WATCH: U.S. influence over African media – Roscoe Palm
The Director of the Pan-African Institute for Socialism, Roscoe Palm, and investigative journalist Ajit Singh were interviewed by Liu Xin of CGTN on the pernicious influence of the US State Department and CIA-linked National Endowment for Democracy and others on influencing the narrative in Africa and the Global South.
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The Director of the Pan-African Institute for Socialism, Roscoe Palm, and investigative journalist Ajit Singh were interviewed by Liu Xin of CGTN on the pernicious influence of the US State Department and CIA-linked National Endowment for Democracy and others on influencing the narrative in Africa and the Global South.
The interview followed the article co-written by Singh and Palm that exposed how these Western elements had long penetrated the African mediascape. This followed revelations of attempts by the former Ambassador to South Africa to further co-opt editors and media power brokers who are influential in driving the discourse.
One of the most startling bombshells to emerge from the recent closure of New Frame is the revelation by its editor, Richard Pithouse, that he was ambushed by former US Ambassador to South Africa Lana Marks, as well as three Consuls-General. If it was only he who was approached, we might regard this as innocent. But it is well known that the entire approach of the US diplomatic machinery based in South Africa is to recruit the media establishments into being stenographers of the US propaganda machine.
According to Pithouse:
Drunk on Power: The US capture of South African Media – Phillip Dexter and Roscoe Palm“In almost four years of operation, one state and one state only sought to connect with New Frame. A few months after we launched, Donald Trump’s ambassador (Lana Marks) arrived at our offices in a surprise unscheduled visit, accompanied by her three consul generals. I did not invite them in. But while standing at the entrance, she asked about the nature of our interest in international affairs and invited me to a monthly meeting for editors in Cape Town called ‘On the rocks and off the record’. She stressed the first class transport and accommodation as well as the excellent food and alcohol, and told me that ‘all the editors come’ and how good it would be for my career. I declined the offer.”
See also “Hiding In Plain Sight: The capture of South African ‘independent’ media by the US state and big capital” by Phillip Dexter and Roscoe Palm.
Key Findings
Among the key findings in the research sourced from publicly available documentation:
- The National Endowment for Democracy (NED) was created in 1983 during the Reagan era to conduct operations and functions previously carried out by the CIA. It supported the mujahideen in Afghanistan and the Contras in Nicaragua and has been involved in many U.S.-backed coups. It now has vast tentacles across Africa.
- The NED funds the Mail & Guardian’s (M&G) weekly publication The Continent via its own non-profit arm, Adamela Trust, and international organisations like the International Fund for Public Interest Media (IFPIM), and the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA), all of which are linked to key people and organisations in the South Africa media. The editor-in-chief of the Continent is Simon Allison, former Africa editor of M&G, Africa correspondent of Daily Maverick, and a former consultant with Open Society Foundation (OSF)-funded Institute for Security Studies. It is noteworthy that the NED has continued its program through Republican and Democratic administrations, from Reagan through to Biden, and was headed by Carl Gershman from its inception until 2021. Its agenda has not changed.
3. The OSF and Luminate, another major foundation, are official U.S. government partners that often work closely with the NED and other parts of the U.S. state, strategically taking on and funding projects that the U.S. state cannot or does not wish to directly undertake. Among the many examples of direct collaboration is that the NED and the OSF jointly founded Global Forum for Media Development (GFMD). The Center for International Media Assistance (CIMA) is an official initiative of NED that coordinates this work and lists OSF as a partner. Luminate, together with the MIDF, has facilitated “dedicated coaching and newsroom expertise in topics such as marketing, newsletters, community building, and audience development” for M&G.
4. Key senior people in publications like the M&G and amaBhungane, including three former editors-in-chief of the M&G have gone on to work for U.S. and Western government-supported organizations, including three separate projects funded by the NED.
5. At least fifteen people who passed through the fellowship program run by
amaBhungane have been directly tied to U.S. government organizations and programs including the Voice of America. amaBhungane has also led the formation of a regional investigative journalism network, IJ Hub.
6. The M&G, the Daily Maverick and amaBhungane, as well as smaller projects like the M&G-linked Daily Vox and the local U.S. embassy-linked Africa Check, are part of a list of at least 24 publications that have been funded by one or more of the major funders that regularly partner with the U.S. government.
