The New York Times, which for the progressive journalistic elite (including Slovenia) is a global beacon of independent and investigative journalism, wrote about the Gates Foundation for several years, until in 2020 journalist Tim Schwab revealed in the Columbia Journalism Review that columnists David Bornstein and Tina Rosenberg, the eulogy writer for Bill and Melinda Gates, do not work for the Solutions Journalism Network, which is generously funded by the foundation. The two columnists admitted an obscene conflict of interest and asked the Times editorial board to subsequently reveal their connections to Gates, but the Pulitzer Prize-winning media outlet never did because it was not a “priority”.
The New York Times is not alone. Months ago, NPR featured a Harvard-led experiment to help low-income families find housing in wealthier neighbourhoods. The background of this story was also revealed by Schwab. When he investigated the matter, he discovered that every expert cited was financially connected to the Gates Foundation. It was one of countless NPR stories about the generosity of Bill Gates, who has given NPR nearly $25 million in donations.
The computer billionaire is not limited to the US, but selectively funds media and media organisations around the world. In two years, he gave the British Guardian (another global beacon of independence, which called Gates a planetary saint – “Saint Bill”) several million dollars for a series of signed articles about BioMilq and the substitute milk that means a solution and liberation for breastfeeding women. All the world’s media reported on the miraculous substitute for mother’s milk, including some in Slovenia.
Recently, after a long investigation, the American press organisation MintPress revealed that the Gates Foundation has allocated more than 30,000 individual donations amounting to more than 300 million US dollars to finance media projects around the world. Most of the world’s largest media houses received the money, many media organisations and journalist associations received donations, and the list includes fact-checking portals. Slovenian media, associations and journalistic centres also cooperate with these media and organisations.
The billionaire’s foundation allocated more than 166 million dollars to media houses (list below).
CNN’s $3.6 million grant went to “gender equity reporting”, while the Texas Tribune received millions to “increase public awareness of the issue of education reform in Texas”. The recipients of donations include French, Spanish, German, African, and even Chinese media.
Gates donated $38 million to a network of centres for investigative journalism (below) …….
…. he donated $12 million to journalism organisations (below).
The foundation also allocates money to training centres for journalists (below) …
…. he allocated almost 100 million euros for media projects around the world (below).
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) mostly funds large and influential global media outlets that are said to be credible and independent. Bill Gates knows very well that these media are mostly cited by smaller media around the world (the Slovenian media mainstream mostly cites the Guardian, BBC, New York Times, and CNN, that is, the media that are at the very top of Gates’ donations).
Schwab, one of the few investigative journalists who has dared to scrutinise the “benefactor” Gates, points out that the research only includes visible and direct donations, and by no means parallel or indirect ones. He cited the example of BMGF’s partnership with ViacomCBS, the company that controls CBS News, MTV, VH1, Nickelodeon, and BET. It has been publicly reported that the Gates Foundation gave $6 million to the entertainment industry corporation, but neither CBS nor Viacom can be found in the donation report.
Also, the report does not include grants to journalists and donations intended to pay for articles in academic journals. Although these articles are not intended for mass consumption, they regularly form the basis of stories in the mainstream media and help promote certain issues. Tens of millions of dollars that ended up in academic journals can be traced, said Schwab, with at least $13.6 million going to content creation in the prestigious medical journal The Lancet.
And at the end, of course, there is money that goes to research projects, the presentation of the results ends up in academic journals, media mainstream, or books.
And the Gates Foundation is not alone. The media and journalists are “donated” by the foundations of George Soros, the Rothschild family, Charles Koch, Craig Newmark, Gill, Bill and Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, the Murdoch family, Mark Zuckerberg, and many others. And all this presents itself as “non-profit funding of non-party journalism”. Ask yourself if this is true.
Therefore, when you read quotes or references to the largest and most influential global media in the Slovenian media mainstream, such as the NY Times, CNN, BBC, Guardian, Le Monde, Der Spiegel, or the Financial Times, you should be cautious about credibility, as there is a large likelihood that these are articles that have been ordered and paid for with the intention that you will read and believe them.
By: Kavarna Hayek
