As Elon Musk’s zoomer devs scroll through the US government, zeroing in on waste and mismanagement, it’s as if the Epstein files were released, except that this is about money, not sex.

One remarkable revelation is that the U.S. government was funding many supposedly independent media.

● Political news sheet Politico received “at least $8.2 million” (Fox News). Not surprisingly, we also learn, “Ex-Politico reporters reveal editors quashed, slow-walked negative Biden stories ‘with no explanation’”. If one knew the funding background, perhaps no explanation was needed.

● Even more surprisingly, it seems that news agencies Associated Press and Thompson Reuters Special Services, owned by news agency Reuters, are on the payroll too. So, apparently, is the New York Times. And so are many foreign media, including the BBC, which is otherwise funded by the British government.

In the ensuing turmoil in the news stream, in some cases, the original amount publicized has been overstated and other cases, details have been disputed But the basic picture is fairly clear and should not be grounds for surprise.

Traditional media have been doing poorly of late, as much of the public — especially the younger public — look to social media for news. In Canada, Trudeau openly put most of the media on taxpayer assistance. In the United States, it appears to have been done on the QT instead and would not have been discovered apart from the recent minute examination of government finances.

The basic problem with a federal government funding the news media at home or abroad is that the real audience becomes — not the private news seeker — but that government. This outcome cannot be avoided just by “choosing to think independently” or by any similar pious resolve. News media must depend on their own public to survive; otherwise, they become purveyors of whatever messages a government wants them to pursue.

In Canada, government funding means that it is difficult to find honest discussions of public issues like the current political stalemate in Ottawa. Instead, we get this:

It appears that the U.S.-funded media will probably be defunded, at least officially. Poilievre, if he becomes prime minister. plans to do the same in Canada.

Lighter moment: From the Babylon Bee: Quiz: Can You Guess Which Of These Things USAID Actually Funded And Which Ones We Made Up?