Politico CEO claimed he was not getting any money from USAID.

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He said Politico was not getting any money from USAID. Then he said Politico Pro (or whatever it is called) IS. He was lying while trying to be technically correct.

Still doesn't explain why they didn't make payroll the other day. If they have 2 different divisions and there's no commingling, then payroll shouldn't have been affected. I seriously doubt the "glitch" was coincidental.

richardag said:

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infinity ag said:

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Politico CEO claimed he was not getting any money from USAID.

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Maybe he was not aware the money was laundered through other organizations?

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Politico rejects Trump's claim that it received government funding
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/americas/politico-rejects-trump-s-claim-that-it-received-government-funding/3474516

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US political news website Politico denied allegations by President Donald Trump that it received millions of dollars in government funding, calling the claim "flat-out false."
In a statement Thursday, Politico's CEO Goli Sheikholeslami and Editor-in-Chief John F. Harris said the news outlet has "never received any government funding no subsidies, no grants, no handouts. Not one dime, ever, in 18 years."

The response follows a post by Trump on his Truth Social platform where he claimed that billions of dollars had been stolen from the US Agency for International Development (USAID), with some of it allegedly going to the media as a "payoff" for favorable coverage of Democrats.

Trump specifically named Politico, suggesting that it received $8 million.
Politico said that its subscription service, Politico Pro, is used by private companies and government agencies that pay for access to policy and legislative tracking tools.
"This is not funding. It is a transaction," the statement said.

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If that is so, he should sue Trump for defamation.

BBRex said:

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I'd say most government entities predate the Internet, and many had media subscriptions to follow what was going on their industries or to keep up with world events. Similarly, many government officials probably have subscriptions to media in other countries for the same reason. If keeping up with what is going on is part of your job, you probably have a subscription somewhere, even if it is just a specialty service, such as Argus, Platts or ICIS.

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Well it's been horribly abused and now they should forfeit all privileges to expensive subscriptions. Buy the $3/month trial if you are charging me for it

BBRex said:

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I'd say most government entities predate the Internet, and many had media subscriptions to follow what was going on their industries or to keep up with world events. Similarly, many government officials probably have subscriptions to media in other countries for the same reason. If keeping up with what is going on is part of your job, you probably have a subscription somewhere, even if it is just a specialty service, such as Argus, Platts or ICIS.

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This is true. The problem is a newer business model based exclusively on government and political coverage, necessitating government subscriptions set at an arbitrary rate to be paid by taxpayers, which in turn influences coverage.

That's also part of the (slightly different) story of how the Quorum Report transitioned drastically from its original nature as a newsletter funded by a few investors and subscribers, to a stand alone business thriving on subscriptions from lobbyists and government agencies around Texas. I only bring up QR because I saw someone in another thread mention state dollars going to QR subscriptions.

Jugstore Cowboy said:

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BBRex said:

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I'd say most government entities predate the Internet, and many had media subscriptions to follow what was going on their industries or to keep up with world events. Similarly, many government officials probably have subscriptions to media in other countries for the same reason. If keeping up with what is going on is part of your job, you probably have a subscription somewhere, even if it is just a specialty service, such as Argus, Platts or ICIS.

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This is true. The problem is a newer business model based exclusively on government and political coverage, necessitating government subscriptions set at an arbitrary rate to be paid by taxpayers, which in turn influences coverage.

That's also part of the (slightly different) story of how the Quorum Report transitioned drastically from its original nature as a newsletter funded by a few investors and subscribers, to a stand alone business thriving on subscriptions from lobbyists and government agencies around Texas. I only bring up QR because I saw someone in another thread mention state dollars going to QR subscriptions.

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It's a fine line between buying subscriptions for a bunch of people who made need them in your large organization and propping up or influencing a publication because you control the purse strings. The latter doesn't benefit anyone, really. It definitely needs to be cleaned up and reduced.

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US political news website says it has "never received one dime" in government funding after president accuses it of taking USAID money

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He better define "funding" because thousands and thousands of unnecessary government employee subscriptions sounds like funding to me.

TheHulkster said:

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How many non-governmental entities actually buy this $10,000 annual membership? Gotta be close to zero, right? It's nothing but the federal government purchasing, with our own tax dollars, media influence. Or propaganda, they usually call that.

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It's Soviet level propaganda that would make Pravda blush.

The Politico of Texas…@quorumreport. #SalcedoStormhttps://t.co/HB4bO8jtuy

— The Chris Salcedo Show (@CSalcedoShow) February 7, 2025

Much like the people who live in Fort Worth, I usually forget the @startelegram exists... so I didn't check the cash that has flowed to them from state coffers.

Turns out that since 2016, state agencies have sent $103,234 of the taxpayers' money to the startlegram. https://t.co/WBE6kvIC3K

— Michael Quinn Sullivan 🇺🇸 (@MQSullivan) February 7, 2025

6,000 journalists and 700 newsrooms received USAID money?

It's a wonder all of them parrot the same news. pic.twitter.com/QEOmcX18kX

— Clayton Morris (@ClaytonMorris) February 6, 2025

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. If keeping up with what is going on is part of your job, you probably have a subscription somewhere, even if it is just a specialty service, such as Argus, Platts or ICIS.

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But this is not that.

The Texas Tribune lists their donors, members, and corporate sponsors. It's right there on their website.

https://www.texastribune.org/support-us/corporate-sponsors/
https://www.texastribune.org/support-us/donors-and-members/

Wait, Politco's CEO is named Goli Sheikholeslami?! See below.



I thought those were the gummies.

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It's a fine line between buying subscriptions for a bunch of people who made need them in your large organization

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I'm just saying, you get into a different kind of symbiotic relationship if the business model is to generate content for the purpose of people needing to purchase a subscription in order to read what they said about you. And if it's really niche, then the influence is going to flow both ways by nature.