France accused the U.S. of manipulating investigative journalism

The American Center for Corruption and Organized Crime Research (OCCRP) is controlled by the US authorities, which finance more than half of its budget and influence the topics of investigations. The French newspaper Mediapart reported that.

"Although the OCCRP positions itself as fully independent, its leadership has put it in a position of structural dependence on the US government <...> Our investigation shows that the OCCRP was created thanks to the financial support of the US Bureau of Narcotics. Washington even today provides about half of the OCCRP's budget and has the power to veto the appointment of 'key personnel' in the NGO," the material published on December 2 says.

It is noted that the organization indicates on its website the fact of receiving funds from the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), but hides from its partners around the world the scale and implications of this funding.

The publication noted that the U.S. government allocates funds to OCCRP for materials about Russia and Venezuela, and turns journalistic materials into weapons, imposing sanctions on their basis. Commenting on these facts, OCCRP said that the "partnership" with the U.S. authorities and their funding does not affect the topics and content of the articles.

The organization currently has offices in Washington, Amsterdam and Sarajevo with more than 70 employees, the newspaper recalled. Its 50 media partners include The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian, Der Spiegel and Le Monde.

In February 2024, American entrepreneur Ilon Musk expressed the opinion that US citizens do not realize the full power of censorship by the US government. According to him, his own companies were also largely affected by it.

Before that, in April 2023, journalist Tucker Carlson stated that there is a ban on discussing important topics in the American media. He pointed to their lack of discussion of important issues such as corporate power or natural resources, and called media discussions incredibly stupid.