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State Department says it is 'watching' USAGM funding changes; cannot confirm Yale contract termination
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Summary
At the briefing, the spokesperson described funding and organizational changes affecting Voice of America and related outlets as a fluid situation and said the department could not confirm a reported termination of a Yale School of Public Health contract.
State Department officials described recent changes affecting the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) and outlets such as Voice of America and Radio Free Asia as a fluid situation, and said they were monitoring developments.
When asked about a New Republic report that the department had terminated a contract with the Yale School of Public Health's Humanitarian Research Lab (a project that had been tracking reports of Ukrainian children allegedly abducted since Russia's invasion), the spokesperson said she could not confirm the report at the briefing and would take the question back and provide details later.
The spokesperson expressed support for the work of journalists and news outlets that have helped document human-rights issues abroad, and said that the U.S. has a long-standing commitment to facilitating voices that might otherwise not be heard. She also acknowledged that staffing and budget changes have affected reporters and said the situation is new and subject to further developments.
What the briefing did not provide: No confirmation, dates or contract numbers were given about the Yale matter, and the department did not detail next steps for USAGM funding or how affected reporting operations will be supported going forward.
