In 2023 George Soros' nonprofits spent $5 million on "the largest investigative reporting organization on Earth"
With "hidden links between a giant of investigative journalism and the US governments" including the State Department and USAID. At least $47 million in US Government funding over the years.
Part 2 of 4
Updated Feb. 8.
Searching the 2160 grants made by George Soros’ Open Society Foundations in 2023 showed 58 grants were related to “journalism,” “news” or “reporting.”
Here’s a breakdown of these grants by region and amount:
This article focuses on the largest global journalism recipients of grants from Soros’ nonprofits in 2023. A French article from Dec. 2024 links these same grant recipients to US government funding.
A separate article will address the largest grants to US journalism organizations.
Journalism Development Network (OCCRP)
Six Soros’ nonprofit grants totaling $4.4 million went to the Journalism Development Network in 2023.
This organization has a DC address but is domiciled in Maryland according to its IRS 990 tax filing.
This 990 shows only one “restricted” contributor, which had to have been Soros’ Open Society Institute and Alliance for Open Society International nonprofits.
According to the website on their IRS 990 tax filing, the Journalism Development Network runs the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) based in Washington, DC.
Information about OCCRP from their web page includes their “four main pillars:” Investigations, Infrastructure, Innovation, and Impact.
OCCRP is one of the largest investigative journalism organizations in the world, headquartered in Amsterdam and with staff across six continents. We are a mission-driven nonprofit newsroom that partners with other media outlets to publish stories that lead to real-world action. At the same time, our media development arm helps investigative outlets around the world succeed and serve the public.
The OCCRP “who supports our work” page shows these donors:
The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project is a 501(C)(3) organization. We are incredibly grateful to the following institutional donors that make our work possible.
[Note Journalism Development Network is the name on the IRS 990 with OCCRRP their web page name.]
Jed Ringel Foundation
Buried on their online history page is this statement: OCCRP is a member of the Global Investigative Journalism Network.
Global Investigative Journalism Network
Soros’ nonprofits funded both Journalism Development Network (OCCRP) and the Global Investigative Journalism Network (GLJN) in 2023.
GLJN received $625,000 in 2023 from Soros’ Open Society Institute.
The GLJN website shows their staggering “global investigative” reach:
The Global Investigative Journalism Network (GIJN) has a DC address and is also domiciled in Maryland.
This 990 also shows only one “restricted” contributor, which had to have been Soros’ Open Society Institute.
OCCRP connections to the US Government
A Dec. 2, 2024 investigative article by French-based MediaPart revealed “hidden links” between OCCRP, “the largest organised network of investigative media in the world,” and the US Government.
Here are selected quotes from that article:
The speciality of the OCCRP is to organise the collaboration of media organisations around the globe. “Anybody who wants to do a global story can come to OCCRP and get 100 reporters,” says Drew Sullivan. Today based in Washington, Amsterdam and Sarajevo, the OCCRP groups 70 media members and 50 media partners from among the most prestigious worldwide, including The New York Times and The Washington Post in the US, The Guardian in Britain, Der Spiegel and Suddeutsche Zeitung in Germany, and Le Monde in France.
. . .
But there is a flip side. While the OCCRP presents itself as being totally independent, its management have placed it in a position of structural dependence upon the US government, as revealed in this investigation by Mediapart, Drop Site News (US), Il Fatto Quotidiano (Italy), Reporters United (Greece) and German public broadcaster NDR – which decided to censor its own report at the last minute.
. . .
While the OCCRP does indicate on its website that it receives funding from the US Department of State, and notably from the US Agency for International Development, USAID, it conceals the extent of the funding and the strings attached to it from its media partners, journalists and the wider public. The US government financing is never mentioned in OCCRP-produced articles.
. . .
“I'm very proud to say that I think OCCRP is one of the best achievements that USAID has made in the field of democracy and governance”, said Mike Henning, senior advisor with USAID’s Europe and Eurasia Office. His colleague Shannon Maguire, in charge of USAID’s dealings with the OCCRP, commented: “We’re proud that […] the US government is the first public donor to OCCRP. […] But we're also aware and mindful of how uncomfortable sometimes the relationship can be” for a journalistic organization.
. . .
In 2021, Samantha Power, Administrator (head) of USAID, described the OCCRP as a “partner” of the US government. Her agency has even funded a programme which weaponizes OCCRP investigations by attempting to prompt judicial probes or sanction procedures based on the revelations of OCCRP reporting.
. . .
Since its creation, the OCCRP has received at least 47 million dollars from the US government. Added to that is 1.1 million dollars it has received from the European Union, and 14 million dollars received from six European countries: Britain (7 million dollars), Sweden (4 million dollars), with the remainder coming from Denmark, Switzerland, Slovakia and France (whose foreign affairs ministry last year donated 100,000 dollars).
Charts from Mediapart:
. . .
This investigation has also discovered that the OCCRP does not have the right to investigate US matters with the money provided by Washington. “The policy that we have is that we don't report on a country with their own money,” Sullivan told NDR.
. . .
In an email sent to OCCRP journalists in 2023, Sullivan admitted that it was “mostly true” that his NGO did not “do stories on US […] in the early years”, because all of its budget was paid for by Washington and the Open Society Foundations, founded by billionaire and philanthropist George Soros. “We couldn't use US government or Soros money for US stories,” wrote Sullivan.
Summary of grants to JDN (OCCRP)/GIJN
Here’s a summary of Open Society Foundations grants in 2023 to OCCRP/GIJN:
Other global grants
Related
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Part 4 of 4
The hidden links between a giant of investigative journalism and the US government. Yann Philippin and Stefan Candea, MediaPart (Paris, France), Dec. 2, 2024. Original article in French. See “Black Box” comments at end of article.
The OCCRP, the largest organised network of investigative media in the world, hid the extent of its links with the US government, this investigation can reveal. Washington supplies half of its budget, has a right to veto its senior staff, and funds investigations focussing on Russia and Venezuela.
German broadcaster NDR censored own investigation into world’s largest consortium of investigative media. Yann Philippin, MediaPart, Dec. 2, 2024.
After launching an investigation into the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), and after subsequently inviting Mediapart and three other outlets to join the project, German public broadcaster NDR finally decided to shelve the report after senior editorial managers came under pressure from the OCCRP.
USAID and George Soros’ Foundation Bankrolled a News Outlet That Spurred the First Trump Impeachment, Tyler O’Neil, The Daily Signal, Feb. 7, 2025.